Ivanhoe

by Sir Walter Scott
List(s):"Carp 500"
Category: "Fiction - Historical"
Pages:497
Year of Publication:1819
Date Read:07/26/1988
Notes:The impact of Scott’s tales of high romance in the Middle Ages was felt in the arts, in opera, even in the Anglican Church. His tale of Ivanhoe, the fearless Saxon knight and champion of the oppressed, has always been his most popular novel because it has everything: lust, treachery, dungeons, accusations of witch craft, trial by combat, a lovers triangle and a cast that includes Richard the Lionheart, the sniveling Prince John and Robin Hood

COMMENTS — Sir Walter Scott is often considered both the inventor and the greatest practitioner of the historical novel. From his earliest years, he was fond of listening to elderly relatives’ accounts and stories of the Border region, and as a boy he became a voracious reader of poetry, history, drama, fairy tales and romances. His first fame came as a poet for ballads like The Lay of the Last Minstrel and The Lady of the Lake.
My Rating: 7

Reviews for Ivanhoe

Review - Ivanhoe

I first read Ivanhoe 20 years ago and had forgotten almost everything about it except that there was a wounded knight and Robin Hood shows up.

I just finished reading it again and my rating is still a 7. I'm not entirely sure what the book was about. Rebecca is the most compelling character, but she doesn't appear very often. Ivanhoe is little more than a bit player after the jousting scene. King Richard rides about, but can't be considered the main player. I guess it's best read as a dramatized snapshot of a period in history, and as such it kept my interest. But since Scott was dramatizing it, couldn't he have made it about something?

Reviewed by Roger on 2007-10-29 11:35:04

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