Ivanhoe is about a knight named Ivanhoe who precedes King Richard coming back from the crusades. Sound familiar? This book somewhat resembles the story of Robin Hood, as told by Disney in the Robin Hood cartoon made in the 80′s. However, the plot is completely different and there is no maid Marian or sheriff of Nottingham. The character of Ivanhoe is not reflected in any of the Disney characters. There is an archery contest so that is one similarity. And there is the heroic bandit Robin Hood, who leads his banditti against the evil nobility and collects a few taxes as well. Disney left out the seige of the castle, the near burning of a Jewish woman (at the stake), the Templar knights, and the Norman vs. Saxon tension throughout this book. And there is a lot of discussion about the parts that make up armor. I probably would have learned a lot, if I had only looked up the meaning of the words.
But this book is good! The (fuzzy) history is interesting, the characters are very likeable or dislikeable, and this book had one of the most entertaining battles I have ever read (I hate most of them). And I really liked the way Sir Walter Scott would cut to the next scene for a “here’s what’s going on all at once effect”. Just so you know, this book is also available for free on the internet, since it was written in the 1800′s.
Actually, I find myself thinking of a quote from the Simpson’s a lot. It’s pretty juvenile, but I can’t help it: “The story of Ivanhoe is about a Russian farmer and his tool”. Funny, ya?
Post a Comment