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Parsival or a Knight's Tale (1977)

door Richard Monaco

Reeksen: Parsival (1)

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389364,829 (3.24)5
The classic tale of one of King Arthur's Knights of the Round Table is thrillingly reimagined in this gritty, contemporary novel. Richard Monaco has taken a slice of the Arthurian legend and created a thoroughly modern-minded re-imagining of the classic tale. Colorful medieval settings blend with a hard-edged look at human foibles and a romantic story of love and loss is narrated with a lean, contemporary sensibility to form a new, but still ageless, adventure that anyone can enjoy. … (meer)
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Toon 3 van 3
This is a brutal noir take on the European version of the "Holy Fool" figure. It shows us a world of Bully and Cringe, not the well embroidered tapestry of courtly behaviour shown by Thomas Malory. This is a necessary corrective, and is closer to the historical realities of military behaviour. While i understand why Mr. Monaco wrote this, it is not one of my favourite treatments of "The Matter of Britain." ( )
  DinadansFriend | Dec 23, 2021 |
Richard Monaco's Parsival is, it seems, rather forgotten these days when it comes to Arthurian fiction, which is strange, since it is a very well written, dreamlike story.

This is partly based on the epic Arthurian romance Parzival, by Wolfram Von Eschenbach, a German knight and poet who himself based it on an unfinished tale by Chretien de Troyes. The story of Parsival is that of the Holy Fool, the innocent who seeks, and finds, the Grail Castle.

Monaco is a good writer and this tale features some familiar names (Arthur, Merlin, Lancelot, Gawain) in a slightly unfamiliar setting. England (or Albion) is never mentioned, so the story unfolds in an unnamed land as we follow the entirely innocent, unworldly (otherworldly?) Parsival as he leaves his home and experiences the world for the first time. His progress from innocent to Knight to weary melancholy is handled in a series of dreamlike sequences, full of horror and blood. There is war here, unremitting, gruesome war. The bodies are literally piled high.

Monaco, as a counterpoint to his protagonist, also follows three "peasants", Broaditch, Waleis and Alienor, as they move through a landscape of horror and death trying to find Parsival. The narrative leaps forward twenty years at one point to find Broaditch telling the tale to his children.

It's a classic good versus evil story, with the dark wizard Clinschor seeking the Grail and Merlin trying to guide Parsival with cryptic, rather unhelpful, hints. Chivalry is nowhere to be found here.

What the Grail actually is is never defined and it is only at the end that Parsival comes to realise what he's been seeking. And also the point that Broaditch, after a question from his son regarding Parsival's fate, sets out to find him, thus setting the scene for a sequel.

A strange, unsettling book well worth your time. ( )
  David.Manns | Nov 28, 2016 |
Parsival is one of the minor figures (at least, I never heard of him before) in the Arthurian legends. He's a young man whose mother kept him shut up in their castle in total ignorance. Then he set out into the world as an adult, totally clueless and gullible. He wanders around the countryside looking for Arthur's castle. He is awestruck by the first knight he sees and determines to become one himself. This seemed to happen a bit too easily. Anyway, he sets off originally to find the Grail, but ends up in the middle of a hideous war.

What I really liked about Parsival was the vividly depicted setting. Nature was a pervasive, almost towering presence. Trees loomed over the paths, forests were trackless unmapped expanses, human dwellings sat in small scraped clearings among the wild growth. The impact of the seasons, the dependence upon crops and game, the utter simplicity and squalor most of the people lived in. It felt so real. And the terrible brutality of warfare, total disregard of the noblemen for the lives of serfs, awful physical punishments, waste and horror of rape, plunder, destruction- all here in these pages. It gave me a very stark picture of how life might have been for people in medieval times.

But the story was hard to follow. In the first place, it jumps around between several different characters' views- sometimes as frequently as every paragraph or two! There are many incidents which don't make sense if you're not familiar with details of the Arthurian legends. I missed some of the references. Some of the characters seemed to have no clear idea where they were going or why they were doing what they did- and neither did I. Parsival seemed to be always either fighting or tumbling women in the hay. It got rather disgusting after a while. However, the vivid descriptions in this book are such a strength I'm still ambivalent about keeping it or putting it on my swap shelf, in spite of its flaws.

From the Dog Ear Diary. ( )
  jeane | Jul 4, 2008 |
Toon 3 van 3
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The classic tale of one of King Arthur's Knights of the Round Table is thrillingly reimagined in this gritty, contemporary novel. Richard Monaco has taken a slice of the Arthurian legend and created a thoroughly modern-minded re-imagining of the classic tale. Colorful medieval settings blend with a hard-edged look at human foibles and a romantic story of love and loss is narrated with a lean, contemporary sensibility to form a new, but still ageless, adventure that anyone can enjoy. 

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