Victor Gijsbers Bookwyrm reviewed Orlando Furioso by Ludovico Ariosto
Sublime masterwork
5 stars
Orlando Furioso, the 16th century chivalric epic by Orlando Furioso, is one of the great masterworks of European literature. It has everything: one-on-one fights, big battles, horrible monsters, strange cities, and weird magic, yes; but also humorous asides, overviews of European history, funny sex stories, romance, soap opera, and incredibly modern discussions of the role of women in society -- a topic where Ariosto is ahead of many 21st century authors. It starts good, and then it becomes better and better! Of course the central idea, that the book will show us how the Muslim armies attack Charlemagne are defeated by the Christians (except for those who convert to Christianity) is a bit uncomfortable, but Ariosto is about as uninterested in religion as you can be while writing a book with this central idea and being paid by a leader of the Catholic Church. I can't recommend it enough.
The …
Orlando Furioso, the 16th century chivalric epic by Orlando Furioso, is one of the great masterworks of European literature. It has everything: one-on-one fights, big battles, horrible monsters, strange cities, and weird magic, yes; but also humorous asides, overviews of European history, funny sex stories, romance, soap opera, and incredibly modern discussions of the role of women in society -- a topic where Ariosto is ahead of many 21st century authors. It starts good, and then it becomes better and better! Of course the central idea, that the book will show us how the Muslim armies attack Charlemagne are defeated by the Christians (except for those who convert to Christianity) is a bit uncomfortable, but Ariosto is about as uninterested in religion as you can be while writing a book with this central idea and being paid by a leader of the Catholic Church. I can't recommend it enough.
The Dutch translation by Ike Cialona, in perfect verse, is brilliant. If you read this in some other translation, make sure you get a good one. There are some out-of-copyright English translations that feel stilted and would just be a slog to get through; this book deserves far better than that!