The death of King Arthur

Thomas Malory's Le morte d'Arthur : a retelling

No cover

Peter Ackroyd: The death of King Arthur (2010, Penguin Classics)

316 pages

English language

Published Jan. 8, 2010 by Penguin Classics.

OCLC Number:
640084042

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2 stars (1 review)

1 edition

Review of 'The death of King Arthur' on Goodreads

2 stars

Essentially a collection of a hundred or so vignettes (I didn't bother to count), this book seems incredibly mis-titled because Arthur's death is only the last section. Even calling it The Life of King Arthur would've been incorrect, as his story really only bookends the collection. Not even bookending it, actually, as it starts with Merlin and finishes with both Guinevere and Lancelot. So if stories of Merlin, Guinevere, and Lancelot are the bread of this sandwich, Arthur's account is the butter--how he went from peasant boy to literature's most regal cuckold...and accumulated the service of 150 knights along the way. It is really their exploits that make up the bulk of the book.

And let me tell you how frustrating their exploits are. It is basically just story after story of non-graphic sex and violence, where supposedly honorable knights fight each other over insults or else follow some mysterious …

Subjects

  • Camelot (Legendary place)
  • Fiction