Ivanhoe (Penguin Classics)

During the recently contested NBA playoffs, one of the television networks advertised their coverage of this seemingly interminable series of games with the catchy phrase: "A Champion Will Rise". It was a brilliant marketing ploy, for both my wife, who is much more of a basketball fan than I, and I used this phrase often to provide prelude to the next game or series. It happened that I was reading Sir Walter Scott's wonderful novel, "Ivanhoe" during all of this. Imagine my surprise to discover that the marketing geniuses of 21st Century television were merely copying the lilting prose of Sir Walter Scott. For it was he who brought this phrase first to the attention of the literary world now nearly two hundred years ago in this highly and rightly esteemed novel.The novel is set in 12th Century England, a nation still in the process of recovering from the Norman conquest and the dislocation of the Crusades to the Holy Land. The ethnic conflict between Norman and Saxon is a major aspect of the novel, which is not portrayed as clearly in the excellent Hollywood movie that was based on the novel and which starred Robert Taylor as Ivanhoe and a young and stunningly beautiful Elizabeth Taylor as Rebecca of York. The historical setting is important. But far more important is Scott's illustrious portrayal of the very human aspects of nobility and integrity that he imputes to his characters. The asinine atheist Samuel Clemens, who used the pen name, Mark Twain, charges Sir Walter Scott with advancing these ideas of nobility and integrity, wrapped up in the concept of chivalry, into some wicked brew that forever tarnished the Old South, caused the Civil War(I kid you not. You can look it up.), and overturned, in the popular mind, the wonderful "blessings" of the French Revolution. Well, Sammy, the French Revolution was really not all it was cracked up to be. And the slaughter of innocent men, women, and children that was the most fundamental characteristic of the revolutionary time you hold so dear would have been disdained by sober observers of later years and prevented, with extreme vigor, by the chivalrous characters who populated Scott's novel.To these characters, we now must turn. The title character is Wilfred of Ivanhoe, a Knight of Saxon descent, who follows King Richard, the Lion-heart, to Palestine on his mad and glorious Crusade. By so doing, Wilfred alienates himself from his father, Cedric. King Richard, you see, was of Norman descent, and the aforementioned ethnic rivalry between Saxon and Norman caused Ivanhoe's Saxon father, Cedric to dispossess his son, Ivanhoe, for having had the temerity to engage in what Cedric held to be Richard's Norman foolishness. King Richard is also a major character in the novel. He is portrayed as more an adventurer than a sovereign. And this is perhaps an accurate depiction when we examine carefully the historical record. The jester, Wamba, another lowly Saxon, provides excellent comic relief and, when the situation calls for it, amazing courage and integrity. But perhaps the greatest character of the novel is Rebecca of York, the amazingly beautiful Jewish damsel who is as spiritually appealing as she was physically beautiful, if not more. In fact, the heading of this review is taken from a speech Scott imputes to Rebecca. She is to be tried for witchcraft by the sinister and woefully bigoted Grand Master of the Knights Templar, with the implicit idea that she is to be burned at the stake when the show trial finds her guilty. But Rebecca refuses all attempted bribes to renounce her faith, her character, her selfless actions, and her heritage. She holds rather, finally, that a champion will rise to defend her honor in trial by combat. One does. And his name is Ivanhoe. It is truly delicious.In all of this Rebecca of York emerges as perhaps the most unforgettable character in literature. I would have previously assigned this title to Victor Hugo's Jean Valjean. But the centricity of Rebecca's honor and integrity gives the great lie to the silly pretensions of Samuel Clemens, mentioned above. Scott's novel is first and foremost, I believe, about these wonderful human characteristics. And his characterization of the Jewish damsel, Rebecca of York, best exemplifies these fine principles. As we were watching the movie based on this novel, my wife looked over at me and said, effectively: "Modern Americans do not behave or even think like these characters any more. Most would not even understand."Her statement is true. And more's the pity. In this novel, Scott introduced the literary world to the legend of Robin Hood, the Prince of Thieves, to the glory that was Merry England when she was unified under One Faith but still divided by ethnic, and other, prejudices, and to so much more. We all need to read Scott's wonderful and timeless novel, and to reflect seriously on the characteristics so beautifully portrayed therein. God bless.

This is probably the most famous of Walter Scott's novels. It's quite enjoyable, although some of the antiquated text is a challenge to understand sometimes.

If you enjoy tales of knights, castles, and kings, then you owe a huge debt to Sir Walter Scott. A literary superstar and pop culture phenom in his day, this master of the historical novel was instrumental in reviving the public's interest in medieval times. With the publication of Ivanhoe in 1820, Scott created the sword-and-chivalry genre that is now represented by countless books, movies, TV shows, and Renaissance fairs.The story of Ivanhoe takes place at the end of the 12th century. While his knights return from a failed crusade to the holy land, King Richard the Lionheart is held captive in Austria. In his absence, his brother Prince John rules England with an oppressive and avaricious hand. The Normans, having conquered England in 1066, continue to treat the native Saxons as second class citizens in their own lands. One powerful Saxon noble, Cedric of Rotherwood, maintains a defiant attitude toward the Norman oppressors. He has even disinherited his son, Sir Wilfred of Ivanhoe, for serving the Norman King Richard. Cedric acts as guardian to Lady Rowena, a beautiful Saxon maiden, whom he hopes to marry off to a Saxon prince. Her heart, however, belongs to Wilfred of Ivanhoe. After an exciting tournament of jousting and melee, a group of Prince John's Norman minions led by Sir Brian de Bois-Guilbert, a fierce Templar Knight, captures Cedric and his retinue for nefarious reasons and holds them captive in the Castle of Torquilstone. To free them from the clutches of the Normans, a ragtag band of fellow Saxons lead a desperate attack on the castle.This is a rich, deep story with dozens of characters and a complex plot. Even Robin Hood and Friar Tuck make supporting appearances. Also included in Cedric's party are two Jews, Isaac of York and his daughter Rebecca, a mysterious beauty who practices the healing arts. The undeserved persecution of the Jews is one of the main themes of the novel, and Scott shows a great deal of sympathy for their plight. Rebecca forms one corner of a love quadrangle with Ivanhoe, Rowena, and Brian de Bois-Guilbert, yet her devotion to the faith of her ancestors places an impenetrable wall between the Jewish maiden and the gentile man she loves.The main problem with Ivanhoe is that it peaks in the middle. The siege of Torquilstone is really the highlight of the book, but when it's over there's still half a novel left. The plot of act two has the potential for an equally high level of drama, but gets sidetracked with several chapters of long conversations that just seem to lead circuitously to foregone conclusions. The back half of the book is satisfying, but lacks the drama and excitement of the front. It all leads to an ending which is a bit anticlimactic. Nevertheless, even in its dullest moments, Scott's prose is a joy to read. Each sentence is an elegantly crafted exemplar of the English language, and perfectly captures the romantic atmosphere of the middle ages. With so much epic grandeur, a story like this runs the risk of getting bogged down by its own pompous gravity, but Scott never fails to inject a refreshing dose of humor into the proceedings.Though it dabbles in folklore and myth, this is no fantasy novel. The story of Ivanhoe is firmly grounded in English history. There are plenty of thick woods, clammy dungeons, and fog-shrowded bogs, but you won't find any dragons, sorcerers, or supernatural apparitions. Ivanhoe is a great read for anyone who enjoys historical novels or adventure fiction. Its epic story and remarkable characters are truly unforgettable.

J'aime les auteurs qui, lorsqu'ils écrivent leurs histoires, arrivent à le faire de manière si détaillée qu'il m'est facile de me représenter mentalement ce que je lis. Dans ce roman, dès les premières pages, je me suis vu catapulté dans un film, de ceux qui m'ont toujours collé à l'écran sans jamais détourner mon attention. C'est le même effet que cette histoire m'a fait. Beaucoup d'action, de nombreux personnages bien décrits, des situations pleines d'adrénaline, une dose de mystère avec des références historiques très intéressantes. Ecriture précise et fluide.

I just wanted to finish off a book I left out in school after few pages because the pages were so old and worn out. But I absolutely didn't expect to meet characters other than Ivanhoe himself that were much bigger like Locksley and the lion heart . Thanks

アイバンホーが如何に描かれていたかを知るため、読み返そうとしたが、手持ちの本が古くなって読みにくかったので、パーパーバックを求めた。ヨーロッパ歴史を彩らせた主人公が大勢登場し、馬上槍試合や戦場での一対一の騎士の戦いを実況放送的な精緻さで描きだし、さらに伝説の義賊ロビンフッドの心の綾まで書きしるした傑作であることを再認識した。歴史小説なので、数世紀も異なる時代の話でも同時代にあったものとしているが、事実を曲解させるていないし、また架空の登場人物も実在の人を代表するものと考えることができるように描いているので、安心して読後の余韻にひたることができる。安いのには驚いたが、紙質があまりにもおそまつなので、少し読み進んで引き込まれるまでは読むことに抵抗があった。

this version is unintelligiable . It seems that the original text was translated to another language and then a 2nd translation was applied back to English . VERY annoying when buying classics ...why dont Amazon check their content.

Nonostante tutto un bel libro che necessita d'essere letto. Un misto di storia e leggenda. La vicenda è ambientata nell'Inghilterra del XII secolo all'epoca della reggenza di Riccardo I (detto Cuor di Leone). Forse Scott si abbandona troppo ai dettagli e ci sono pagine che risultano tediose. L'inglese pur non essendo modernissimo è scorrevole e comprensibile. Sono presenti un'introduzione e una cronologia dell'autore ampie. Alla fine del libro è presente anche un piccolo dizionarietto con traduzione in inglese moderno di alcuni termini + un'appendice di note al testo.