Percival and the Presense of God: Young Percival's Quest for King Arthur & the Holy Grail

I love the Arthurian legends, from Geoffrey of Monmouth to the latest claptrap. The themes are timeless, the characters ever-mutating, and the styles used in presenting the tales tell us more of the writer's time than of Arthur's, assuming he even existed. This was a book I had heard of for many year, but had never been able to read. I would suggest that anyone reading this book already be familiar with the outlines of the Quest for the Holy Grail at a minimum; better yet, know your Chretien de Troyes very well and have a good grounding in the Arthur-as-Welsh-Celt school of writing. Aside from that, this is a very sparse book, not as in there is nothing to it, but the style and action is kept minimal. It ends more or less where Chretien ended his tales -- almost midsentence.The tone is devastating. There seems little hope in Percival's world. There had been hope recently -- the evidence is all around, but it has passed. This is a tale of a quest incomplete, of a searcher thwarted. It is a sad tale, sad to the core, as blasted as the Wastelands.Read it if you have a love for these tales, but keep a happier book nearby for afters...