A tale of the young Percival of Arthurian legend. Freely adapted from Malory and Chrtien de Troyes, this intense, thoughtful work tells of Percival's dual quest for Arthur and the Grail, and of the... This description may be from another edition of this product.
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...
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