Le Morte d'Arthur

The first thing you need to know about this manuscript (it is actually eight books) is that the spelling of all the words is as Malory wrote them. Let me give an example by taking a random sentence or two:"Ryght so sir Launcelot departed, and whan he com to the Chapell-Perelus he alyght downe and tyed his horse unto a lytyll gate. And as sone as he was within the chyrche-yerde he sawe on frunte of the chapel many fayre rych shyldis turned up-so-downe, and many of the shyldis sir Launcelot had sene knyghtes bere byfore-hande."As you can see, if you read slowly and sound out the words, you can make perfect sense of what is written. The point is, it is a very slow read because you must take every word one at a time. It is also somewhat slow because the descriptions of the tournaments go on and on for many pages and introduce so many characters that it is difficult to keep track. This is especially true in the early books. I found Books 6, 7 and 8 to be more story-driven and engaging.That being said, it doesn't take long to adapt to the spelling and the language, but it is still always slow-going. However, that in itself is a feature of the time and the manuscript gives a genuine transportation to that period. Meanwhile, the stories themselves are fantastic and the characters as real and deep as anything you've ever read.For me, this manuscript was a more enjoyable way to read the legend than the modern-English versions (which I started but could never finish). It is well worth the extra effort.

Where do I begin? Watching the film Excalibur inspired me to try to track down this book. I found out shortly after that day of this edition. Boy am I glad I did. The illustrations, whether in color or black and white are absolutely beautiful and vivid. They transport you expertly in your mind to the place being depicted in the image. When I first opened this book I was reminded in a way of reading Scripture almost. This is VERY old English folks, but PLEASE do not let that deter you. It only takes a little while to get used to the wording and you can soon begin to appreciate the "flavor" of, and get lost in the world of this book. To me this is the quintessential story of ideals, one man's dream as he wanted to affect the world for the better, and the problems, trials, and triumphs in his trying to make that dream a reality. It has EVERYTHING. Chivalry, love, honor, family, friendship, conflict, malice, trust, betrayal, and spice too. There is something in here that will surely delight everyone. Just give yourself time to get used to the wording of the text. A glossary is provided for this purpose in the back of the book as well. I loved this text partly BECAUSE of the way it was written, it did not "modernize" or "dumb down" the words. The "flavor" is ancient, noble-sounding, and captivating. It MADE me want to slow down and actually READ this thing, to ABSORB the text and story, the world and the people that live in it. If STAR WARS is a trip to a galaxy far far away, this is a voyage to a past rich in ideals, ideas, and passions of the human heart and soul that seem to have grown either cold, taken for granted, or simply and quite sadly, forgotten in this modern age.Again...please do NOT be turned off by the archaic writing style. Kick back, open the book, and let it carry you away to a world of romance, beauty, adventure, and passion that has seldom, if ever been equalled in our time. I fell in love with this work, and I think you will too... it can put a spell on you... and draw you into a world that you may wish you never had to leave. Even when you close the book, the allure and beauty and romance of this work just may stay imprinted on your heart forever.

AUDIOBOOK REVIEW: I'm sure there are any number of more pleasurable books of which one could listen to audio versions, but sometimes it's good to buckle down and get acquainted with something that boasts more historical relevance than literary value. This text is a trial, not because of the language, which one becomes accustomed to easily enough, but because it possesses nothing of the pacing or narrative structures that characterize more modern novels. Events happen seemingly at random, people do things for no apparent reason, swords are stuck in stones (more than once!), the holy grail is so ubiquitous that it begs the question of why anyone would bother to go quest for it, and at no point does the author feel obliged to account for anyone's motivations or the inconsistencies of the plot. I doubt I would have the patience to get through this text if I were reading it on paper (although if you are interested, some nice older versions are digitized on googlebooks), but I'm somewhat enjoying the audiobook. For all the deficiencies of the narrative, Derek Jacobi's reading is nothing short of masterful, as one might expect. He gives the writing much more pungency than one might think possible, to the point where it can be almost humorous. His spirited delivery of the line "Nay, nay, my lord Arthur, it is not so; I was never your father nor of your blood, but I wot well ye are of an higher blood than I weened ye were," made me laugh so hard that I rewound and replayed it at least a half dozen times. Such interludes of levity are welcome in a text that can otherwise get quite ponderous, so I'm quite pleased with this production.

As usual Amazon has acted in their usual misleading and slipshod way and dumped all the reviews into one mega-review. I purchased this edition based on the statement that it was a faithful presentation of Caxton's edition - which would read like this ""Ryght so sir Launcelot departed, and whan he com to the Chapell-Perelus he alyght downe and tyed his horse unto a lytyll gate." However, the book is a translation by some unmentioned person. Probably not a bad translation, but NOT what is suggested.

Laborious reading. Requires patience and a major time commitment. After getting used to the language, many parts were quite enjoyable.

Interesting story of King Arthur. Differs a little from others I have read. Archaic language is a little hard to follow at times. Enjoyed reading it. A++

Beware if you're considering ordering this from Amazon. The version I ordered was listed as Le Morte D'Arthur but is actually a 40 page summary written in extra large style font which gives on the vaguest overview of the actual story.The listing is blatantly fraudulent on Amazon's part as they have provided no information whatsoever to allow the customer to learn this before the ordered item arrives and have posted it under the name and authorship of the original book. In addition, this extremely short summary is published by amazon themselves with no details whatsoever on authorship or publication within the book itself. This is NOT Le Morte D'Arthur by Mallory and is misleadingly listed.

I'm assuming this is what happens if one feeds the Winchester Manuscript into Google Translate. Always read the sample before you buy!

This was a very short childrens book - the 49 page version - i was looking for the complete works, i may have to do more research

Bought as a gift & was told 'most thoughtful secret Santa ever', they loved book & illustrations

The book was in decent condition, however the case was split. Nevertheless, not bad condition for a book of that age.