1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die

  • Gulliver's Travels
  • Roxana
  • Moll Flanders
  • Love In Excess
  • Robinson Crusoe
  • A Tale of a Tub
  • Oroonoko
  • The Princess of Cleves

Friday, April 27, 2012

71. Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott

I'd never read this before, and enjoyed it immensely.  It has all the Robin Hood characters plus King Richard vs  Prince John, and Saxons vs Normans, and Knights Templar (and others) vs an enchanting Jewish heroine.  And a romance (Ivanhoe and Rowena) which ends happily ever after.

It reminded me, in fact, of Game of Thrones.  If you like Game of Thrones by George R R Martin, it will make sense when I say that Scott has a footnote about a tower on an island with a causeway under the water that takes a sharp turn; and that a Saxon father disinherits his son for fighting for Richard and the Normans, and wearing Norman clothing.  Of course, if you haven't read Game of Thrones, this won't mean much.

Sir Walter Scott seems to be on the side of the Saxons, more than anyone else.

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