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Title: In a Dark Wood Wandering/a Novel of the Middle Ages by Hella Haase ISBN: 0-89733-356-X Publisher: Academy Chicago Publishers Pub. Date: 01 May, 1991 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $21.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.07 (14 reviews)
Rating: 2
Summary: Sadly Disappointed
Comment: I was very disappointed in this book. Perhaps because of the number of good reviews it received, I had expected something phenomenal. It's a long book, and it covers a great many number of years and key historical events and people. But I can learn that from a history text. As a novel, I expected something more. We follow the House of Orleans, and the plight of France through a short peroid of the Hundred Years War. It is truly an interesting time period, and the author's ability to capture the difficulties of all classes and especially the victims of political maneuvering was very good. But I had no sympathy whatsoever for the main characters... it's true that there are so many players to consider in this piece, but there was really no getting to know any of the characters... except perhaps the "main-main" character Charles, Duke of Orleans. But even he was a bit flat. I already know this time period, so the events were already well-known to me... I figure that if an author is going to take the time to make up dialogue, s/he can do a bit more in trying to build up the characters who execute that dialogue. And although I understand she is covering a great many years, we already know that quantity does not make up for quality. It's just too dry. Sorry to say, I much prefer a history text than this book. It's more concise.
Rating: 5
Summary: Most challenging but definitely worth it...
Comment: I believe I am an average person with average intelligence...I don't usually choose books that are so difficult and challenging as this one but I am very happy that I did and that I stuck with it. I read the reviews here before starting and am thankful for the advice to "hang in there" through the first 50-100 pages; definitely the most difficult part of the book. After that I was hooked!
The storytelling here is wonderful and spellbinding! I found myself within the pages and deeply involved within the characters lives. After finishing the book I wanted to learn more and actually researched online some of the main characters (since so much of the book is based on fact).
Definitely give this story a chance, give your brain a challenge and keep a dictionary nearby if need be, but do it. I believe you won't regret it!
Rating: 2
Summary: Can't decide to keep it or sell it
Comment: As far as readability goes, this book pretty much stinks. The author follows tenaciously the life of Charles D'Orleans, whose father was the brother of King Charles the Mad. Now, most historical fiction that I have read focuses on characters that actually DO something. Napoleon. Louis XIV. Henry VIII. But Charles of Orleans (at least as he is portrayed here) is a spectator of the parade of life. Haase glosses over Joan of Arc and her importance to France's history in just a few paragraphs here and there - giving the basics but not really involving us in Joan's work - while spending chapters and chapters describing Charles' 25-year captivity in England. He sits and stares out windows. He composes poems. He thinks about his brothers and what is happening in France. Why has this book been *wasted* writing about this dreary portion of Charles' life?! The book is lackluster. At points it is strongly written, but most of it was skimworthy.
Also, throughout the book various characters make reference to a popular medieval image called "The Forest of Long Awaiting." Many times. Yet the publisher's introduction says that he, Haase and the translator fought over and discarded several possible titles for the English version of the book. In the end they decided on the title used, which is a quote from Dante. Why did they not use "The Forest of Long Awaiting"?? I just don't understand this. "The Forest of Long Awaiting" appears to be very close to the original Dutch title. Why then the long debates with the publisher, author and translator?
I'm strongly inclined to get rid of it, but it does cover (however sketchily) a part of European history that I was vague on, so I will probably keep it.
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Title: The Sunne in Splendour by Sharon Kay Penman ISBN: 0345363132 Publisher: Ballantine Books Pub. Date: 01 January, 1990 List Price(USD): $15.95 |
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Title: A Bloody Field by Shrewsbury by Edith Pargeter ISBN: 0747233667 Publisher: Headline Book Publishing Pub. Date: 01 August, 1991 List Price(USD): $12.99 |
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Title: Dragon's Lair: A Medieval Mystery by Sharon Kay Penman ISBN: 0399150773 Publisher: Putnam Publishing Group Pub. Date: 09 October, 2003 List Price(USD): $23.95 |
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Title: Threshold of Fire: A Novel of Fifth Century Rome by Hella S. Haasse, Anita Miller, Nini Blinstrub ISBN: 0897334264 Publisher: Academy Chicago Publishers Pub. Date: 01 August, 1997 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
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Title: The Brothers of Gwynedd: Comprising, Sunrise in the West, the Dragon at Noonday, the Hounds of Sunset, Afterglow and Nightfall by Edith Pargeter, Ellis Peters ISBN: 0747232679 Publisher: Headline Book Publishing Pub. Date: 01 October, 1990 List Price(USD): $16.99 |
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