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A wonderful retelling of the legendary story of Parzival, the knight who is given the task of finding the Holy Grail. In the same vein as Seamus Heaney's Beowulf but written as magically as The Alchemist. "If you are to appear before the High King in his court, you'd better have the proper finery," his mother said craftily. "Let me see what I can do." So she cut a tabard out of old sackcloth and a rough pair of buskins out of calf-skin. "And you must have a plume, such as knights wear on their helmets," she said, threading the stems of holly leaves through the crown of his cowl so that he looked like a savage green man from the woods. And so, Parzival arrives at King Arthur's court: a holy fool whom all the knights in that glittering company will mock.' Yet in a world ravaged by war, a world in which men are ruled by fear, hatred and distrust, there is a need for a champion who is innocent of heart and pure of spirit. Arthur's knights are proud and corrupt: none has yet succeeded in finding the Grail, the stone of healing which has the power to make life whole again. But Parzival's destiny may prove greater than that of any other knight!
A naive, forest-raised youth arrives at the court of King Arthur, unaware that his innocence is the only weapon capable of healing a fractured, war-torn kingdom. Parzival, dressed in crude sackcloth and holly leaves, faces immediate ridicule from the sophisticated and corrupt knights of the Round Table. His objective is to locate the elusive Holy Grail, a task that has defeated every seasoned warrior before him. The narrative follows his transformation from a social outcast into a spiritual champion, navigating a world defined by deep-seated fear and political decay. The story is presented through a lyrical, mythic lens that emphasizes the contrast between the protagonist's purity and the cynical reality of his environment.
This retelling is characterized by its focus on the intersection of ancient myth and contemporary relevance. The narrative structure suggests a deliberate attempt to strip away the romanticized veneer of Arthurian legend to expose the underlying human struggle for integrity. Readers often note the contrast between the protagonist's initial absurdity and the gravity of his eventual spiritual burden. The prose style is frequently cited for its evocative, almost fable-like quality that grounds the fantastical elements in a recognizable emotional reality. The work functions as a meditation on the necessity of innocence in a world dominated by cynicism and conflict.
Page Count:
284
Publication Date:
2003-01-01
Publisher:
Voyager
ISBN-10:
0007109296
ISBN-13:
9780007109296
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