The Corner That Held Them by Sylvia Townsend Warner is an account of a Benedictine convent during the Black Death and the daily life and routines, the social structure and the power struggles within the community and in it's relations with the outside world. It's a very immersive book of the sights and smells and sounds of daily life. The characters are vividly drawn with a rich inner life and the writing is clear and warm and a joy to read.
The Grail legend still grips us because it’s not just story but symbol. A symbol, in its deepest sense, gathers the visible and invisible into one reality. That’s why Arthurian legend feels timeless rather than specifically medieval.
The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett and The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley definitely belong in this list, especially for the more modern takes in these ancient stories
Great list. Ivanhoe is on my top five list of favorite all time books. If I could humbly add a couple more suggestions I would add Charles Reades' The Cloister and the Hearth, and Ellis Peters' Brother Cadfael series of books, which total up to 21 different novels. Both these works are set in the middle ages and are incredible reads.
I would argue that Horace Walpole's The Castle of Otranto revived interest in medieval culture in the eighteenth century far more than Walter Scott's Ivanhoe did almost three quarters of a century later. Even more interestingly, Thomas Warton's Observations on the Faerie Queene of Spenser and Richard Hurd's Letters on Chivalry and Romance made the claim that medieval and romantic studies are a valid literary as well as historical pursuit a decade or so before Otranto was presented to the public. But I would probably agree that none of these works of literary history have the clout Otranto, let alone Scott's Ivanhoe, does.
A World Lit only by Fire by William Manchester gives a good picture of that world.
Oh, this one is in my "To be read" pile - will get on it!
Great book.
Ooh - I'd add Kristin Lavransdatter by Sigrid Undset.
I believe they made a movie about “The Name of the Rose”, with Sean Connery.
I loved the book and did not feel that the movie even came close to representing it.
Yes, a horrible one at that....
Familiar with all except Orlando Furioso. Will need to take a look at it. Thank you for this compilation.
The Corner That Held Them by Sylvia Townsend Warner is an account of a Benedictine convent during the Black Death and the daily life and routines, the social structure and the power struggles within the community and in it's relations with the outside world. It's a very immersive book of the sights and smells and sounds of daily life. The characters are vividly drawn with a rich inner life and the writing is clear and warm and a joy to read.
Barbara Tuchman’s “A Distant Mirror “ remains one of my favorite books, probably 45 years after I first read it.
The Grail legend still grips us because it’s not just story but symbol. A symbol, in its deepest sense, gathers the visible and invisible into one reality. That’s why Arthurian legend feels timeless rather than specifically medieval.
The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett and The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley definitely belong in this list, especially for the more modern takes in these ancient stories
Was about to comment Pillars of the Earth!
Great list. Ivanhoe is on my top five list of favorite all time books. If I could humbly add a couple more suggestions I would add Charles Reades' The Cloister and the Hearth, and Ellis Peters' Brother Cadfael series of books, which total up to 21 different novels. Both these works are set in the middle ages and are incredible reads.
Undset's Kristin Lavransdatter ought to be on any list about medieval books.
No 'The Corner That Held Them' by Sylvia Townsend Warner?
Would definitely swap that for Ivanhoe any day of the week…
What?! No Song of Roland?!!
guess this is a sign to finally read the name of the rose…
It's the first book I read as an adult that made me love reading again after high school had all but killed it. It's so good.
What about Don Quijote?
I would argue that Horace Walpole's The Castle of Otranto revived interest in medieval culture in the eighteenth century far more than Walter Scott's Ivanhoe did almost three quarters of a century later. Even more interestingly, Thomas Warton's Observations on the Faerie Queene of Spenser and Richard Hurd's Letters on Chivalry and Romance made the claim that medieval and romantic studies are a valid literary as well as historical pursuit a decade or so before Otranto was presented to the public. But I would probably agree that none of these works of literary history have the clout Otranto, let alone Scott's Ivanhoe, does.
List is lowkey lacking if you don’t have Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett. Might be my favorite book I’ve ever read though so I’m biased