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The discovery of King Arthur
Par Geoffrey Ashe. 2020
"The legend of King Arthur and his castle Camelot has gripped people's imagination for centuries. It has inspired numerous poems…
- from Thomas Malory's Le Morte D'Arthur in the 5th Century to Tennyson's Idylls of the King in 1859 - novels, books and paintings. On into the modern age, it has been filmed and refilmed, with the iconic imagery of the sword, the magician Merlin, Queen Guinevere and the Knights of the Round Table. But who was Arthur? Did he ever exist and if so, where was Camelot? In this classic study, drawing upon myriad sources both literary and historical, the world's leading Arthurian scholar Geoffrey Ashe digs deep into the important 12th century chronicles of Geoffrey of Monmouth to trace the origins of the myth. Through brilliant historical detective work, he shows that much of Monmouth's history, which sets out to describe 5th-century Britain, was based on fact. After challenging previous assumptions about where Arthur's court and other remnants can be found Ashe identifies the "real" King Arthur and provides powerful evidence to support his theory. Ashe is a leading proponent of the theory that Camelot was actually located in Somerset, rather than Cornwall, citing an archaeological dig which found remains beneath Cadbury Castle. "I would say there must have been a tradition about the hill and its powerful overlord, handed down from the Dark Ages". Throughout The Discovery of King Arthur, the sweep and grandeur of a tumultuous era in British history is vividly recounted as Ashe investigates how the character of Arthur evolved, and how the ideals of chivalry and heroism he personifies came to occupy such a dominant place in British history." -- AmazonHasta que las piedras se vuelvan más ligeras que el agua
Par António Lobo Antunes. 2017
António Lobo Antunes, «el mejor autor vivo de Portugal», regresa a los fantasmas de la guerra de Angola con una…
novela vertiginosa marcada por la violencia de la colonización y el racismo. «António Lobo Antunes ha levantado otra novela-catedral. Sobre la memoria, el sufrimiento,la pérdida, el amor y todas las cosas frágiles, casi indecibles, que se nos escapan o nos faltan».José Mario Silva, ExpressoHasta que las piedras se vuelvan más ligeras que el agua es un libro vertiginoso, violento y, por momentos, duro. Maestro de la prosa introspectiva, António Lobo Antunes teje en esta novela coral un tapiz en el que las emociones fluyen en una danza hipnótica, entre pasado y presente. En las calles empedradas de Lisboa, las voces de múltiples generaciones resuenan en una desgarradora sinfonía. A través de los ojos y los corazones de personajes inolvidables, Lobo Antunes nos guía por las vidas de una familia marcada por la violencia y los secretos, los amores prohibidos y los deseos inconfesables. Hasta que las piedras se vuelvan más ligeras que el agua es una novela que desafía las convenciones literarias, y que invita al lector a explorar la naturaleza de la identidad, de la pérdida y de las relaciones personales. Lobo Antunes edifica otra obra maestra que discurre como un río melancólico, arrastrándonos en su corriente mientras nos sumerge en una experiencia de lectura que perdurará mucho después de haber vuelto la última página. Una novela, en definitiva, donde las palabras se convierten en un espejo de las almas, capturando la esencia misma del ser humano. La crítica ha dicho:«Las escenas de Lobo Antunes están animadas por la poesía de lo cotidiano y teñidas de la autoparodia más fina».J.M. Coetzee «El heredero de Conrad y Faulkner».George Steiner «Lobo Antunes muestra empatía hacialas contradicciones de los sentimientos humanos. Es un escritor de sangre caliente».The New York Times Book Review «Uno de los retratistas psicológicos más hábiles».The New Yorker «Leer la prosa del más grande escritor portugués, que es también uno de los más grandes escritores de su época, es una experiencia rara, inquietante y, al mismo tiempo, cautivadora».Bruno Corty, Le Figaro«Un autor con una facilidad prodigiosa para atrapar obras maestras que dentro de cinco mil años, en arcilla o en polvo de estrellas, continuará siendo leído con pasión».El PaísThe Long Song: Shortlisted for the Booker Prize (Nhb Modern Plays Ser.)
Par Andrea Levy. 2010
Now a major BBC TV drama, starring Tamara Lawrance, Lenny Henry and Hayley Atwell.A Sunday Times bestseller (2011), shortlisted for…
the Man Booker Prize, The Long Song by Andrea Levy is a hauntingly beautiful, heartbreaking and unputdownable novel of the last days of slavery in Jamaica, for those who loved Homegoing, The Underground Railroad, or the film 12 Years a Slave.'A marvel of luminous storytelling' Financial TimesYou do not know me yet. My son Thomas, who is publishing this book, tells me, it is customary at this place in a novel to give the reader a little taste of the story that is held within these pages. As your storyteller, I am to convey that this tale is set in Jamaica during the last turbulent years of slavery and the early years of freedom that followed.July is a slave girl who lives upon a sugar plantation named Amity and it is her life that is the subject of this tale. She was there when the Baptist War raged in 1831, and she was present when slavery was declared no more. My son says I must convey how the story tells also of July's mama Kitty, of the negroes that worked the plantation land, of Caroline Mortimer the white woman who owned the plantation and many more persons besides - far too many for me to list here. But what befalls them all is carefully chronicled upon these pages for you to peruse.Perhaps, my son suggests, I might write that it is a thrilling journey through that time in the company of people who lived it. All this he wishes me to pen so the reader can decide if this is a novel they might care to consider. Cha, I tell my son, what fuss-fuss. Come, let them just read it for themselves.Djeha, the North African Trickster
Par Christa C. Jones. 2023
Djeha—also known as Juha, Jeh’a, and Ch’ha, among many variations—is an iconic figure, the trickster hero of an oral folktale…
tradition that has existed for centuries. The famous Maghrebian prankster is a poor, cunning, and resourceful character that delights in immoral behavior. Orientalists Auguste Mouliéras (1855-1931) and René Basset (1855-1924) were among the first Frenchmen to collect and translate popular Berber folktales. Today, trickster folktales from Algeria’s mountainous Kabylia region are not well known in the Anglophone world, even though they continue to be highly popular in France and in North Africa. Djeha, the North African Trickster is an annotated, critical translation of Auguste Mouliéras’s folktale collection Les Fourberies de Si Djeh’a, first published in French in 1892.The volume contains sixty tales and an in-depth introduction in which Christa C. Jones discusses jocular literature in Islam, the widespread oral folktale tradition linked to Djeha and his Turkish twin brother Nasreddin Hoca, and the impact of colonialism on the gathering and dissemination of the tales. The trickster is at the center of six themed chapters: “Family and Kinship”; “Animal Tales"; “Faces, Places, or Daily Life in the Village"; “Foodways”; “The Intricacies of Hospitality: Beware of Friends and Foes!"; and “Religion, Death, and the Afterlife.” Each chapter contains ten folktales preceded by a short introduction that contextualizes the pieces using historical, folkloristic, literary, and ethnographical sources. Ultimately, the book contributes to the preservation of an ancestral oral heritage, delivering this enduring character to new audiences.Early Irish Myths and Sagas
Par Jeffrey Gantz. 1981
First written down in the eighth century AD, these early Irish stories depict a far older world - part myth,…
part legend and part history. Rich with magic and achingly beautiful, they speak of a land of heroic battles, intense love and warrior ideals, in which the otherworld is explored and men mingle freely with the gods. From the vivid adventures of the great Celtic hero Cu Chulaind, to the stunning 'Exile of the Sons of Uisliu' - a tale of treachery, honour and romance - these are masterpieces of passion and vitality, and form the foundation for the Irish literary tradition: a mythic legacy that was a powerful influence on the work of Yeats, Synge and Joyce.Comic Sagas and Tales from Iceland
Par Viðar Hreinsson. 2013
Comic Sagas and Tales brings together the very finest Icelandic stories from the thirteenth to the fifteenth centuries, a time…
of civil unrest and social upheaval. With feuding families and moments of grotesque violence, the sagas see such classic mythological figures as murdered fathers, disguised beggars, corrupt chieftains and avenging sons do battle with axes, words and cunning. The tales, meanwhile, follow heroes and comical fools through dreams, voyages and religious conversions in medieval Iceland and beyond. Shaped by Iceland's oral culture and their conversion to Christianity, these stories are works of ironic humour and stylistic innovation.Njal's Saga
Par Leifur Eiricksson, Robert Cook. 1997
Written in the thirteenth century, Njal's Saga is a story that explores perennial human problems-from failed marriages to divided loyalties,…
from the law's inability to curb human passions to the terrible consequences when decent men and women are swept up in a tide of violence beyond their control. It is populated by memorable and complex characters like Gunnar of Hlidarendi, a powerful warrior with an aversion to killing, and the not-so-villainous Mord Valgardsson. Full of dreams, strange prophecies, violent power struggles, and fragile peace agreements, Njal's Saga tells the compelling story of a fifty-year blood feud that, despite its distance from us in time and place, is driven by passions familiar to us all. This Penguin Classics edition includes an introduction, chronology, index of characters, plot summary, explanatory notes, maps, and suggestions for further reading.The Anthology of Scottish Folk Tales
Par History Press Uk. 2019
This enchanting collection of stories gathers together legends from across Scotland in one special volume. Drawn from The History Press’…
popular Folk Tales series, herein lies a treasure trove of tales from a wealth of talented storytellers. From the Spaeman’s peculiar advice and a laird who is transformed into a frog, to a fugitive hiding in a dark cave and the stoor worm battling with Assipattle, this book celebrates the distinct character of Scotland's different customs, beliefs and dialects, and is a treat for all who enjoy a well-told story.Writings on Irish Folklore, Legend and Myth (Penguin Modern Classics)
Par William Yeats. 1993
This collection brings together all of W. B. Yeats’s published prose writings on Irish folklore, legend and myth, with pieces…
on subjects including ghosts, kidnappers, fairies, ancient tribes, precious stones and Gaelic love songs. Through his researches on Irish folklore, Yeats attempted to create a movement in literature that was enriched by and rooted in a vital native tradition. In this volume Yeats’s essays, introductions and sketches are presented chronologically, giving a clear picture of how his analysis developed, increasing in its depth and complexity in his quest to create an Ireland of the imagination.