Sunday, December 27, 2020

Ivanhoe

 Sir Walter Scott wrote Ivanhoe in 1819 and continues to be highly popular.  I read this in high school and thoroughly enjoyed it.  Did anyone have a problem reading this novel?

I only ask because I just watched a you tube video by someone who published an edited version which eliminated all the extraneous material making it much shorter.

I guess I will have to reread this to see if this was necessary.  

The length of a novel has not necessarily been a deterrent for me.  I recall reading The Prince of India by Lew Wallace.  I loved this two-volume 1,000 page adventure and preferred it to his more popular publication of Ben-Hur.  When I finished, I decided I would like a shorter novel.  My sister recommended The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings.  

After this "shorter" read which I enjoyed,  I thought I would try The Count of Monte Cristo. It was only 600 pages so I whipped through it and had great fun.  However, I was very disappointed when I discovered the 600 page version was pretty much the Reader's Digest version.  

I guess I will have to reread The Count of Monte Cristo after I reread Ivanhoe.

Any suggestions for a short novel?

1 comment:

Annehueser said...

I'd suggest The Little Prince but I think you should wait until you can read it in French.

I read Scott on my Kindle and I find that I most enjoy 20% to 80% in the book. So I skim the beginning and the end.