I enjoyed this novel a lot less than I thought I would. It's very dense and dry; it took me so long to get through because I had to be in a very concentrated mindset in order to keep from skimming through passages. Though I have to say, "Wishbone" skillfully condenses an old and complicated story into something extremely accessible, filled with mystery and intrigue. I did have a good time seeing the connections between "Ivanhoe" and the cast of "Robin Hood" (which I have read in the past). Seeing Friar Tuck and Allan-a-Dale. And it's mentioned that Gurth, one of Ivanhoe's servants, is the "son of Beowulph." Draw your own conclusions.
Upsides: I enjoyed trying to figure out who was who. There are several characters at the tourney such as the Black Knight and Locksley that I knew must be hiding their famous identities. But it wasn't until the end that they were revealed and that was fun to try and figure out. During the fast moments of serious plot point, I found "Ivanhoe" a page turner!
Downsides: I found this altogether too dry. I wanted to enjoy it so badly, but I almost put it back down after the first chapter of historical background to situate you in the story. I wanted to appreciate that too, but I had a really hard time getting into it. The action is very slow. And I had to remind myself that this book is very much a representation of the times with the way it presents Jewish people and Middle Eastern people. There were moments it was just painful to me how Isaac of York and his daughter were treated as Jews.
For the book being titled "Ivanhoe," you'd think that he'd be more present in the book. Almost for the entirety, Ivanhoe was overshadowed by a cast of strong vivid characters. Ivanhoe had about 4 major scenes in the book and he wasn't a strong character in any of them. To me, the book was more about the conflict between the Normans and the Saxons, the development of Isaac and Rebecca, and the events leading up to Richard's return to England. That part really disappointed me. I was expecting the story to be more from Ivanhoe's perspective and about his story. For the majority of the novel, he's sick and injured and being cared for. The other characters were much more detailed and interesting than Ivanhoe himself.
Overall rating: 2/5. It was a disappointment to me that the story wasn't about Ivanhoe and only featured small cameos of the character the book is titled for. I enjoyed the small snippets of quick action in the book, but they were far and few between. If you like a good dry, dense read, then maybe this is your thing. I wasn't a huge fan, so I wouldn't necessarily recommend this book for your reading pleasure.
But where one thing disappoints, another impresses!
Next up on my reading list, I'm planning to tackle some of the short stories that "Wishbone" covered so I can take on some novels outside of the Wishbone Project, specifically RuPaul's autobiography, "Lettin' it All Hang Out" and the fourth book in the "Game of Thrones" series. I don't expect any of those to take nearly as long as "Ivanhoe" took me, since none of them are as dense! I plan to be posting reviews and episode links of those short stories once a week or so, as I finish them. Thanks for bearing with me!
Happy reading (and watching!),
AJ
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