"A Knight Life at Avalon High" By King Gary

Last week was very stressful and trying to get to the blog was the least of my worries (my bad).  I wanted to first share my thoughts on “Knight Life” before I head into thoughts on Avalon High. With “Knight Life”, I did enjoy the take on Arthur coming to terms with the modern times and seeing the familiar characters from previous readings.  I wasn’t into the political aspect of the story even though it did give the story a new twist on the Arthurian legend.  I did like the topics the reporters gave Arthur, including abortions and gun control.  I felt, like we discussed in class, that Arthur was honest with regards to his answers to those topics, even though the reporters thought his opinion as controversial.  I liked this outspoken Arthur, because he wasn’t afraid to speak his mind, even if it wasn’t appropriate.  I really enjoyed the fight scene between Arthur and the waiter.  It brought back that sense of the heroic Arthur who fought the waiter/demon.  After reading these excerpts and discussing the author, Peter David, I did some further research and found out that he was actually in charge of running Marvel’s Incredible Hulk.  More relatively, David did a sequel to “Knight Life” and made “One Knight Only” which depicts Arthur Penn as President.  I would think this would be another interesting read to future classes…perhaps.

http://images.barnesandnoble.com/images/7450000/7451572.jpg 

On a side note, I was watching a movie this weekend that had a scene relevant to King Arthur.  If anyone has heard of the movie, The World’s End, there was once scene where the main character, Gary (also refers himself as King Gary…actual name is Gary King) gets mad because one of his friends won’t drink beer.  He makes fun of him by asking if King Arthur asked for water after he fought in countless battles. I wish I could find a clip of this scene.  It is harder to explain because it’s funnier when the whole scene is played through.   Check it out if you want, it’s a great film either way.

http://collider.com/wp-content/uploads/the-worlds-end-bathroom-fight-slice.jpg
 

                As for Avalon High…I feel like this was the most interesting read from this class.  Don’t get me wrong, I did like the epic Grail Quest and the tale of Arthur’s youth, but this interpretation was actually a guilty pleasure.  I enjoyed all the drama and seeing the characters as high school students (and Merlin as a teacher) I would definitely keep this as a future read for other classes.  Even though some parts were a bit cheesy or over dramatic, it’s a teen drama, which means the audience is going to be people of that demographic who thrive off that stuff.  The story overall was very different than what I expected.  It was like King Arthurian times met any typical high school movie. However, I would have very much read this book than watching the movie on Disney.  After hearing all the reviews, I’m glad I missed out on such a terrible film adaptation. Enjoy the photo.

https://i.chzbgr.com/maxW500/5639407616/h39A6630F/

 

-JH