Monday, April 21, 2014

Impressions of Knight Life


Wow what a reading! One second I was smiling at the secret meanings behind all of Arthur’s words and the next I was feeling slightly uncomfortable with Morgan and Lance. By the end I was surprised with myself, I wanted to read more. Despite the fact that I found Morgan’s lines quite cheesy and Gwen to be annoying all over again, I was draw to Arthur’s portrayal and interested in seeing how the story plays out. And of course Merlin was the best part. I really enjoyed the mental image I had when I pictured him speaking, a snarky little kid with the soul of an old man. He is already my favorite character. I pictured him looking kind of like this:

Of course I found a lot of story  impractical, i.e. Arthur running into a burning building and coming out reasonably unscathed, or the fact that Merlin was kidnapped and no one seemed to notice (at least as far as I know due to the section cuts). I found myself really curious about the castle that supposedly in Central park and also the fact that Excalibur was invisible. And there was definitely an added charm to the way Arthur planned to run his campaign. It made me think, what would it actually be like if a candidate ran a campaign like that? Most people in America want the average joe who is above politics to be president, but we found that actually doesn’t work out very well (i.e. Jimmy Carter). So I wonder if Arthur would even make a good mayor. He probably would reform the whole system so he doesn’t have to deal with the politics, but would the laws allow him to do so? And if he gets elected, does he realize he as to run again later? Can’t be mayor forever like you are king. Interesting food for thought, which I guess can only be answered by reading the book!
Anyway, The evil demons gave it an added plus, I’m always up for a bit of magic. I will say that I found their speech patterns, especial Gwen and Morgan, to be extremely cheesy and annoying, but maybe the author just can’t capture the female voice well. Either way I was still pleasantly surprised by Knight Life, and may even read it over the summer. Compared to all prior readings Knight Life seems to be filled with humor and is pretty light hearted (whether that was intentional or not, I am unsure). I think I could see myself reading it just to have a nice, comical escape from the real world. I enjoyed Mists of Avalon but this was different (in sooo many ways). It was just lighter and easy to read.  I enjoyed catching little tidbits of Camelot references.

In the end I definitely will be purchasing a cheap copy of this book, for the laughs at least. 

3 of 5

4 comments:

  1. I really like your photo representation on Merlin. I can picture him looking similar to this too since he is intelligent yet sassy. The glasses really make his look !!

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  2. I agree with probably trying to find a cheap copy somewhere. It is for sure weird but it has a certain level of comedy while also being bad enough that I may occasionally need to throw it against the wall. The female voices were annoying and didn't seem to fit with the characters that well. But that may just be me.

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  3. I would also consider reading this book and I don't read often, unless it's assigned. Oddly enough the most memorable part of this course will be Lancelot though out all the readings and Merlin as a sassy 9 year old boy.

    Also, I really tried to read this in the mindset of the 80s so even though I hate Gwen's character it made more sense in the context of time.

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  4. I agree with what you said about the female characters as well as the Merlin being kidnapped thing. I was like "does not one notice the small boy has disappeared? No? Okay." I found this reading to be pleasantly surprising like you but like Katie I would feel the need to throw it against a wall occasionally. I like you thoughts on what it would really be like if Arthur got elected.

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