Itemize Books During Robin Hood
| Original Title: | Robin Hood |
| ISBN: | 1853261270 (ISBN13: 9781853261275) |
| Edition Language: | English |
| Characters: | Maid Marian, Robin Hood |
| Setting: | Sherwood Forest, Nottinghamshire, England |
Henry Gilbert
Paperback | Pages: 288 pages Rating: 3.87 | 3249 Users | 88 Reviews
Identify Epithetical Books Robin Hood
| Title | : | Robin Hood |
| Author | : | Henry Gilbert |
| Book Format | : | Paperback |
| Book Edition | : | Special Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 288 pages |
| Published | : | January 5th 1998 by Wordsworth Editions (first published 1912) |
| Categories | : | Classics. Fiction. Historical. Historical Fiction |
Narrative To Books Robin Hood
This retrospective review is a real blast from my past, since I read this novel as a seven-year-old kid (I turned seven in 1959). Along with Stevenson's Treasure Island (which I read around the same time), it formed my lifelong liking for historical fiction, as well as a lifelong comfort with older, more formal diction patterns. (This was written in 1912 --and Gilbert actually employs an archaic, medieval-flavored style in the dialogue, and to a degree in the narration, which would have sounded very old-fashioned even back then.) It was also my first literary introduction to the whole Robin Hood mythos; I've read other novels about the forest-dwelling archer since then, but this one sort of became the mental template against which they're compared.Henry Gilbert (1868-1936) was a popular British author of adventure-oriented historical fiction who, as his preface here indicates, envisioned his audience as "healthy boys and girls," probably in their teens. (The view of him as primarily a boy's author comes from the sexist assumptions of the publishers who marketed his work.) I included the book on my "children's" shelf in deference to that background, and reprint editions continue to be marketed for kids and classified in those sections in many libraries. (The cover of the edition with the most linked reviews on Goodreads --and therefore the one that usually shows in a simple title search-- is actually a cartoonish one that makes the book seem intended for pre-schoolers; I think Gilbert would have found that one as disgusting as I do, and if he wasn't dead I suspect the publishers would have been sued.)
However, in the Bluefield College library (where I was responsible for having the book ordered), I saw to it that it was classified in the regular, not the Juvenile, collection. IMO, it's a book that some teens and tweens today could read and enjoy; but it's not a "kiddie" book in the sense that most of us think of those. The diction takes some degree of reading skill, though it wouldn't daunt an adult or a serious kid; the characters are adults, and think and act like adults, and there's nothing about the plotting or action that's dumbed-down to small-child level. (Gilbert doesn't use foul language or interject sexual content; but adult authors in his day didn't either, and those elements aren't needed to make a work "adult.") I'd say the primary audience today would be readers of all ages, from about 11-12 on, who are serious fans of adventure-oriented medieval fiction. Though I read it at seven, I wouldn't recommend it for most kids quite that young; some terms were over my head --I didn't know what "October brewing" was, for instance, being totally ignorant of ale-making-- and the use of lethal force against the bad guys was morally challenging to me at the time, with a child's innate sensibilities (although it's something I was able to work through).
Historical accuracy was a hallmark of Gilbert's writing, and he was thoroughly familiar with the whole corpus of about forty medieval ballads that constitute our primary sources for Robin's life. (The author was among those who believe the legends have a basis in fact, and that Robin was a real person, though the balladeers may have idealized him somewhat --but, as Gilbert observes, "that is what poets and writers are always expected to do.") Following the example of Sir Walter Scott in Ivanhoe, he locates Robin's prime in the late 1100s, making him a contemporary of Richard the Lion-Hearted and King John. He draws primarily on the oldest ballads for instances to re-tell, but he adds other events and characters of his own creation; all of these are handled very realistically, to give an authentic flavor of the time. There's a lively social and ethical awareness here; the injustices of feudalism are depicted quite clearly, and though Robin is an outlaw in an unjust legal system, he's an outlaw with a strong and genuine moral code. Maid Marian, who eventually becomes Robin's wife, is an important character, and the romance is one plot strand; but it doesn't overwhelm the other plot strands, and the treatment of it isn't bodice-ripping or sappy.
Besides this book, I can also heartily recommend Gilbert's The Book of Pirates, a collection of well-researched fictionalized re-tellings of the careers of notable pirates from Roman times down to the early modern era (which I read when I was a few years older).
Rating Epithetical Books Robin Hood
Ratings: 3.87 From 3249 Users | 88 ReviewsComment On Epithetical Books Robin Hood
In memory of my sweet Aunt Catherine. This book was hers, it was inscribed to her from her principal. It is one of the oldest books in my library and I will cherish it always.
My 9-year old picked this out as our read-aloud chapter book, and I got about a paragraph into it before thinking there was no way we would be finishing it. I figured he would change his mind after the first night and ask for a new book -- or maybe I was just hoping he would change his mind. Its medieval style filled with thees, thous and cansts wasn't exactly drawing me in either. However, my son never even suggested we give it, and we made it through the whole thing.Certainly, it was a
Robin Hood is a classic for all ages. I wish that I had read this sooner so that I would have more time in my life to reminisce and enjoy the adventures and characters. I will be sharing this story and hopefully filling my children's hearts with as much love for it as I have felt.
Want to turn a kid off reading or Robin Hood? Give him or her this book. Howard Pyle sticks out his tongue. He still reigns supreme.
Robin Hood is the best-loved outlaw of all literature, and one of the best-loved characters altogether. Henry Gilbert's version of the story proves it. The book is interesting to read, since it provides an explicit view over the hard past times in old England, over the people and the lands. Its action brings the suspense which will keep you entertained reading it till the very end, and its characters almost deliver their very feelings to you, as a reader. Robin Hood is finely designed, so that
Henry Gilbert (1868 - 1937) was a popular children's author who shared tales of the adventures of well known heroes, not only of Robin Hood, but also King Arthur, pirates and famous buccaneers, together with the conquests of Mexico and Peru.The original edition of Robin Hood was released in 1912, and Gilbert's sentences are dotted with frequent "thous, thees, hitherto, wold, shaw, hast" and other words rarely seen today. The dictionary assisted on more than one occasion. For example, the meaning
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