The book has some flaws, but the modern style of romantic adventure novels was in its infancy. The minor characters are well treated, and the love story more complicated than some. ( )

Sal�n

A tale as the Saxons and Normans were beginning to compete for control of England. Yet, if aware a more profound and controversial secondary commentary also clearly comes through.

Scott’s used Ivanhoe to make a not-so-subtle criticism of the medieval church. Bois-Guilbert, aTemplar Knight, kidnaps Rebecca and threatens to defile her. A clergyman, Prior Aymer, who's reputation of worldly acts such as cavorting with women, and drinks excessively. The church, highly political and hostile to the Jewish race. Anti-Semitism plays into Bois-Guilbert’s decision to put Rebecca on trial. Rebecca, a Jew, proves to be the most genuinely faithful and God-fearing character in the book. ( )

¡Sí, estos son mis libros de la niñez! … Y en éste, y otros volúmenes a los que reúno bajo EDICIONES PEUSER, deseo rendir un humilde homenaje en primer lugar, a esta gran editorial que iluminó con literatura, a una innumerable cantidad de familias (como la mía), de conocimiento y pasión por la vida.
Y vaya también las gracias a mi padre por su visión, al acercarme estas joyas literarias a mis ojos anhelantes de colosales mundos nuevos, y despacharlos colmados de viajes… entre simples baldosas.
( )

And here I was thinking I going to read another dusty old poem from the middle-ages written by some anonymous nobody. NOPE! This is in fact a historical fiction novel written in the early 19th century by Sir Walter Scott. One of those classics I clearly didn't really look into until later in my life.

For the most part I really liked Ivanhoe. Good writing, adventurous, and even a page turner. The main reason I wanted to read this book was Robin Hood. Even though he appears in a few chapters, my inner child loved his parts. As I've grown up though I've become interested in King Richard and Prince John as well.

My only negative thought on this book was the way it was written. As I said it well written, but it's difficult. It took me awhile to get into the langue. There are phrases and world that we don't use today and I wasn't use to as well. Penguin's edition has a ton of notes to make it a little easier. It's probably a good thing I recently read Robin Hood earlier this year too, which as a similar style of English.

I'm really glad I read this though. I'll admit knights and the middle-ages can get a little boring for me because I kind of think it's an overdone genre. Yet here I am reading and liking a book that takes place during the Crusades, then again I like Robin Hood. ( )

It is hard to know what to say about Ivanhoe. It is part Robin Hood style adventure, part history and full of thematic richness. I was surprised that Ivanhoe himself figures into this tale somewhat sporadically. There are many characters who receive more in depth development, and the Jewess Rebecca is more fully developed than the heroine, Rowena.

The attitudes toward Jews in the novel make one uncomfortable in the same way that you feel when reading The Merchant of Venice. It is obvious that Scott himself does not sanction this view of Jews, but even the characters who admire and are helped by Rebecca make comments regarding being defiled by her presence or touch. I constantly had to attempt to put myself into the time in question and remind myself that this is history and to have written it any other way would have been false.

It is easy to see why Sir Walter Scott was a popular writer in his time and has survived. The story is fun, in the same way tales of King Arthur and his Knights are. The descriptions of the lists and tournaments are vivid portrayals. There are plot surprises, there is laughter, particularly in the forms of a jester and a Thane, and there is familiarity in the characters that we have seen time and again from this era, Richard the Lion-Hearted, Robin Hood and his Merry Men, and the evil King John. ( )

That was unexpected very little about Ivanhoe. U would think that he is the main character in the book. ( )

I can't believe that this was written for pleasure reading.

I think this was written for decently well-off families with a lot of time to kill in the evenings. Read it aloud to the children to teach them. There is enough romance to keep the daughters listening and enough adventure for the sons. There are so many lessons:

* English history (Prince John, Richard the Lion-Hearted)
* English culture (Normans v Saxons)
* The French are untrustworthy scum
* The Catholic church is corrupt
* Serfs and servants, even fools, are loyal
* The right clothes for the occasion are very important, a full page of description important
* There is always time to express yourself clearly, with correct grammar, and at great length
* Father-murderers will burn in hell and burn before they go to hell, unshriven
* Drinking and eating copious amounts is appropriate unless you are being chased by Normans
* Honorable behavior leads to victory, even over skilled opponents (sometimes they just drop dead)
* Jews are not like us, not English at all, and only care about money, but you should be nice to them anyway
* Always pay detailed attention to English architecture
* Robin Hood is awesome

If you already know those things, there is a ripping yarn buried somewhere beneath all the words. The book is over-wordy at a fractal level. Sometimes you need to skip pages, sometimes just phrases. I got better at it.

It is hard to believe that eight years before this tripe, we have Sense and Sensibility. Then afterwards we have Frankenstein, then Barchester Towers, then Middlemarch. ( )

Slow, difficult read. ( )

Daring! Intrigue! Damsels in distress! And yet it felt two-dimensional and slow. I valued pieces of the book as historical insight, but found that it lacked entertainment value. ( )

The constant antisemitism was waaay too much for me. ( )

Wilfred of Ivanhoe is a secondary character in his titular novel, which does more to provide a basis for the modern Robin Hood myth than anything else. It is slow to start (the setup drags on for what seems like ever), but once the action begins, this is a cracking good read. There are several storylines which split off and weave their way back together by the end of the narrative.

It was definitely enraging to read Rebecca's storyline, as she's basically kidnapped against her will and taken to a priory, where she's then tried as a sorceress for "tempting" the man who kidnapped her. Rage-inducing does not even begin to cover it! At least Rebecca had some backbone and continually threw off the Templar's advances. She'd rather die than go anywhere willingly with him. Go Rebecca!

You could only class this as a (small-r) romance if you squint reeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeally hard at the penultimate chapters. Otherwise, this is more about chivalry and courtly devotion than anything else. Read it for the adventure and to learn more about Robin Hood, not because you're looking for the star-crossed lovers promised in the book blurb. ( )

Leather-bound edition badly worn and repaired by me. Wonderful classic story of romance and adventure. ( )

In some ways this is a hard read 'Children's Literature': In my childhood the required standard of English was such that this book's text was the reading level for junior school, I suspect now the content would challenge many at Secondary education: Nevertheless, a really great Historical 'Romance' story set in 12th Century England by one of Britain's foremost 19th century storytellers. Scott conjures up a gallant knight, Ivanhoe battling for his honour and the virtue of lovely Jewess, Rowena & Isaac, her father all occurring within the national struggle for power between assumed 'good' King Richard I & assumed 'baddie' brother, Prince John.
A must read in any serious collection of the evolution of English Literature.
There is within the text a substantial 'racist' & 'bigoted' element that fits well with the era in which it is set and offers an opportunity for the adults in the house to raise those topics with any off-spring. ( )

The tenth book in Scott's series of historical novels. Anthony Trollope rates Ivanhoe as one of the greatest ever novels, up there with Pride and Prejudice and others. I'm afraid I don't agree. It is an enjoyable read, but the plot is a frequently implausible, the characters are more caricatures than believable people, and the historical "background" tends to become didactic at times. But, as a rollicking good yarn in the Biggles or Indiana Jones style, the reader should settle down and enjoy. ( )

Sir Walter Scott’s 1819 novel, Ivanhoe, tells the story of Wilfred of Ivanhoe, a Saxon knight in the twelfth century. Ivanhoe was disinherited by his father, Cedric of Rotherwood, for supporting the Norman King Richard Cœur-de-Lion and falling in love with Rowena, Cedric’s ward. Cedric had hoped to wed Rowena to Athelstane, the descendant of the great Saxon kings, in order to restore the Saxon nobility.

King John holds a tournament at Ashby-de-la-Zouch Castle, at which a disguised Ivanhoe bests the Norman champion and Templar knight, Brian de Bois-Guilbert, and where Robin of Locksley splits a willow reed with his arrow as well as his competitor’s arrow, a scene that first entered the Robin Hood legend in this novel. A Black Knight also performs admirably, but departs when besieged during the melee. A major subplot focuses on the place of Isaac of York and his daughter, Rebecca, as Jews in Norman-conquered England. Scott describes how Isaac’s wealth allows him to interact with Norman society, though, as a non-Christian, the Normans hold him in the same contempt with which they view the conquered Saxons. Rebecca’s intelligence and beauty, however, attract would-be Norman suitors.

After the tournament, Bois-Guilbert and Reginald Front-de-Bœuf, a fellow Norman Templar, capture Cedric and his party along with Isaac and Rebecca. In his fortress Torquilstone, Front-de-Bœuf demands an impossible ransom from Isaac in exchange for his daughter. Meanwhile, the Black Knight meets the Holy Clerk of Copmanhurst, Friar Tuck, and joins in the siege of Torquilstone with Locksley’s men. Front-de-Bœuf dies during the siege along with Athelstane, though Bois-Guilbert escapes with Rebecca as a prisoner. The Black Knight rescues Ivanhoe from the burning castle and reveals himself to be King Richard.

While Locksley hosts Richard Cœur-de-Lion, Bois-Guilbert’s Templar master, the zealot Lucas de Beaumanoir, believes that Rebecca has ensorcelled his knight and plans to execute her as a witch. She demands trial by combat and a call is sent for a champion. At Coningsburgh, while Cedric plans Athelstane’s funeral, the Saxon lord is discovered to have survived his wounds. Though Cedric still hopes to wed Athelstane to Rowena, Athelstane demurs and frees her to marry Ivanhoe. Rebecca’s message arrives, and Ivanhoe, Richard, and Cedric depart for the Templar Preceptory. There, Ivanhoe fights Bois-Guilbert, who dies of natural causes in the saddle. Rebecca, now free, makes plans for she and her father to leave England for Al-Andalus (Muslim Spain), where she believes they will be free from persecution. Before departing, Rebecca visits Rowena and gives her a gift on her wedding day to Ivanhoe.

Scott wrote a fictionalized history, though he sought to give it verisimilitude with references to historical sources, including those he invented such as the Norman Wardour Manuscript, which first appeared in Scott’s 1816 novel, The Antiquary. Though Robin Hood is not the main character of Ivanhoe, Scott’s portrayal of the outlaw left a lasting mark on the character’s history. Future retellings of Robin Hood included the arrow-splitting and transposed elements of Ivanhoe’s narrative on to Robin. According to Hector Hugh Munro, Scott misspelled “Cerdic,” creating the name Cedric in the English language. Further, Scott helped popularize Robin Hood as Robin of Locksley. In addition to this, while Scott’s portrayal of Jewish characters was likely progressive and sympathetic for 1820 (much like Shakespeare’s portrayal of Shylock in The Merchant of Venice was for its time), his focus on Isaac’s avaricious nature resembles the worst stereotyping of the twentieth century and has not aged particularly well. Rebecca fares better, but only in comparison to Isaac. That said, the work is a must-read for those studying English literature or who enjoy historical fiction or fantasy. This Heritage Press edition contains illustrations from Edward A. Wilson, who brilliantly captures the spirit of Scott’s text. ( )

I was surprised to find Robin Hood in this story!! I must admit I didn't know he as a part of this THe language made reading the book a bit challenging. I kept my dictionary close by and found the read enjoyable. Lots of knights in shining armour along with damsels in distress. Good fun. ( )

This was one of my SantaThing pressies a couple of years ago that I didn't get round to reading until now. For a book titled Ivanhoe, the eponymous hero was a bit bland and absent, although having said that, I think he was one of the few characters in the book that didn't actively annoy me. I found Rebecca pretty much the only character in the book who wasn't flat as a piece of cardboard: she got to be brave, kind and complicated. And it shock me how casually racist and anti-semitic the book was in many places. ( )

Knights errant, jousting tournaments, a king in disguise and a plot against said king, fair damosels and their various distresses, a fool who is touchingly loyal to his gruff master, naughty templars and Robin of Locksley. What else could one possibly want or need in a story? Well, maybe just a smidge less anti-Semitism, to be honest. But otherwise, this one is a hoot.

(Seriously, the way Isaac of York is treated across the board by 'good' and 'bad' guys alike bothered me enough to knock me right out of the story on several occasions. Product of the times and all, I suppose, but the cavalier nature of it all sets my teeth on edge.) ( )

Ivanhoe, a romance set in the 12th century England, is a wonderful novel indeed. I loved Scott’s worded descriptions and dialogue. He paints a landscape with words.

While all of the characters have the typical romantic traits, the character of Rebecca stands out as a wonderful creation. She is beautiful, audacious and generous. While Rowena faces a crisis with tears, Rebecca shows a lot of strength and courage in such situations. She is also an interesting contrast to her father, Isaac of York, who personifies the stereotype of a wealthy, avaricious Jew.

As someone who loved reading the tales of Robin Hood, this was fun and enjoyable read.
( )

La copertina era morbida, lucida e un po' arrotolata. La copia era ereditata perchè si trattava di un libro "da maschi": mala tempora... ( )

Great story...epic in fact. The cultural, ideological and racial tensions come together for a well written story that boils down to trust, love and friendship. ( )

It's full of intrigue, adventure, and romance. The two women speak thoughtfully and articulately at various points, while the men speak with their swords and lances. ( )

I liked this book for two reason. First, the author did a good job developing the characters and the plot. This story follows a disowned and dishonored knight named Ivanhoe and his journey to redeem himself. As readers read the story, they can see his interactions with different people and the decisions he makes. For example, in Chapter 4 (p. 62) Ivanhoe is challenged by Bois-Guilbert in a tournament after being ridiculed and taunted. Ivanhoe than rises up to the occasion and wins the battle. However, this was only a small part into his redemption. I also appreciated how there were illustrations after each page even though it was a chapter book, allowing readers to visualize what was going on in the story. Overall, this story is about redemption. ( )

Sir Wilfred of Ivanhoe returns home from the Third Crusade. Caught up in the conflict between Richard the Lion-Hearted and Prince John, he becomes allied with Robin Hood.