If you're a bloke, you've got five choices: king, knight, wizard, giant or dwarf. If you're a woman, you've got two: queen or damsel. There aren't any normal people in this immense narrative and there are pretty much no normal places in it either. Most of it takes place somewhere called "Britain" which is nothing like the Britain you or I know. This is an Iberian Britain, as if the Spanish Armada had not only been succesful but managed to travel through time to invade 500 years earlier and, on landing, immediately decided places like Essex would sould more elaborate as, say, Estraverion. Actually, they may have a point.But, I digress. Amadis is a Knight of knights, a boy, then a youth, then a man who can do no wrong, who wins every battle (for there are many) and rights every wrong (for there are even more of these than battles). In fact, he's really boring and predictable most of the time. Occasionally, he decides he'd be better off under a pseudonym like Knight of the Green Sword or Beltenebros. But his contemporaries musthave been pretty dim not to realise Mr. Perfect when they met him, no matter what he might call himself.There's more jousting here than you can shake a stick at (geddit???) so if that's your thing then you'll be delirious with ecstasy. Limbs, skulls, bones, vital organs - nothing is sacred as the swords of Amadis and his cohorts wend their righteously murderous way through various nations on escapades that are more morally justified than fighting National Socialism in Krakow in March, 1943.And the women are so very fair and so unassailably pure and so very very incapable of anything other than relying on men for their existence while the men are either paragons of Amadis-like virtue or outright scoundrels who deserve (and often suffer) having their limbs separated from their bodies one by one.But in my cynicism, let me not forget the awesome legacy that this work of literary art has bestowed upon the world. Yes, it inspired Cervantes to write the classic Don Quixote, but much, much more significantly for humanity, Monty Python and the Holy Grail might never have been made without it.Ni.
So you have read many great Arthurian romances and want to know what is the Spanish contribution to the genre. The greatest is Amadis of Gaul, a very long romance written in the late 15th century about the greatest knight in the world.It is actually one of the books that inspired that much more well known Spanish work: Don Quixote by Cervantes. But whereas Cervantes' work is a parody, Amadis of Gaul is the real thing.There are four books. The first tells of Amadis' birth and early exploits. The story moves quickly from adventure to adventure. It reminded me of the fast moving Orlando Furioso. In books two through four, the pace slows a bit , and the plot centers around the great falling out of Amadis with the king of Great Britain, Lisuarte. Although Amadis' father is the king of Gaul, it is at the court of King Lisuarte that the best knights are found. While estranged, Amadis travels the world, righting wrongs and making friends. All the while his heart aches for his love Oriana, Lisuarte's daughter, which he is having a clandestine relationship with.In good romantic fashion, this book throws it all at you: Amadis confronts giants, enchanters, rogue knights and monsters. There are also damsels. So many damsels! Some are resourceful, others wily and dangerous. Most others in need of a knight's help. And the damsels, including many of the knights, seem to sob and swoon a lot. Oriana is described as so beautiful and noble and perfect, but she spends so much time sobbing and swooning that sometimes I just had to role my eyes. But this is the style of the genre. Here, a woman is judged by how beautiful she is, and a man judged by how well he can kick your ass. Yes, it's a different world, and we have to scratch our heads a few times, but that also makes it a fun read. The old translation by Southy still holds up well. The kindle version has many typos, but it does not really interfere with the flow.
Do You like book Amadis Of Gaul (2010)?
Pretty fine, if you like medieval stories, it was written hundreds of years ago around the 1500´and full of fantastic adventures,and magic, like almost all medieval sotries. The best thing about this book is that has many versions, with alternative endings, this due the fact that many autors claim the authory of the book and each of them rewrote his own version.
—Lola
