About book The Merry Adventures Of Robin Hood (2004)
Read this for my Robin Hood module, as with Ivanhoe. This is the second book which I just couldn't read as anything but an English Literature student; my lit student hat remained firmly jammed upon my head. It pains me to read other people's reviews and thoughts on this, given that they're so wildly inaccurate about it. E.g. someone thinking it was "the" book of Robin Hood (and not knowing about the ballad tradition, or the forerunners to this such as Ivanhoe). Or someone thinking it's written in Old English (see also: my review of Ivanhoe). Seriously, no, guys. It's not even Middle English. It's faux-Middle English in parts, but it isn't even that old a text, for God's sake. Even Shakespeare (late 1500s/early 1600s) was writing in Modern English. This was written in 1883 or so, right? About as Anglo-Saxon as what I'm writing right now!And then people thinking this is "the" book, the original. Sheesh. Obviously, a lot of the stories come straight from the surviving ballads -- perhaps all; I haven't read every single Robin Hood ballad. They're expanded upon by Howard Pyle, in that he writes them out as a coherent narrative and with all the same characters recurring, and obviously it's not in verse. It's a pretty sanitised version, given that Robin rarely kills as an outlaw: once when he becomes an outlaw (as opposed to the fifteen he kills in the original ballad, Robin Hood's Progress to Nottingham) and once when he kills Guy of Gisborne (and unlike in the ballad, he doesn't cut Guy's face off). It wasn't obvious that it was an adaptation for children, from the language -- it's not exactly difficult, but nor is it easy or exciting. Still, in the time period, perhaps that's not surprising. (I should have some basis of comparison, given my Introduction to Children's Literature course, but I can't bring anything to mind right now.) The sanitisation gave it away rather, in any case.I did get kind of bored reading it, honestly. Each tale is more or less the same -- they're practically all "Robin meets his match" stories, and at the end the stout yeoman will join the band. The writing isn't intensely exciting, as I mentioned. I did enjoy it, and possibly would have enjoyed it more in small doses. And, of course, it's very episodic so it can easily be read in small chunks.It's, ah, one of the more 'homosocial' Robin Hood stories I've read, honestly. There are two or three mentions of Marian, at most, and she doesn't come into it as a character at all -- I half-expected a chapter that came from Robin Hood and Maid Marian. And Will Scarlet is so very, very camp. And Little John and Robin are so very very close. It kind of read like a slashfic of Robin Hood, sometimes.I will confess, the epilogue made me want to cry. Oh, Robin. Incidentally, apparently tales of Robin's death are quite rare, and this is one of the few.(Note: If anyone wants links to the ballads, or indeed, this book, online, I know where the book can be downloaded legally as an ebook, and where the ballads are collected online.)
This is a book about a young, well eventually older, man named Robin Hood. One day walking through Sherwood forest he gets into a dispute with some of the king’s rangers. After proving himself the better archer, the men trick Robin and try to arrest him. To escape capture he kills one of the men and finds a secluded part of Sherwood forest. tIt is on this area that most of the book takes place. In here Robin amasses a group of bandits. These bandits see that the few on the top make life miserable for those at the bottom. This is where their idea of “Steal from the rich and give to the poor” comes from. tThe main part of the book though his Robin convincing people to join his cause through his good deeds and remarkable skill with a bow. It is called “The Merry Adventures” because that’s what they are. His life is about nothing more than being happy and helping those around him so that they can be as happy as he is. Obviously though, a life of thievery will land someone in trouble though, but you will have to read the book to find out more about that. I normally wouldn’t say this about a book, but I do believe anyone in the world would enjoy this book. To be more specific though, anyone who likes the middle ages would enjoy it because that is the time period. Also people who enjoy adventures would like this because it is just on big adventure after another. People that have ever heard of Robin Hood should read it just to know what he really was all about. That also means like people who have ever heard of someone compared to Robin Hood in their actions, just because he really is an inspiring character. I give the book five stars because Robin’s outlook on life and his story is so happy that at times I was put in a better mood because of how happy he would be. The writing is also very easy, and you feel like someone is telling you a story rather than reading through it. It introduces a lot of characters that represent certain trials in life and I like how relatable they could be to the real world. Also the symbolism of the book as a whole I just found to be really appealing. I think it truly is a must read for everyone.
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Read to my boys when they were in 2nd grade. At first I attempted to modernize the language but ultimately read it word for word. By far one of the favorite books we have read. Stopping on occasion to talk about new words or discuss the situation was just fine. Tough to get through the tear jerker ending without sobbing. If I had been reading it on my own it may not have had the same effect. I wish someone could make a really good Robin Hood movie that followed this plot and was appropriate for older kids. ie no nudity and no gore but good adventure and action.
—Sharon Thompson
When we found out we were having a son, I started reviewing my planned reading lists for gender-interest. That’s when I realized that my knowledge of “boy books” is woefully inadequate. I have oodles of “strong willed girl finds her place in society as she transitions into womanhood” books – more than enough to fill any childhood. I certainly want my son to be exposed to these kinds of books, but I realized that I was going to have to expand my repertoire to include at least some books that aren’t about girls getting their first periods if I was going to make a life-long reader out of this kid.I decided to start with the classics of boy’s literature, and that’s how I ended up reading Robin Hood.It was fantastic! Even though there was a serious lack of menstruation, there was more than enough exciting adventure to compensate.The book is told as a series of short stories that build on each other only very loosely. Each one is an adventure involving Robin Hood and his companions; many of them tell how a particular individual came to join Robin Hood’s gang.The stories are exciting and full of action (and more than a little violence). They are also full of witty arguments, which are often very clever and funny. I found myself laughing out loud more than a few times!Robin Hood is a sort of trickster figure, often seen playing pranks on others that sometimes backfire.It’s a great book! I’ll definitely be recommending it to my son once he’s at least put diapers behind him. It’s a children’s book, but it’s certainly worth the reading for adults too!PS: Given what I knew already of the Robin Hood legends, I was surprised to find out that Maid Marian is such a non-character – at least in this rendition. She’s mentioned a few times as Robin’s girlfriend, but that’s the extent of it. I don’t think she even makes an appearance in the story, and we certainly never learn any biographical details about her!
—Marlowe
Gadzooks and forsooth! Me thinketh the author doth use the words 'lusty' and 'stout' muchly. :) Kidding aside, this was quite a rollicking adventure with Robin Hood and his band of men. There were stories on how Robin met the men and how they came to join him, and their exciting adventures together. We even got a chapter on Sir Guy, riding up on his horse in some sort of hairy costume. Personally, I like the TV series Sir Guy better - in the book he lasts only about half a chapter, whereas he lasts till the end of the series - plus he's in black leather :)I enjoyed these tales more than I thought I would and I am sorry that I'm finished with them now.
—Susan
