jackiea's review
adventurous
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
sillypunk's review
SO MISERABLE: http://blogendorff.ghost.io/book-review-the-mists-of-avalon/
plantdog30's review
Honestly, I had high expectations for this book and was really looking forward to it. But I just had to stop reading because the multiple counts of incest made me uncomfortable.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Incest
aemkea's review
5.0
I loved this book for years when I was a teenager, but I will never read it again.
messymortal's review
adventurous
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
ailurophile_bibliophile89's review
2.0
2.5 STARS - because I like other books written (or partially written) by Bradley but general verdict is that I found it distasteful and off-putting.
Okay, so I read this book almost 15 years ago and I found it immensely enjoyable. However, I was finishing my first year of high school in 2003 and I hadn't read it fully since. In the years after, I've tried to read it but always got distracted and then eventually I lost my copy. A couple weeks ago, I was in a used bookstore when I saw a copy on the shelf and thought "why not?"
Keep in mind, I enjoy Bradley's books. Granted, my most favorite novel of hers is Priestess of Avalon . On the fair side, however, Bradley died while Priestess was being written and it was finished by Diana Paxton, who has since written other novels under Bradley's name (I believe - don't quote my on that).
That being said, now that I am older and - I like to think - wiser, I have come to realize that Mists has a very anti-Christianity theme to it. I am more of an agnostic but I do enjoy learning about religion and how it has played into human history, and I also appreciate how faith has helped shape people's lives and choices. However, I am not so naïve to believe that religion, any religion, doesn't have dark secrets.
The concept of the Arthurian tale told from the POV of the women involved is a good one. There's nothing wrong with Bradley's writing, in fact she was a very prolific writer and definitely knew how to use words to make a point. However, the portrayal of characters was rather appalling to my mind and I found her descriptions rather off-putting. Plus, almost every female character irritated me.
Igraine was too wishy-washy and "oh, woe is me!" One minute she's wailing about a prophecy and the next she's falling in love, to the point where she ignores her own kids in favor of her second husband, who, let it be said, she initially resisted. Morgaine was just as bad as Igraine; her ability to justify everything that happened as "because the Goddess wills it" is just plain lazy. Viviane takes it several steps further in using it as a reason for her ambition. Both do bad things to the ones around them and yet neither feel much remorse; instead, they seem perplexed when the response is the opposite of what they expect.
Gwenhwyfar is a hypocrite and justifies her beliefs according to what suits her best. She's unforgiving when looking at paganism and yet is totally okay with committing adultery, which is a sin in Catholicism. She's also akin to Igraine, as both are practically helpless when confronted with male superiority. Bradley portrays Gwen as everything that Morgaine is not; one is viewed as a beauty yet hides her "ugly" beliefs behind Christian piety while the other is physically ugly but religiously free because of her Goddess. Neither are attractive as characters and all of them, even Morgause, make some pretty shitty choices.
Needless to say, I did not finish the book. I don't mind authors who make their views known through their writing (C.S. Lewis' The Chronicles of Narnia and Phillip Pullman's His Dark Materials are two prime examples. Both have very different views on Christianity, too). However, when an author continually bashes a religion for no reason (seriously, almost every priest was stupid and every believer ignorant), well, I find that incredibly distasteful.
As an afterthought, I find the difference between Priestess of Avalon and Mists of Avalon rather contrary. Priestess has a more liberal take on Christianity, perhaps because its about St. Helena, the mother of Emperor Constantine II and founder of Constantinople. It also might be because Bradley died while in the midst of writing it and it was completed by a different author. I find that feminism and religious equality are given equal debate in Priestess and both Christianity and paganism are celebrated. Perhaps that is why I prefer the former over the latter.
Okay, so I read this book almost 15 years ago and I found it immensely enjoyable. However, I was finishing my first year of high school in 2003 and I hadn't read it fully since. In the years after, I've tried to read it but always got distracted and then eventually I lost my copy. A couple weeks ago, I was in a used bookstore when I saw a copy on the shelf and thought "why not?"
Keep in mind, I enjoy Bradley's books. Granted, my most favorite novel of hers is Priestess of Avalon . On the fair side, however, Bradley died while Priestess was being written and it was finished by Diana Paxton, who has since written other novels under Bradley's name (I believe - don't quote my on that).
That being said, now that I am older and - I like to think - wiser, I have come to realize that Mists has a very anti-Christianity theme to it. I am more of an agnostic but I do enjoy learning about religion and how it has played into human history, and I also appreciate how faith has helped shape people's lives and choices. However, I am not so naïve to believe that religion, any religion, doesn't have dark secrets.
The concept of the Arthurian tale told from the POV of the women involved is a good one. There's nothing wrong with Bradley's writing, in fact she was a very prolific writer and definitely knew how to use words to make a point. However, the portrayal of characters was rather appalling to my mind and I found her descriptions rather off-putting. Plus, almost every female character irritated me.
Igraine was too wishy-washy and "oh, woe is me!" One minute she's wailing about a prophecy and the next she's falling in love, to the point where she ignores her own kids in favor of her second husband, who, let it be said, she initially resisted. Morgaine was just as bad as Igraine; her ability to justify everything that happened as "because the Goddess wills it" is just plain lazy. Viviane takes it several steps further in using it as a reason for her ambition. Both do bad things to the ones around them and yet neither feel much remorse; instead, they seem perplexed when the response is the opposite of what they expect.
Gwenhwyfar is a hypocrite and justifies her beliefs according to what suits her best. She's unforgiving when looking at paganism and yet is totally okay with committing adultery, which is a sin in Catholicism. She's also akin to Igraine, as both are practically helpless when confronted with male superiority. Bradley portrays Gwen as everything that Morgaine is not; one is viewed as a beauty yet hides her "ugly" beliefs behind Christian piety while the other is physically ugly but religiously free because of her Goddess. Neither are attractive as characters and all of them, even Morgause, make some pretty shitty choices.
Needless to say, I did not finish the book. I don't mind authors who make their views known through their writing (C.S. Lewis' The Chronicles of Narnia and Phillip Pullman's His Dark Materials are two prime examples. Both have very different views on Christianity, too). However, when an author continually bashes a religion for no reason (seriously, almost every priest was stupid and every believer ignorant), well, I find that incredibly distasteful.
As an afterthought, I find the difference between Priestess of Avalon and Mists of Avalon rather contrary. Priestess has a more liberal take on Christianity, perhaps because its about St. Helena, the mother of Emperor Constantine II and founder of Constantinople. It also might be because Bradley died while in the midst of writing it and it was completed by a different author. I find that feminism and religious equality are given equal debate in Priestess and both Christianity and paganism are celebrated. Perhaps that is why I prefer the former over the latter.
ailurophile_bibliophile89's review against another edition
3.0
2.75 Stars
A lengthy, but well-written novel, that appeals to the feminist inside us all*.
*Most of us.
I first read The Mists of Avalon as a teen back in 2003 (or maybe it was 2004? Not sure….I think I was 14 or 15) and I remember loving it. If you had asked me to write a review then, I would have given this a 5 stars, hands down.
Since then, I’ve tried rereading it on multiple occasions, but for some odd reason, I was never able to finish. I know it’s not the length, or the subject matter, or even the quality. Bradley was never a dry writer. Whatever it was, I just could never finish.
Well, fast forward to last November 2022, and I finally made the decision to hunker down and reread it from start to finish.
Over two months later, I finally have completed it. Go me! That being said, I think the one of the major issue for me is the lack of a chronological timeline. There is a timeline, of course, but there’s no sense of how much time has passed in between different parts, chapters, and even sections of the same chapter. The King Stag takes place over (I’m assuming) about 10-15 years, perhaps? Then it fast forwards to The Prisoner in the Oak after Morgaine visits Avalon, and it’s implied that many years have passed since then.
Normally the switch in POVs doesn’t bother me, but there’s these sections where “Morgaine Speaks…” that kept throwing me off – especially as the novel progressed. It just seemed that Bradley got tired of writing after she hit page 500, but just kept speeding along. The Prisoner in the Oak definitely felt scattered, like it would fast forward and then do a hard stop, and then skip ahead again.
Aside from the above, which admittedly is half the reason for my dislike, Avalon is well-written and detailed. Bradley’s focus on the women in King Arthur’s life is appealing and a breath of fresh air, especially after literal centuries of writers concentrating on the men in the tale, and only briefly mentioning Queen Igraine or Queen Gwenhwyfar, or if they do mention a woman, it’s to highlight her as a sorceress or a whore.
However, another issue that I dislike is how there was no in between for the women. Gwenhwyfar is portrayed as an annoying damsel-in-distress who becomes even more irritating as she grows closer to Christianity. Morgaine is portrayed as either perfect or incredibly flawed (depending on who is looking at her). Her own sense of self portrays her as a weepy princess raging against a pre-conceived destiny or a vengeful, hateful witch whose failures to direct her own future, and those of Avalon’s and Britain’s, turn her into a literal old woman who’s given up.
I would have liked to read more of Morgeuse, who’s aspirations and actions are revealed to be behind everything. Perhaps it’s because she’s similar to a more modern day heroine, who’s likeable, right down to her flaws. Even when she “pretends,” you know that there’s no true artifice underneath her because right from the very beginning she’s portrayed as an ambitious schemer.
In conclusion, definitely 2.75 stars for the in-depth writing, subject matter, and because of nostalgia for my teenage years, but also the low rating is also due to the length, timeframe, and unfortunate portrayals of the subject matter.
*DISCLAIMER: I want to add that I really enjoyed the 2003 TV miniseries and actually own it on DVD. Angelica Huston is an actual goddess and I love her. Therefore, this review does not include the miniseries, only the novel itself.
A lengthy, but well-written novel, that appeals to the feminist inside us all*.
*Most of us.
I first read The Mists of Avalon as a teen back in 2003 (or maybe it was 2004? Not sure….I think I was 14 or 15) and I remember loving it. If you had asked me to write a review then, I would have given this a 5 stars, hands down.
Since then, I’ve tried rereading it on multiple occasions, but for some odd reason, I was never able to finish. I know it’s not the length, or the subject matter, or even the quality. Bradley was never a dry writer. Whatever it was, I just could never finish.
Well, fast forward to last November 2022, and I finally made the decision to hunker down and reread it from start to finish.
Over two months later, I finally have completed it. Go me! That being said, I think the one of the major issue for me is the lack of a chronological timeline. There is a timeline, of course, but there’s no sense of how much time has passed in between different parts, chapters, and even sections of the same chapter. The King Stag takes place over (I’m assuming) about 10-15 years, perhaps? Then it fast forwards to The Prisoner in the Oak after Morgaine visits Avalon, and it’s implied that many years have passed since then.
Normally the switch in POVs doesn’t bother me, but there’s these sections where “Morgaine Speaks…” that kept throwing me off – especially as the novel progressed. It just seemed that Bradley got tired of writing after she hit page 500, but just kept speeding along. The Prisoner in the Oak definitely felt scattered, like it would fast forward and then do a hard stop, and then skip ahead again.
Aside from the above, which admittedly is half the reason for my dislike, Avalon is well-written and detailed. Bradley’s focus on the women in King Arthur’s life is appealing and a breath of fresh air, especially after literal centuries of writers concentrating on the men in the tale, and only briefly mentioning Queen Igraine or Queen Gwenhwyfar, or if they do mention a woman, it’s to highlight her as a sorceress or a whore.
However, another issue that I dislike is how there was no in between for the women. Gwenhwyfar is portrayed as an annoying damsel-in-distress who becomes even more irritating as she grows closer to Christianity. Morgaine is portrayed as either perfect or incredibly flawed (depending on who is looking at her). Her own sense of self portrays her as a weepy princess raging against a pre-conceived destiny or a vengeful, hateful witch whose failures to direct her own future, and those of Avalon’s and Britain’s, turn her into a literal old woman who’s given up.
I would have liked to read more of Morgeuse, who’s aspirations and actions are revealed to be behind everything. Perhaps it’s because she’s similar to a more modern day heroine, who’s likeable, right down to her flaws. Even when she “pretends,” you know that there’s no true artifice underneath her because right from the very beginning she’s portrayed as an ambitious schemer.
In conclusion, definitely 2.75 stars for the in-depth writing, subject matter, and because of nostalgia for my teenage years, but also the low rating is also due to the length, timeframe, and unfortunate portrayals of the subject matter.
*DISCLAIMER: I want to add that I really enjoyed the 2003 TV miniseries and actually own it on DVD. Angelica Huston is an actual goddess and I love her. Therefore, this review does not include the miniseries, only the novel itself.