dayface's review against another edition
3.0
Morpurgo's novelisation of Beowulf removes many of the nuances that I adore - Unferth, swimming, poetry, scop, Beow, Scyld's funeral, etc - and plays the interpretation explicitly safe. Even to the point of including illustrations which rid the reader of their own relative ideation of the characters, striving to paint an accurate and dogmatic image of every aspect of the text. The prose is fantastic, though, and aims to adapt the narrative style and flow of the poem in a way universally understandable. It's trope-laden (even moreso than the defining source material), and removes many of the graces of the original, but is perhaps the best novelisation I've experienced so far.
This was a quick summarisation of my thoughts, as I'm researching Beowulf for my upcoming trilogy of grimdark fantasy epic poems: KING MONSTER.
This was a quick summarisation of my thoughts, as I'm researching Beowulf for my upcoming trilogy of grimdark fantasy epic poems: KING MONSTER.
jamessmith82's review against another edition
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
hopecrawley's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
brownmartian's review
adventurous
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
liv__28's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
readerlylife's review against another edition
4.0
I remember reading Beowulf in high school and absolutely hating it. Fast forward to now, 2022, when I’m leading my kids through medieval history as part of our homeschool curriculum. This book was part of our reading list, and I must admit I was not looking forward to it. However, I read it with them and we all thoroughly enjoyed it. My boys were especially captivated by the story, the bravery and adventure of it all. It is well-written and does a great job of capturing the courage and emotion of the characters as well as the evil of the villains. A bit gruesome in parts but that’s the nature of the story.
princess_peach's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
cesarbustios's review against another edition
4.0
I can't remember reading too much about Beowulf. Essentially because this annoying feeling I have towards poems. So, yeah, I wouldn't dare to read the original translated poem and that's the reason why I chose this little one as a starting point. It's a retelling and it's beautifully written. And even though I would like to put it under the "Norse" label and get on with it, it isn't. Supposedly because Old Norse literary tradition doesn't begin until the 12th century in Iceland and the Beowulf manuscript was produced between 975 and 1025. Having said this, it would fall under the "Germanic" category as far as I can tell. ⠀
⠀
The story itself revolves around the Scandinavian warrior known as Beowulf and his deeds against three monster antagonists: Grendel; Grendel's mother, a sea-hag; and, finally, the death-dragon of the deep. All creatures of darkness! Beowulf is probably the most altruistic hero I've heard of. It's an heroic legend and major themes are honor, loyalty, bravery and glory. It's also bloody and dramatic. You can totally guess what's gonna happen but it's worthy and amazingly well told. Michael Morpurgo is not some random fella, it seems. Ever seen the movie "War Horse"? He wrote the novel.⠀
⠀
After reading "The Hobbit" in January, I was convinced that Tolkien has based part of his world-building, if not all, on a large amount of Norse mythology, which is not really that surprising, he was a philologist and language teacher English and Literature. But hear this: in the third part of the story, a slave awakens and enrages a dragon by stealing a golden goblet from his lair, the dragon had been sleeping on a huge treasure hoard for three centuries. It does ring a bell, doesn't it?
⠀
The story itself revolves around the Scandinavian warrior known as Beowulf and his deeds against three monster antagonists: Grendel; Grendel's mother, a sea-hag; and, finally, the death-dragon of the deep. All creatures of darkness! Beowulf is probably the most altruistic hero I've heard of. It's an heroic legend and major themes are honor, loyalty, bravery and glory. It's also bloody and dramatic. You can totally guess what's gonna happen but it's worthy and amazingly well told. Michael Morpurgo is not some random fella, it seems. Ever seen the movie "War Horse"? He wrote the novel.⠀
⠀
After reading "The Hobbit" in January, I was convinced that Tolkien has based part of his world-building, if not all, on a large amount of Norse mythology, which is not really that surprising, he was a philologist and language teacher English and Literature. But hear this: in the third part of the story, a slave awakens and enrages a dragon by stealing a golden goblet from his lair, the dragon had been sleeping on a huge treasure hoard for three centuries. It does ring a bell, doesn't it?
iris_parsons's review
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
shannonmbrewer's review
4.0
This was a great read aloud with my children. It captures the essence of the story, and Michael Morpurgo did a great job maintaining many of the poetic devices present in the original. It made for great conversations about not only the story, but the language used.