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A review by princesszinza
Outlaw by Angus Donald
2.0
Here's the thing - I'll admit it, I'm not a stranger to the world of fandom, or what they called it in my day, groupie-ism. Before I saw At the Drive-In on MuchMusic and declared my love for Emo and dudes with afros, even before I bought Darkness on the Edge of Town and developed an interest in unshaven dudes from New Jersey and a curiosity for ambiguous hand gestures, I loved Robin Hood. I am a Robin Hood groupie.
I was introduced to Robin Hood by Walt Disney in Elementary School and he was a real fox! I graduated from the animated Robin Hood to a flesh and blood actor playing him in the PBS 12 episode, "Once upon a Classic" (this dude was a bit too sexy to be starring in a kid's show). I even enjoyed Richard Gautier as a silly Robin Hood in "When Things were Rotten" on TV (honestly, he really wasn't too bad looking either, for a clown). My favorite Robin Hood is probably the one that the BBC had on a couple years back. Their idea of Robin Hood matches mine: a fast talking, rakish, humorous, bow and arrow aficionado (uber-sexy too)!
This is my first recent literary foray into Robin Hood. My main problem with Outlaw is that Angus Donald's vision of Robin Hood doesn't match mine. I was intrigued with the idea of a realistic Robin Hood who was not always so good (us girls do love the bad boy). I was excited to start reading this book. Robin Hood, in the Outlaw, is a devil worshiping, sadistic, mini-tyrant who rules over Nottingham and over a motley militia, who must pledge their absolute allegiance to him.
I didn't find this portrayal of Robin Hood to be very much fun. The story is told through the eyes of a young boy who learns music and fighting under Robin's tutelage. There is a strong focus on bodily functions of both the sexy and unsexy (read: gross) kinds. I'm not a complete prude but I usually enjoy mentions of these sort of things when they're done in a humorous vein. Alas, not much is played for laughs in this book. A seriously mean Robin Hood who doesn't even shoot arrows, is not my idea of sexy at all!!
I was introduced to Robin Hood by Walt Disney in Elementary School and he was a real fox! I graduated from the animated Robin Hood to a flesh and blood actor playing him in the PBS 12 episode, "Once upon a Classic" (this dude was a bit too sexy to be starring in a kid's show). I even enjoyed Richard Gautier as a silly Robin Hood in "When Things were Rotten" on TV (honestly, he really wasn't too bad looking either, for a clown). My favorite Robin Hood is probably the one that the BBC had on a couple years back. Their idea of Robin Hood matches mine: a fast talking, rakish, humorous, bow and arrow aficionado (uber-sexy too)!
This is my first recent literary foray into Robin Hood. My main problem with Outlaw is that Angus Donald's vision of Robin Hood doesn't match mine. I was intrigued with the idea of a realistic Robin Hood who was not always so good (us girls do love the bad boy). I was excited to start reading this book. Robin Hood, in the Outlaw, is a devil worshiping, sadistic, mini-tyrant who rules over Nottingham and over a motley militia, who must pledge their absolute allegiance to him.
I didn't find this portrayal of Robin Hood to be very much fun. The story is told through the eyes of a young boy who learns music and fighting under Robin's tutelage. There is a strong focus on bodily functions of both the sexy and unsexy (read: gross) kinds. I'm not a complete prude but I usually enjoy mentions of these sort of things when they're done in a humorous vein. Alas, not much is played for laughs in this book. A seriously mean Robin Hood who doesn't even shoot arrows, is not my idea of sexy at all!!