"Mists of Avalon" by Marion Zimmer Bradley

[Paula99]

"Mists of Avalon" by Marion Zimmer Bradley has been around for a long time now, and it seems to improve with each reading. My copy is out on loan right now, so I'll just give you just my own reactions to the book here.

Ms. Bradley has given us a new slant on Arthurian legend with this story. What were the women of Arthur's court and those of the Holy Isle doing and thinking during the time of Camelot? When you read Bradley's words, you'll certainly find a new way of thinking about this classic clash of the "old religion" with Christianity, and about the times of constant warfare and invasion in Merry Olde England.

If you saw the TNT movie, you'll find that though some of the events were rearranged and others emphasized, it was pretty true to the spirit of the book.

[m morgan]

876 pages!
. :eek4:




When I first saw the book, I thought.....ha! piece of cake!......but now, I just can't seem to finish it. :lol :lol

oy, oy, oy!

[Paula99]

Hi, dbl m. I guess I was lucky. I read the original hardcover as soon as it was released. MZB has been one of my favs for decades, so I just wanted to see what this book was all about. The Darkover books are still in my library, too. I re-read them every so often, too.

[m morgan]

I did it!!! Finally!

I had a hard time with this book, it seem a little too repetitive in the narrations and the dialogs, but in all it was good reading. I loved all the twists and turns the lives of the characters took on. There were many things I didn't expect, that were pleasently surprising, and one that I got a little disapointed in the end.

I have to tell you, that I just did not liked Gwen at all! It took all the romanticism away, and I can't belive she always got away with everything :lol :lol (that's not a spoiler, is it?) :lol

Anyhoo, I wanted to see what this book was about also since I saw the previews for the miniseries. I think I'm going to go and look for it at bluckbuster. I'd like to see who was cast in each character.

Also, I'm going to adopt a new name, Morgaine, not that I identified with the character, but I really like ther way it sounds, I hope I'm pronouncing it correctly. :rollin: and since I'm already a Morgan, I think it'll be okay ;)

[Paula99]

I'm with you...Gwen was definitely not my fav character. Morgaine and Vivianne were both much more interesting. Morgaine would be a great name for you to adopt. She has always been one of my favorites in the Arthurian sagas.

[Morgaine]

:D

I have to admit that I've never read anything to do with the Camelot legends. I've only known the little I've heard about it in casual conversations and the movie....oh, what's the name.....with Richard Geere.....humm...

Anyhoo, I like the name, although, this character didn't seem to have it all together. :lol But it's okay, at least we have that much in common. :lol

So, how doest it look on me? :P I feel silly, so I'm only going to have this alter ego here.

[Paula99]

I like it, Morgaine. Don't know why it makes you feel silly. It's a great name.

[nikita 4ever]

I like it...sometimes I get into those ocultism/wicca chats with this name when I`m not on the mood for Megan lol :lol

[Paula99]

Yeah, Morgaine and Morgana seem to be very popular names in the occult communities.

[Morgaine]

You are so kidding! I didn't know that!!!!

:lol :lol

So now I have an alter ego in the occult community......:lol
not bad for a pious catholic mom. :lol

2m

[Paula99]

Not kidding at all, gf. Both of those names are very popular derivatves of the old Arthurian cycle name, Morgan LaFey.

[Morgaine]

Too funny!

BTW, speaking of the Arthurian legends, is there any other book that tells the story in a different way? is the legend the same all the time? I'd like to know more about it. The movie I was refering to was called 'First Knight' , but they didn't mention anything about Morgaine or Avalon (or I don't remember).

[Zosephine]

Hi everyone! My beloved friend Morgaine told me about this forum and so I rushed right over!

I read the Mists of Avalon several years ago and basically loved most of it. I remember that I was really engrossed by the first 3/4 of the book....then it seemed to drag for a while....until it got close to the end.

Mushy, I love the name Morgaine for you! After all, you are a mystical, magical, magnificent Goddess in your own right! :lol You've produced 4 gorgeous children, a happy marriage, and you're wonderful at spreading love everywhere you go! What's better than that?!?! :eh:

It's funny tho....in reading the book, I became captivated by the name Gwynhefar.
I love that spelling and pronunciation more than Guinevere......when spoken softly, Gwynhefar seems to have a poetic, haunting quality to it.....

BTW....I don't remember reading other books about Camelot, but I did see the original movie (it's called Camelot) w. Richard Harris and Vanessa Redgrave... it's a musical and even if you don't like them, this movie is worth seeing!

Also, I do believe that a young Christoper Walken plays as Mordred (I think that's the name of King Arthur's bastard son that he sired w. his sister).

Has anyone seen it?

As for the recent miniseries....I looked forward to seeing it (the whole Camelot thing fascinates me) but I remember little of it now.......I do remember that it emphasized Queen Mab, right? Was she in the book? I don't remember her being mentioned in it....

:headbang:

[Morgaine]

Zosy!!!

So great to see you here!!!, but you can still call me 2m, I still feel silly about my new name, though I really like it.

I'm sorry to disagree with you on the name of Gywnhefar, it's just the character that I really disliked and even the name makes me shiver. I'm having the same personality conflict with the character of Kailea in the Dune prequels :lol When I get over it, I'll pribably see things more objectively and give you a second opinion. :lol

The movie I was talking about was more recent with Richard Geere and I think it was Sean Connery, and I don't remember the name Queen Mab in the book.

So where then did this legend come from? who knows all the characters and plots as they were originally written and or told?...I wonder.





2m

[Zosephine]

:lol

Why do you hate poor ol' Gwynnie so much, Mushy??? :eh: :lol

The movie you're referring to is called First Knight, I believe.....it had Richard Gere, Sean Connery and Julia Ormond as Gwynevere.....I saw it, it was pretty good.

As for how the story got started, I think there really was a King Arthur....some history books mention someone named Pendragon (Arthur's last name) as being a ruler way back then.....probably in the same century as the Crusades (give or take a couple of years).....

And did you know that there are still people to this day who participate in the Rites of Beltaine??? I think they dance around naked in the woods on a particular night of the year.....I'm relatively sure they're Wiccans (witches) but I could be wrong........... Hey! What do I know?!?

:confused: :lol