The Acts of King Arthur and His Noble Knights

by John Steinbeck

The Acts of King Arthur and His Noble Knights <> Paperback <> JohnSteinbeck <> PenguinBooks

Paperback

Published December 31, 2008

About the author

John Ernst Steinbeck was an American writer. He won the 1962 Nobel Prize in Literature "for his realistic and imaginative writings, combining as they do sympathetic humor and keen social perception". He has been called "a giant of American letters."
During his writing career, he authored 33 books, with one book coauthored alongside Edward F. Ricketts, including 16 novels, six non-fiction books, and two collections of short stories. He is widely known for the comic novels Tortilla Flat (1935) and Cannery Row (1945), the multi-generation epic East of Eden (1952), and the novellas The Red Pony (1933) and Of Mice and Men (1937). The Pulitzer Prize–winning The Grapes of Wrath (1939) is considered Steinbeck's masterpiece and part of the American literary canon. By the 75th anniversary of its publishing date, it had sold 14 million copies.
Most of Steinbeck's work is set in central California, particularly in the Salinas Valley and the California Coast Ranges region. His works frequently explored the themes of fate and injustice, especially as applied to downtrodden or everyman protagonists.

Reviews

[Daniel Villines · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is John Steinbeck's retelling of the legend of King Arthur as originally written in 1485 by Sir Thomas Malory as Le Morte d'Arthur. According to Steinbeck lore, during his childhood he was deeply enthralled by the original 1485 work with its Old English style and its visions of knights living a warrior’s life. Steinbeck wanted to bring this work forward into modern English so that it would be more accessible to his generation as well as to the generations that would follow.

The problem with this work is that reads like it was written in 1485. The characters are all stiff and the dialogue is terse and devoid of emotion. The knights are all interchangeable and appear and disappear when needed. Even King Arthur feels more like a plastic action figure than a human being of intelligence and kindness. The best of the characters is Merlin who occasionally inserts a bit of wisdom into an otherwise basic plot filled with blood and guts, and wars and violent jousting.

The book remained unfinished at the time of Steinbeck’s death. It may have been that his efforts to retell the original tale were too constraining for a writer known for his grasp of humanity. If fact, the final two chapters, which comprise nearly half the book, break free of the initial chapters and include insights into the human condition. Steinbeck may have wanted to do more with this work but possibly found himself constrained by an Arthurian sense of duty to the original. So much so, that he may have became frustrated with his desire to compromise the original with better writing.

[youngsuburbanwizard · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful book about various entertaining adventures. This book is great at transporting you to the time when knights still existed and Steinbeck often employs beautiful imagery, such as when the knights on horse gallop past little humble hermitages in the beautiful English forests. A good book if you like imagery, want to read a tale about knights, or a book with characters that embody virtue and chivalry

[Chani · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had no idea John Steinbeck had written anything about King Arthur! This edition was really well done, between the forward and the Appendix. The story is good, I'm not familiar enough with the Arthur legends to know what is original to Steinbeck. The Appendix in this edition is a collection of snippets from letters Steinbeck wrote about the project as he was writing it. I found it sad that after all the work he had done, and all his excitement about the material, he just stopped working on it.

[Rebecca Risch · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great world building. Very different from anything I’ve read before and I want more. Lots of good lessons woven in not so subtley. I liked it split up into acts, though one or two of the acts kinda dragged. 4.5 stars!

[Nic Lessner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sore that it was unfinished, the last 80 or so pages being reference and appendix.

[Vanessa Perez · Rating 3 out of 5]

As an unfinished work, it lacked refinement and depth, but you know that going in if you read the foreword. Loved the history, though.

[Sara Reed · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wish this was able to be finished by Steinbeck, it was an interesting re-tell of the "Camelot classics"

[Luis Grandson]

King Arthur according to Steinbeck.