You're welcome (and thanks for the correction, edited).
Legolas Send a noteboard - 13/12/2010 10:23:55 PM
I have wanted to read this series since I heard about it from a friend several years ago, but he didn't remember the author's name and he was reading them in Russian so it DIDN'T HELP much.
Heh. It wouldn't, no.
FYI, Philip is usually referred to as "Philip the Fair" in English. It leads to some confusion as people aren't clear at first if they mean fair-looking or fair-dealing. When they find out what he did to the Templars they usually realize it has to be the former.
It's funny how the guy, who as I agree with Druon has to rank among the best French kings, is mostly remembered as a bad guy. By us Flemings as the evil French king in the events leading up to the Battle of the Golden Spurs in 1302 (although actually, it's more the classical matter of a good but naive king misled by a nasty cruel wife, as I recall - unfortunately said wife doesn't appear in this series so I couldn't compare), and by the rest of the world as the guy who eradicated the Templars.
I will read it after I finish some other French books that I've got in my short "to read" list (almost done with Le Rouge et Le Noir - my reading speed in French is increasing dramatically and my next book will likely be La Peste, but don't quote me on that).
If you don't mind not knowing some words - I only bothered looking up those words that seemed important and/or interesting, myself - and get used to those now obscure tenses I mentioned, it should be a quick enough read (though I guess all together it is over two thousand pages...). Whether you'll like it, I'm not sure - you won't hate it, but it is more popular writing than really literary. Maurice Druon led the Académie Française at one point, true, but it wasn't really for this series that he got his seat there.
Maurice Druon - The Accursed Kings
- 13/12/2010 08:19:21 PM
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Thank you for giving this review - I had forgotten the name of the author and series.
- 13/12/2010 09:29:59 PM
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You're welcome (and thanks for the correction, edited).
- 13/12/2010 10:23:55 PM
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I know it's not "literary". (EDITED)
- 13/12/2010 10:42:33 PM
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And with regard to your edit, I don't have a problem with passé simples myself.
- 13/12/2010 10:53:59 PM
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But how can one read any French literature at all without encountering the passé simple?
- 15/12/2010 03:39:37 AM
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The point is it is a "literary" tense
- 15/12/2010 10:19:59 AM
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Why would I read a lower style of book (I won't use the term "literature" to describe them) ?
- 16/12/2010 06:11:36 AM
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I don't want to start a fight here, but your attitude is seriously starting to grate.
- 16/12/2010 06:54:30 PM
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I don't care. Start a fight.
- 16/12/2010 08:24:22 PM
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Well, or we can have a civil debate on French culture, I suppose... also fun.
- 16/12/2010 09:09:20 PM
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- 16/12/2010 09:09:20 PM
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Well, I'm up for that, too.
- 17/12/2010 05:48:39 AM
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Good.
- 17/12/2010 09:01:37 PM
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- 17/12/2010 09:01:37 PM
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Ah - I support the subjunctive!!!
- 18/12/2010 05:10:38 AM
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TANGENT
- 18/12/2010 09:56:31 AM
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This whole conversation is just a pile of tangents, anyway. *NM*
- 18/12/2010 01:30:09 PM
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*NM*
- 18/12/2010 01:30:09 PM
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But you don't think its disappearance corresponds to a decline in American culture?
- 18/12/2010 01:29:43 PM
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- 18/12/2010 01:29:43 PM
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About the passé simple, what Camilla said. As for medieval vocabulary...
- 15/12/2010 07:17:44 PM
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That looks like a really fascinating series.
- 13/12/2010 10:56:52 PM
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Step up your French lessons!!!
- 13/12/2010 11:50:21 PM
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That is a great reason to learn French.
- 14/12/2010 07:29:54 PM
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*NM*
Ooooh
- 14/12/2010 07:41:03 PM
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I'm really not quite sure how you managed that.
- 14/12/2010 08:09:55 PM
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- 14/12/2010 08:09:55 PM
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