Tuesday, July 7, 2009

King Arthur

Has anyone read John Steinbeck's retelling of Mallory's King Arthur stories? He never finished the retelling of these tales. However, what he did was mostly really good even though they were only first and second drafts. Steinbeck said that he translated Mallory into modern english before writing his version. I think some of this book was his translation only of Mallory, and some was his re-telling of these stories. He seemed to understand the original stories, which Mallory re-told hundreds of years after they were originally told and written.

A large part of the book was Steinbeck's letters to his editor and publisher. These letters were as interesting as his stories. He discussed mythology and story telling.

I'd love to hear from others who read this book, and know if there are any other good translations of Mallory and other Arthurian stories.