3 Tristan and Isolde books

[meganbmoore]

Maybe reading 3 versions of the same story in a relatively short period of time wasn't a good idea? Or maybe it was and just helped point out the various flaws. None of the 3 books I read hugely deviated from the myth's basic plot, except maybe McKenzie in what seems to have been an attempt at making the story and pure and semi-wholesome true love. I kind of wanted to wait on posting about them until I'd read Sutcliff's version, but I want to read Sword at Sunset before reading any of her other Arthuriana. IIRC, all three versions called Brangiane 'Branwen,' so that's what I'm going with. All three also took the "generation after Arthur" approach.

The White Raven by Diana L. Paxson: This one is pretty easily the best. It retells the story through Branwen's POV, and probably has the best version of both her and Mark of the three. Paxson has a lot of historical research put into this, and like MZB, she uses a modern POV of paganism to tell the myth. The most notable thing about this one, aside from the Branwen POV, is the way that it draws out the consent issues in the legend and emphasizes them like whoa. Actually, I think she adds to them in some ways, but that mostly serves to highlight the existing issues, IMO. Uncomfortable reading at times, but rather fascinating.

Iseult by Dee Meanney Morrison: This one is probably the most accessible. It's a fairly straightforward and well written retelling that makes some of the odder parts of the legend more digestible if you aren't used to that stuff. I thought she made Branwen a bit too dingy and self-sacrificing, but it also had the only Isolde and Tristan of the three books that I actually mostly liked as characters.

Prince of Dreams by Nancy McKenzie: THIS BOOK. This is one of those books that you are annoyed by but keep reading because you want to see what it does, and then realize that you've read 380 pages of teeny print and actually hate it and almost every character except for a few very secondary characters (Tristan's ex, his uncle, and maybe Dinadin). I think this is aimed at a younger audience and...uhm...bad idea if so? McKenzie tries to follow the basics of the plot while emphasizing the magic aspect and trying to make it all about wholesome and monogamous True and Pure love in which basically everyone that might complicate things is completely screwed over. When we reached Isolde of the White Hands, it was basically "WTF MCKENZIE REALLY?" and the "Mark is the villain. The villain!" near the end was pretty much ludicrous and way over the top. So, uhm, yeah. WTF book? McKenzie is a pretty decent writer, though. I hope her Guenevere book is as good as some have said it is.

 

P.S.: Yes, I have read Gerald Morris’s The Ballad of Sir Dinadan (actually, it’s the next-to-most-recent book I read) but while it heavily features the Tristan and Isolde myth, it’s not actually about them.