Yes, so true. I suppose there's a certain amount of sense in waiting to see which things actually have staying power and long-term influence, but it can be so very limited sometimes!
Actually, with Arthurian things, I once read a book series once by Fay Sampson (I think it was a quartet, but it may possibly have been five) retelling Morgan Le Fay's story from various points of view, but the interesting thing was the last book, Herself, which was from Morgan's POV. But it didn't just retell this version yet again, it interspersed that with chapters that were Morgan's commentary on her legend and how it's changed through the ages and through different people making points. It was published too many years ago for Merlin, and I don't think it covered Monty Python, but it did go from early Welsh writings right up to The Sword in the Stone, Marion Zimmer Bradley and Stephen Lawhead, and I found that by far the most fascinating aspect of it. I can't really remember much about the rest of it, but you might like Herself if you can get hold of it anywhere via library magics.
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Date: 2014-02-20 01:05 pm (UTC)Actually, with Arthurian things, I once read a book series once by Fay Sampson (I think it was a quartet, but it may possibly have been five) retelling Morgan Le Fay's story from various points of view, but the interesting thing was the last book, Herself, which was from Morgan's POV. But it didn't just retell this version yet again, it interspersed that with chapters that were Morgan's commentary on her legend and how it's changed through the ages and through different people making points. It was published too many years ago for Merlin, and I don't think it covered Monty Python, but it did go from early Welsh writings right up to The Sword in the Stone, Marion Zimmer Bradley and Stephen Lawhead, and I found that by far the most fascinating aspect of it. I can't really remember much about the rest of it, but you might like Herself if you can get hold of it anywhere via library magics.