Think of it as live-blogging a poetry reading

Responses to each Idyll of the King, written as I read them:

1. "The Coming of Arthur" · Blah. If Gwennie's father must hesitate over marrying her to this oddly-bland-for-a-upstart warlord, he could at least be interesting about it. A petty king in a warring states period would be decisive in his rejection until proven otherwise, and more concerned with expediency. Also, with a title like that, I expect more porn. With Gwennie coming across as in her mid-teens, that'd be a bit disturbing, but that's better than Blah.
   
   (Potential structural flaw: we're not shown any first meeting of Lancelot, Arthur, and Gwennie -- A-G we get a distant sighting, L-A is before the start, and G-L is brushed offstage in two lines. Keep an eye on this.)


2. "Gareth and Lynette" · This one? This I like. Gareth grows up well, and Lynette's reactions are spot on. Biggest flaw is that, at the start, Gareth sounds not like a snotty frustrated adolescent but sonorously Tennysonian.


3. "The Marriage of Geraint" · Geraint is the kind of jealous git that makes me growl, "Bite me." Even in backstory courtship, Othello-boy comes off as a git.


4. "Geraint and Enid" · Oh joy -- Othello-boy's married to Griselda. Not "Bite me" but "Spare me!"


5. "Balin and Balan" · Underneath the outer wrapping of angst-filled tragedy of nearly anime proportions is a core of a good story. Though it'd be better if the knights were replaced by ninjas.


6. "Merlin and Vivien" · Little-known fact: This idyll was first published as "Wanker and Bitch," but Rossetti convinced Tennyson that sounded too much like a law firm. Darn Tennyson's Victorian prudery, preventing him from showing us exactly how good Vivy is in bed. It's the only explanation of why Merlin fell for her that makes sense. Clearly, some fanfic needs writing.


7. "Lancelot and Elaine" · Haven't we read parts of this before? Oh yeah, we have -- and "The Lady of Shallot" doesn't taste any better warmed over. Until he recycles, though, it's as good as part 2.


8. "The Holy Grail" · Can we get back to meditations on true and false love? Pretty please?


9. "Pelleas and Ettarre" · So we have a prat, a bitch, and a Gawain who's more Mordred's brother than Arthur's nephew. Not a promising combination, and Tennyson fulfills that promise. For this, too, I expected more porn, because Malory's version has it. Or maybe I'm thinking of my fic on Malory.


10. "The Last Tournament" · That "potential" structural flaw in part 1? Here's where it cracks the story.


11. "Guinevere" · And here's where the story falls apart at the crack, despite Tennyson's attempt to paper it over with a flashback. Can we replace Gwennie with Morris's version? Pretty please? How about with a ninja?


12. "The Passing of Arthur" · Epic language is much more moving the elegiac. Makes one almost wish the rest had been that way, except of course I would have given up before now.

In conclusion: Arthur? Totally gay for young knights.


ETA: I forgot to note that one of THE best moments is when someone momentarily turns into a ninja.

---L.