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A review by mediaevalmuse
The Hound Of Ulster by Rosemary Sutcliff
3.0
I think it’s worth bearing in mind that this book reads very much like a retelling and not like a historical fiction novel. As such, I’m perhaps a little too close to the subject to fully enjoy it (I study medieval lit for a living). Like with Sutcliff’s other books, I adored the way the author does her best to stay faithful to the source material and do the time period justice. In many ways, this novel accomplishes that. My main criticisms thus stem less from my issues as a casual reader and more from my issues as a scholar.
Things I Liked
1. Prose: I love Sutcliff’s manner of describing the worlds of her novels. The prose is poetic and understated, yet I find it to carry a lot meaning. I loved the way Sutcliff described the emotions and environmental surroundings in this book, without overly indulging in embellishments that would have (I think) detracted from the story.
2. Style: I put this under a different heading because it’s a separate topic from prose. I really appreciated Sutcliff’s effort to mimic the literary style of medieval Irish texts themselves while still interjecting with her own inventions. The Hound of Ulster reads very much like passages from The Tain, which I loved because I don’t think any amount of “updating” would have worked with something like Irish literature.
3. Emotion: Some of Sutcliff’s inventions humanize Cuchulain in a way that medieval texts really don’t. For example, Sutcliff talks about Cuchulain’s grief and reasoning for almost everything he does. As a result, he’s a bit more sympathetic than his medieval counterpart.
Things I Didn’t Like
1. Changes From Original Texts: While I’m not one of those people who insists that everything be 100% faithful or accurate, the things that Sutcliffe did change from her source material was a bit disappointing for me. In my opinion, some of the details that Sutcliff changes or omits are essential to reading medieval Irish literature in a certain way, so a change to the text changes the mood or implication of an action. For example, Sutcliff changes the Birth Pangs of Ulster to something like a mere curse to drain warriors of strength - while it doesn’t seem like a big change, it does prevent the warriors from being feminized in the book in the same way they are in the original text.
2. Difficulty: Having a background in medieval Irish literature, I didn’t find this book too hard to follow, but I can definitely see it being a challenge for the casual reader. There are things that are left unexplained (like what a geis is) and sometimes readers are overwhelmed with names that don’t carry much meaning. While these techniques are faithful to the original, I don’t think they completely work for people new to this literature.
Recommendations: I would recommend this book if you’re interested in medieval lit and history (specifically medieval Irish lit and history), hero tales, warrior culture, and epics.
Things I Liked
1. Prose: I love Sutcliff’s manner of describing the worlds of her novels. The prose is poetic and understated, yet I find it to carry a lot meaning. I loved the way Sutcliff described the emotions and environmental surroundings in this book, without overly indulging in embellishments that would have (I think) detracted from the story.
2. Style: I put this under a different heading because it’s a separate topic from prose. I really appreciated Sutcliff’s effort to mimic the literary style of medieval Irish texts themselves while still interjecting with her own inventions. The Hound of Ulster reads very much like passages from The Tain, which I loved because I don’t think any amount of “updating” would have worked with something like Irish literature.
3. Emotion: Some of Sutcliff’s inventions humanize Cuchulain in a way that medieval texts really don’t. For example, Sutcliff talks about Cuchulain’s grief and reasoning for almost everything he does. As a result, he’s a bit more sympathetic than his medieval counterpart.
Things I Didn’t Like
1. Changes From Original Texts: While I’m not one of those people who insists that everything be 100% faithful or accurate, the things that Sutcliffe did change from her source material was a bit disappointing for me. In my opinion, some of the details that Sutcliff changes or omits are essential to reading medieval Irish literature in a certain way, so a change to the text changes the mood or implication of an action. For example, Sutcliff changes the Birth Pangs of Ulster to something like a mere curse to drain warriors of strength - while it doesn’t seem like a big change, it does prevent the warriors from being feminized in the book in the same way they are in the original text.
2. Difficulty: Having a background in medieval Irish literature, I didn’t find this book too hard to follow, but I can definitely see it being a challenge for the casual reader. There are things that are left unexplained (like what a geis is) and sometimes readers are overwhelmed with names that don’t carry much meaning. While these techniques are faithful to the original, I don’t think they completely work for people new to this literature.
Recommendations: I would recommend this book if you’re interested in medieval lit and history (specifically medieval Irish lit and history), hero tales, warrior culture, and epics.