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Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

By: Simon Armitage - translator
Narrated by: Simon Armitage
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Publisher's Summary

A complete and unabridged recording of Simon Armitage's hugely successful translation of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, read by the author. When the mysterious Green Knight arrives unbidden at the Round Table one Christmas, only Gawain is brave enough to take up his challenge.... This story, first told in the 1400s, is one of the most enthralling, dramatic and beloved poems in the English tradition.

Now, in Simon Armitage, the poem has found its perfect modern translator. Armitage's retelling of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight captures all of the magic and wonderful storytelling of the original while also revitalising it with his own popular, funny and contemporary voice.

Simon Armitage was born in West Yorkshire in 1963. In 1992 he was winner of one of the first Forward Prizes and a year later was the Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year. He works as a freelance writer, broadcaster and playwright and has written extensively for radio and television. Previous titles include Kid, Book of Matches, The Dead Sea Poems, CloudCuckooLand, Killing Time, The Universal Home Doctor, Homer's Odyssey and Tyrannosaurus Rex versus The Corduroy Kid.
©2007 Simon Armitage (P)2008 Faber Audio
Poetry Classics Literary History & Criticism European
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Critic Reviews

"Armitage makes it utterly, even compulsively readable, and as fresh as it must have been in 1400." ( Sunday Herald)
"Terrific." ( Independent on Sunday)

What listeners say about Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

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Amazing, descriptive, breathtaking and clever.

Jarring, insightful and witty. Unforgettable, transports the reader back historically and culturally to Arthur and his Knights all the time peppered in whimsical wording, that creates a frivilous melody to the building drama and suspense.

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I’m glad I read and listened to it but I’m more thankful that it’s now over!

Whilst I appreciate that Simon Armitage has translated this classic old English poem into a contemporary voice and I enjoyed his playful alliterations and poetic reading, I found part 3 - by far the longest section at 51 minutes - so tiresome, repetitive and predictable that it counter balanced any other charm to the point where finishing the poem was as much a trial as Gawain’s own quest.

I question whether it has any value for me beyond a museum curiosity.

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