The little known Great Love Story
Published February 24, 2005
Burge, a historian himself who had study their letters for many years, analyzes and picks them apart and puts into context of their time. When he describes Paris around 1100 A.D., I could picture it in my head. I imagine the busy streets around the Cathedral of Notre Dame, filled with students, clergymen, royalty and merchants selling their wares. Burge does his best to trace their relationship through they letters. From the first to the last and where the letters leave off, Burge fills in the blanks with his well researched material on the couple and the people around them. My only complaint about the book, I can not blame on the author, for I know he exhausted all his outlets. I wish more time was spent on Heloise outside of their relationship. Sadly, Heloise is victim of the gender bias of history. Documents on women were rarely made and kept and if they do still exist are scarce and usually incomplete. There is no record of her birth or where she lived before she moved in with her uncle. All that is known is that she was raised in a convent outside of Paris. She probably would have been lost to history completely if it was not for her affair with Abelard and for that I am grateful. Other then that, Heloise & Abelard was a fun and interesting read.
- The little known Great Love Story
- Published: February 24, 2005
- Type:
- Section: Books
- Filed Under: Books: History
- Writer: Beth Donelson
- Beth Donelson's BC Writer page
- Beth Donelson's personal site
- Spread the Word
- Like this article?
- Email this
Save to del.icio.us
Comments on this articleComments
Thanks for the review. I have often wondered about those two, but never got round to checking them out.
Being a fan of historical novels, I think that those set in Paris or London have an edge on all the others. The two cities are just so evocative, old cathedrals, mist on the river, mobs and royals and republicans... Do you like Ackroyd's books about London, or Hilary Mantel's A Place of Greater Safety (about the French Revolution)? They're both great too.
Thanks for the comments. No I haven't read other of those authors. I will have to put them on my list. Lately, I have been reading books on Latin America for a class. I read an excellent novel, The Underdogs by Mariano Azuela. It is about the Mexican Revolution. It's historical fiction but a pretty good description of the people who fought in the war.
excellent job, look forward to reading more from you.
Add your comment, speak your mind
(Or ping: http://blogcritics.org/mt/tb/25923)
This is interesting. I was just preparing to jump into the food fight between A.J. Jacobs, who read an encyclopedia and wrote a book about it (*The Know It All*) and his NYT reviewer Joe Queenan.
Queenan criticized Jacobs for, among other things, being "unaware that the story of Heloise and Abelard is not some obscure medieval tidbit but an insanely famous love story."
I was ready to side with Queenan, but I will reconsider.