Memory escapes me as to why I ever thought I wanted to read it. Perhaps I thought the forbidden romance between a priest and his lady love sounded intriguing, or maybe it was because the main character is an illuminator and I love that type of detailed art. The important question to ask is: Was it worth it? The answer is not a very simple one. I came away feeling that if I had known how miserable a tale it would be, I would not have begun to read it in the first place. I really didn’t get much from the story personally. Every possible obstacle was put in the characters’ ways and the story dragged on and on. It is quite an unfortunate tale of love and loss and waiting against hope, of death and despair and the subjugation of comfort and affection. there was the dwarf, slit and fanged from ear to ear at his expense, and laughing like a lion. (think Victor Hugo 'The Man Who Laughs' and in turn think The Joker from Batman stories)

There were always priests, monks and other clergy to be found, and they were either ascetic or corrupt – rarely anything inbetween. Women could be lewd, shrewish, strong-minded or virginal, but essentially dependent on their menfolk. Taverns and prostitutes were a-plenty. Aristocrats were noble or dishonest, not much else. Poor people were subservient and loyal.The Cloister and the Hearth (1861) is a historical novel by the British author Charles Reade. Set in the 15th century, it relates the travels of a young scribe and illuminator, Gerard Eliassoen, through several European countries. The Cloister and the Hearth often describes the events, people and their practices in minute detail. Its main theme is the struggle between man's obligations to family and to Church. The story is about two lovers, Gerard Eliassoen and Margaret Brandt. Gerard is training to be a monk, but he soon becomes enamoured by Margaret, the daughter of a herbalist. Faced with serious opposition that leads to his arrest, Gerard decides to flee the country and to meet with Margaret in Italy. Gerard is a tiresome hero. He foregoes his monastic vocation at the beginning, but he never loses his monkish personality. His virtuous and priggish manner does not make him endearing. In the book’s only piercing moment of psychological insight, he responds to news of Margaret’s possible death by descending into a life of hedonism and easily indulging in all the vices that he once deplored. The prude is generally one step away from the rake, and this proves so here, at least briefly. Good Denys - a friend with spirit and gusto, who's answer to everything is a - "Courage, camarade, La diable est mort!"

The writing style was a challenge but one that brought deep engagement and attention from my side. I was so well gripped in the story that it didn’t even matter that some words were not found in the translation application, so I had to go by guessing and interpreting according to my taste, mood and opportunity. I think I was right, in most cases though 😂 Reade’s writing almost choked me with his clear cut, edgy irony and satire. Well, that’s poor fool me for being an unlearned reader ;) so I thank him so much more and even for knowing my own’s frailty and absurdity…O my, novice of novices! being on the road with Gerard. I love a good Chaucerian journey with changing travelling companions, dangers and tales shared between the characters. Just some personal notes I started keeping before the eye-scorching set in. - the writer of fiction may be of use to the public—as an interpreter. The Cloister and the Hearth" is Charles Reade's greatest work—and, I believe, the greatest historical novel in the language… there is portrayed so vigorous, lifelike, and truthful a picture of a time long gone by, and differing in almost every particular from own, that the world has never seen its like. To me it is a picture of the past more faithful than anything in the works of Scott. [4] I do not know where I can find a book in which the highest qualities of head and of heart go together as they do in this one. [1]

CHAPTER XVI

If fiction is to be believed, there were soldiers and knights regularly roaming the country aimlessly on some pointless and digressive quest. Some were brave, some were evil, some were comical, some were weak – and there were very few of any other kind. These knights were always defending damsels, getting into skirmishes or being drawn into battles.

NOV 2014 - I must admit I was torn about how to rate this book. Initially, I felt certain it was 5 stars. Then in the middle and in other places, we got bogged down with the novels-within-novels, the contrivances, and the theological dissertations. That put the book at a good, solid 3. Well, having completed the reading (and crying lots of tears at the ending), I rewarded The Cloister and The Hearth 5 stars. Fourthly, the young man Gerard as the chief hero is from start different than the rest, in his family, but also amongst strangers. He was going into the Church, despite the fact that his own’s habits were frivolous, in the sense that his trivialities, whereas he easily got advanced in learning and skills, were reading and penmanship, also coquetting a bit with drawing and fine art. Moreover, as the story develops, it turns out that the young man Gerard is a prodigy of Don Quixote, in a sort of parallel. He is fighting all kinds of robbers, thieves, even wild animals, and it gets out of it victorious. I am still remembering the scene with the wind-mill, where Gerard managed to keep at distance all those ill men, and one by one they are eventually killed by a blazing fire… And then, more marvellous occurrences happened, and Gerard became Brother Clement, a friar of St. Dominic, as if dying to the world, the monk parted with the very name by which he had lived in it, and so broke the last link of association with earthly feelings. But that’s not all, because there are other steps on the ladder of his becoming till his end of days…a hermit, too, and then a priest, and then a monk again. And, surely, that age was not a time for fooling, if you know what I mean ;) In "The Decay of Lying," Oscar Wilde praised the novel as Reade's "one beautiful book", after which he "wasted the rest of his life in a foolish attempt to be modern." [5]. Conversely, George Orwell wrote, "Since Charles Reade's books are published in cheap editions one can assume that he still has his following, but it is unusual to meet anyone who has voluntarily read him. In most people his name seems to evoke, at most, a vague memory of 'doing' The Cloister and the Hearth as a school holiday task," going on to write, "Reade wrote several dull books, and The Cloister and the Hearth is one of them," after which he praised his modern productions Foul Play, Hard Cash, and It Is Never Too Late to Mend. [6] Screen adaptation [ edit ]Opening Chapter 1: Not a day passes over the earth, but men and women of no note do great deeds, speak great words, and suffer noble sorrows. Of these obscure heroes, philosophers, and martyrs, the greater part will never be known till that hour, when many that are great shall be small, and the small great; but of others the world's knowledge may be said to sleep: their lives and characters lie hidden from nations in the annals that record them. The general reader cannot feel them, they are presented so curtly and coldly: they are not like breathing stories appealing to his heart, but little historic hail-stones striking him but to glance off his bosom: nor can he understand them; for epitomes are not narratives, as skeletons are not human figures. I was surprised to come to the end of the book and find that this story is a very “supposed” account of two people who actually lived. This is a very Catholic story, but at the same time it takes place on the eve of the Reformation and Gerard has his own opinions on doctrinal issues. In actuality, it is the author's agenda that shows through in the end. I particularly appreciated his making the case for community to help overcome one's temptations, rather than isolation. One reason the lovers are kept apart is perhaps that it is hard to imagine Gerard and Margaret living any normal life. Just as I cannot imagine Romeo and Juliet arguing over a smelly latrine, so I cannot picture Gerard and Margaret debating what colour to paint their spare room. These are idealised characters, and one whiff of reality would bring about their deaths. Love thwarted by the machinations of a spiteful burgomaster and Gerard's greedy brothers, Gerard sets out for Rome, determined to make his way in the world and provide for his secret bride. Adventures ensue. Many adventures. He befriends Denys, a woman-crazy but good-hearted arbalestrier (a crossbowman--I had to look that one up) who becomes his boon companion. Adventures and more adventures. I won't give anything away, but the part where Gerard and Denys are beset by bandits at an inn, and the way Gerard cleverly uses his talents to gain the upper hand, is one of the coolest things I've ever read. However, after finishing the book, I felt I had a little better understanding of the different medieval civilizations of Europe—France, Germany, Italy, Holland. I read strange and unusual vocabulary words. And best of all I felt the satisfaction of finishing something hard.

Secondly, I was profoundly intrigued by the mediaeval setting of the story. I had myself travelled so far behind that it felt strange at some point, I got that feeling that I am part of that long past age too. It looks that this remarkably lengthy chronicle starts some time past the middle of the 15th century, in Holland, and it is full of old, rather strange words fortunately translation applications were a great assistant to me during this period, and it offers a great mass of intolerable Latin really, don’t take me seriously, in fact I love Latin! 😂

CHAPTER XI

Firstly, because under the historical outline of the novel there is painted a true story. That’s because I say so :D As most of the synopsis were telling the same I refer to mentioning the famous scholar Desiderius Erasmus von Rotterdam as being the child of the tragic pair on which the story gravitates I have really enjoyed how the author used his imagination to extend from a couple of lines that was assumed to be written by Erasmus about his parents, and tell the strange history of a pair that loved each other truly and deeply, but couldn’t enjoy their earthly happiness as a normal married couple. To keep it simple, whatever story I do myself believe through the author’s words is true to me. This tale not only found a place in my heart whilst reading it, but I feel it’s going to remain there indefinitely, especially the tale of those two sore-tried souls… I had a hunch that the length, ebb and flow of the action pacing signaled that it had begun in serial form in the 1800’s, and upon doing some research I learned that is correct. In which case, I think this very dramatic novel would make a good basis for a serialized audio drama.