| Booktalk
#1
I watched the movie "The Lion
in Winter" and didn't get much out of it except some funny lines between
Katherine Hepburne and Peter O'Toole. I read this fantasy version of the
same characters, Eleanor of Aquitaine and her husband King Louis, who would
rather be a monk than a king. and King Henry II, who is so colorful that
Eleanor has been waiting on a cloud for 600 years waiting for him to be
purified enough to be admitted to heaven himself. This is a delightful
way to get a hint of what royal life during the Crusades was all about.
Booktalk #2
Konigsburg brings the richly
detailed tapestry of medieval culture to life in this delightful tale of
some of the most colorful figures of the period. Allowing the setting
to shift from heaven to the earthly Middle Ages provides fascinating glimpses
of the naughtiness of Eleanor of Aquitane as she provokes the mighty King
of France, her husband Louis. "Why can't we have mosaics, draperies,
and colorful rooms like they do in Constantinople?" Eleanor demands
of her husband, a king who dresses plainly like a monk, takes his meals
in the monastery, and shares little in common with his dashing wife.
But, King Louis remained firm "only plain, godly furnishings and clothing"
for his household. Eleanor was not to be outdone. She accompanied
him on the next pilgrimage to Canterbury, with her own caravan of servants
and goods. She dared to defy the king's orders, lavishing her wagons
with brightly colored decorations in Constantinople, and ordering the caravan
to camp for the night in the lush green valley below, not beside the trail
high on the hillside as the king had ordered. In their struggle to
reach the valley below, they failed to notice the Turks lurking on the
mountainsides. Will the king's army be ambushed? Will Eleanor
be punished for disobeying the king? Read Proud Taste for Scarlet
and Miniver to uncover little-known facts of history. (Julia S. Fanning,
Juliajsfnnng@aol.com,
teacher Busbee Middle School) |
