The Adventures of Robin Hood

It’s time to forget about your worries and be transported back to Merrie Olde England with probably Howard Pyle’s most famous novel. Although I write that this is a novel, to be more precise it is probably best to describe this book as a collection of interconnected short tales, as each chapter is another adventure in the life of that most famous of outlaws.Starting off with when Robin poaches on the King’s land in Sherwood Forest and then kills a man so we follow him onwards as he turns to robbing the rich to give to the poor, and meeting those characters who join his band of merry men. Of course there is always that dastardly Sheriff of Nottingham with his machinations to capture Robin.Giving the tale of Robin Hood an oomph Pyle is arguably responsible for the films and other children’s books about the character that have appeared since, and made this outlaw into someone almost respectable, and not what older tales and ballads told about Robin.Entertaining children and adults since 1883 it is time to don those green tights and get out the bow and arrows, and lose yourself in some great escapism.

An interconnected series of short stories about one of England's greatest adventurers the unreal Robin Hood! Cue drum roll! Was not a massive fan of this book, it was just about okay, but it didn't really hold my interest and I jumped to the end to read about his death in a nunnery. Yes well, he would have to have a different ending than the ordinary man! I wouldn't want to read this book again and have already deleted it.

The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood Howard Pyle Pub.1883 Kindle EditionI had already been collecting Robin Hood related books for several years when I obtained my first copy of the Pyle version at about 12 years old and remember being a little disappointed that it was targeted at a younger reader demographic, but that same 1940's copy is still in my collection.`The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood of Great Renown in Nottinghamshire' the original full title; was written by Howard Pyle (1853-1911) who was an American illustrator and author of childrens books in 1883 and was the first retelling of the traditional English legends written specifically for the American juvenile market and is still probably the most popular anthology of Robin Hood stories for the younger child. Pyle included most of the traditional tales and ballads in his book but the stories were simplified and romanticised to make them more suitable for young children, and was a key protagonist in changing the image of the traditional hero from a rogue and bandit to the loveable character better recognised today. In Pyle's version of the stories Robin kills only one man, that in self defence, and spreads the idea throughout the tales of Robin Hood robbing the rich to give to the poor, something alluded to in only one of the traditional ballads. Historical accuracy was of little concern and Pyle changed many of the names of historical characters and followed Walter Scott's precedence in setting the stories firmly during the reign of Richard the Lion-Hearted with the primary villians Prince John Lackland and his political allies in the shires and church.The main curiosity of Pyles work is that the whole volume was written in a fanciful mock archaic style with a lot of curious mis-spellings of common words to give a medieval effect, for example `Fayre' for Fair, the first known usage of a mock OE spelling which has crept into common usage on both sides of the atlantic but is pure invention.Never-the-less Pyles tales are good fun and an excellent introduction to the legends for the under elevens. Both of my older granddaughters had copies and enjoyed the stories at that age.There are numerous versions of the Pyle stories with various titles all of which stick fairly close to the original.This Kindle edition is substantially free of errors and will well formatted with an active index. 4/5

So great! My 7 and 5 year olds loved having this read to them. It's funny, too. The language is old fashioned and a bit difficult, so a parent really needs to read this and occasionally interpret. But you might be surprised as to what the kids can handle.Could have done without the epilogue about Robin's death, though. I was in tears, and so were the kids!

I enjoyed the story of Robin Hood Quite a lot of action. It was well written And was interested on how the merry men were united. It may be for a younger reader but at my age it was like going back to my younger years.

Not worth reviewing. Publisher unknown, very poor quality reproduction. Illustrations with no bearing on the text or with the original publication. Returned for a credit. Thank you.

Having been arrested and interred myself for some time in what they used to call borstal for stealing as a youth I can fully appreciate Hood's adventures. I've never actually been to Nottingham itself but have seen Sherwood Forest, in the Mansfield area, and so can fully appreciate the song in the Disney film denigrating the area generally. Prince John was a prat but King Richard was probably worse.

I was expecting one long story about the life off Robin Hood but what this book actually is is a series of successive short stories. They do follow on from one another but they would not need to be read all in one go. I really enjoyed the tales and antics of Robin Hood and his Merry Men, it was such a different style of writing to anything I had read before and clearly a very different culture to what we have today.

The stories are a bit episodic. Robin meets the famous Merry Men one by one, usually in some sort of friendly combat. More obscure characters like Allin-a-Dale (not just made up for the Disney cartoon!) and Much, the Miller's Son, are highlighted and become re-occurring characters. Famous scenes like escapes from castles or tournaments are interspersed with less famous, like Robin's encounter with a witch. The story does go on past the return of King Richard and the final union of Robin and Marian. Robin has a noble and tragic death that's a bit shocking because of the general lightness and fun of the rest of the book.

This book lives up to its title of a Classic. The archaic english made the book really unique compared to its contemporary ones. The parting with Robin is really a heart breaker... But the joy to read of the merry tales of him and his merry band overcomes that....

Good book but some flaws. Good plot, but how stupid too write in this archaic english! It is difficult to understand, and there are may words even the kindle dictionary cannot detect.

Advantur

Very Good

As a child we just had a radio and books, no TV, no computer or Handy so we became lost in the words which were printed and this book was one of my fav's. Now I can read it on my smart phone, who could ask for more!

A nice book about my Hero at schooltime Thanks Amazon Kindle who has given chance to read such book Thanks

Great reading a different perspective of the books of our youth. An evergreen read.

Good possession

Very interesting, children can improve their vocabulary.

good

loved it

I love it

Good in Adventure reading

Ok!