Merlin

Rating:
Summary: A RESEARCH BOOK FOR THOSE WHO SEEK THE TRUTH
Review: .
This is not an easy read because it is not in narritave form, but it is loaded with the information you need to draw your own conclusions.

I had the distinct priveelege of helping Dr. Goodrich prepare two of her books and she gratiously gave me mention in them, Guinevere and Priestesses. I have also counted her as a close personal friend for over 25 years and am familiar with her writing style and research methods, sometimes spanning many years on site in England, Scotland, Wales, France, and Ireland. Norma is fluent in ancient French, Latin, and the Celtic languages. She has free rein in the archives of the University of Paris and the research centers of Aachen, Germany, as well as the major universities in the United Kingdom. In short, she is more than qualified to do her research from the original manuscripts rather than rehashing the works of more recent writers, as so many other "experts" have done.

Other revierwer are quite right in saying that Norma's writing is difficult to read. To many it appears disjointed, but her style is that of a researcher, not a novelest or story teller. More than once I have suggested to her that it would be helpful to the lay reader to put a final chapter in each of her books summarizing in narritive form her beliefs and conclusions based on her foregoing research chapters. She agreed that it might be helpful but she never followed through, preferring to leave it up to the readers to form their own conclusions based on her research.

The subject matter is so esoteric and sparse, and so far into the distant past of the dark ages that details must often be teased out of legands and peripheral contemporary resources. Like her other works Merlin must be read then re-read for true understanding of the man and the world he lived in.

Norma's books have been used in law classes to illustrate the way cogent arguments should be made for or against a premise. Her readers are the jury and are obliged to form their own conclusions based on the evidence and arguments she presents.

Many readers don't like this approach, preferring to be led by the hand, but I find it refreshing.

Rating:
Summary: A RESEARCH BOOK FOR THOSE WHO SEEK THE TRUTH
Review: .
This is not an easy read because it is not in narritave form, but it is loaded with the information you need to draw your own conclusions.

I had the distinct privilege of helping Dr. Goodrich prepare two of her books and she gratiously gave me mention in them, Guinevere and Priestesses. I have also counted her as a close personal friend for over 25 years and am familiar with her writing style and research methods, sometimes spanning many years on site in England, Scotland, Wales, France, and Ireland. Norma is fluent in ancient French, Latin, and the Celtic languages. She has free rein in the archives of the University of Paris and the research centers of Aachen, Germany, as well as the major universities in the United Kingdom. In short, she is more than qualified to do her research from the original manuscripts rather than rehashing the works of more recent writers, as so many other "experts" have done.

Other revierwer are quite right in saying that Norma's writing is difficult to read. To many it appears disjointed, but her style is that of a researcher, not a novelest or story teller. More than once I have suggested to her that it would be helpful to the lay reader to put a final chapter in each of her books summarizing in narritive form her beliefs and conclusions based on her foregoing research chapters. She agreed that it might be helpful but she never followed through, preferring to leave it up to the readers to form their own conclusions based on her research.

The subject matter is so esoteric and sparse, and so far into the distant past of the dark ages that details must often be teased out of legands and peripheral contemporary resources. Like her other works Merlin must be read then re-read for true understanding of the man and the world he lived in.

Norma's books have been used in law classes to illustrate the way cogent arguments should be made for or against a premise. Her readers are the jury and are obliged to form their own conclusions based on the evidence and arguments she presents.

Many readers don't like this approach, preferring to be led by the hand, but I find it refreshing.

Rating:
Summary: Interesting facts, lousy writing
Review: Goodrich claims that Merlin was a Celtic Christian scientist, political advisor and religious leader. She may well be right. Indeed, I would like to think that she is right. But if I disagreed with her conclusions, her arguments would not convince me. As other reviews of her writing have said, it is full of non sequiters. I have a Ph.D. in religious studies, and teach religion and philosophy. But I could not explain to a third party her arguments for her conclusions. If you want some exposure to ancient/medieval texts that bear on the identity of Merlin, this book might be useful. But don't expect to come to any clear conclusion (for or against her views) with the help of her writing. She mixes textual exposition and argument without stating where one leaves off and another begins. The reader is constantly wondering: is this what her sourse says? Is it what Goodrich THINKS it says? Is it evidence for her point of view? If so, how? A tangle of confused writing.

Rating:
Summary: Great research on Merlin
Review: I agree with the other reviewers that Mrs. Goodrich's writing style isn't the greatest, but I can get over that. It is almost like sitting in a college class with a quirky college professer who tends to wander in his or her thoughts. Overall, I have found the information contained within to be useful, and it is obvious that Mrs.Goodrich is passionate about her subject. It is good to see Merlin being treated as an historical figure rather than some cartoonish wizard with a pointy hat. To be honest, this is the first book that I have read that deals solely with Merlin, so I don't have much to base my opinion on. However, I did enjoy reading this book and it opened my eyes to the possibility that there may be more to the myths and stories regarding Arthur's main advisor. After reading this, I intend to read Mrs. Goodrich's other books as well. Despite the somewhat awkward writing style, I was still able to enjoy it, and I would recommend it to anyone interested in Arthuriana.

Rating:
Summary: Enthralling!
Review: Merlin is the second book by Goodrich that I've read. Ms. Goodrich's writing is intelligent and impressive. It's interesting to read a book that considers the Arthurian legend to be a historical reality, and Ms. Goodrich comes up with lots of evidence to back up her claims. The best part of this book, in my opinion, is "The Prophecy of Merlin" and the author's explanation of it. Merlin must have lived! Reading this book made me a believer.

Rating:
Summary: Great research, abominable writing
Review: Ms. Goodrich undoubtedly knows what she is talking about, and has done her research. However, her writing style and grammar are so horrific that I was completely unable to finish even the first quarter of the book.

Her sentences are disjointed, she makes frequent reference to events and myths without sufficient background information for the reader, and cannot seem to hold a cohesive thought in her head for more than the length of a sentence. Her writing skips off on tangents and rabbit trails, and generally fails to lead to any logical conclusions or coherent presentation.

The research is there, but she's unable to express it to her audience in either a narrative format or a reference format. A huge, huge disappointment.

Rating:
Summary: Great research, abominable writing
Review: Ms. Goodrich undoubtedly knows what she is talking about, and has done her research. However, her writing style and grammar are so horrific that I was completely unable to finish even the first quarter of the book.

Her sentences are disjointed, she makes frequent reference to events and myths without sufficient background information for the reader, and cannot seem to hold a cohesive thought in her head for more than the length of a sentence. Her writing skips off on tangents and rabbit trails, and generally fails to lead to any logical conclusions or coherent presentation.

The research is there, but she's unable to express it to her audience in either a narrative format or a reference format. A huge, huge disappointment.