The Discovery of the Grail - Hardcover

Sinclair, Andrew

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 078670604X ISBN 13: 9780786706044

Publisher: Carroll & Graf Pub, 1998

Synopsis

A historical study of the legend of the Holy Grail traces its origins in the pagan sacrifices of ancient Babylon, its culmination in the tales of King Arthur, and its influence on the culture of Western civilization today

About this title

From Kirkus Reviews:

A muddled, erratic glimpse of the Holy Grail from veteran Grail chaser Sinclair (Jerusalem: The Endless Crusade, 1995). The author seems to assume that, much like himself, his reader has extensive prior knowledge of Grail history. In fact, Sinclair doesn't even clarify what the Grail is until the third chapterits a bowl or dish ``that was believed in the Middle Ages to have contained or touched the blood of Jesus Christ.'' Also, unfortunately, he romanticizes Grail lore, often failing to distinguish between historical fact and the stuff of legends. Nevertheless, he aspires to trace the Grail's impact on various European civilizations. Sinclair argues that the Italians employed the Grail in art to fuse Christian and pagan elements, and the French sang of its chivalric role in l'amour. The most intriguing (and underdeveloped) claim throughout these chapters is that the Grail's hidden message, which concerned the individual's pursuit of God, was better received in some cultures than in othersfor example, the nationalistic, militant Spaniards of the Inquisition rejected its individualist elements. In the books last third, Sinclair examines some of the 20th century's responses to the Grail. (The Nazis seized on some aspects of the myth and its epic imagery; Himmler even constructed a Round Table at the Westphalian college where secret police were trained.) The final chapter degenerates into a vague, aimless exploration of modern psychology's emphasis on the individual, culminating in unhelpful generalizations about how 1960s ``flower children'' demonstrate the essence of the Grail. Alas, this inchoate volume can't really decide what it wants to be: a mythical quest for the Grail or cultural history. (16 pages b&w photos, not seen) -- Copyright ©1998, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

From Publishers Weekly:

In writing "the first complete history of the Grail," Sinclair (The Sword and the Grail) demonstrates his familiarity with the copious literature about holy relics from the Byzantine Empire to Carl Jung with numerous allusions to religion, myth and history. He writes of the Grail's many manifestations: the chalice of the Last Supper, used by Joseph of Arimathea to catch the blood of Christ; the Holy Lance; the Pentecostal tongues of fire; the dish bearing the bloody head of St. John the Baptist; the cornucopia; the philosopher's stone; the Ark of the Covenant. Offering no precise definition, Sinclair is free to trace Grail history with an eclectic choice of holy relics, using ancient chronicles, medieval epics, Celtic Arthurian legends and representations of religious art as source material. He describes the past uses of the relics of the crucifixion, including the perversion of such relics by the Nazis. For Sinclair, the Grail is ultimately "a symbol of each person's direct approach to the divine light." In part because his subject is so amorphous, in part because he assumes a vast store of knowledge on rather obscure figures and terms, Sinclair's narrative will be daunting to the general reader. Nor is the writing always elegant ("Himmler enthused about the legends of King Arthur..."). No one, however, can doubt Sinclair's religious fervor and the sincerity of his deeply personal quest.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Carroll & Graf Pub
• Publication date: 1998
• ISBN 10: 078670604X
• ISBN 13: 9780786706044
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 307