I picked up The Mists of Avalon for 50 cents last week. Its one of those books I've been meaning to read for a long time.

Now that I've got it, and read the first few pages, it looks like a book in the genre "beautiful, intelligent woman battling against male oppression."

Do I just have to get past the intro to get to the good stuff? Is there an overall redeeming value to this book, or is it just escapism for unhappy housewives?

My mum likes it, someone here thinks differently!

It's a re-telling of the arthurian legend told from a woman's perspective. So there is definitely a different vibe than most versions of arthurian legend. I loved the book, as did my mom's boyfriend and several of my friends. Give it a chance.

My wife says she tried to read it, but she just couldn't get into it.

I love it... it takes a while to get into... but it's a beautifully-crafted book. I've read it twice.

Muse

Read it....there are definately a few slog your way through parts in the book. It's funny because if you read a lot, you begin to pick up where the author gets bored and where an author gets excited again...

Besides just being from the woman's point of view, there is a whole undercurrnet of christianity vs. the old mother earth religion which was fascinating to me. Good old Christinaity co-opting and destroying at every opportunity. After finishing the book, I have thought about it more than once, which is the sign of a good book for me....

I really like that about it also.

There's a similar theme in the film Dragonslayer.