18 h 44 minAudiobook13 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What if the priest warning you against desire also shows you how to pursue it?
In The Book of Good Love, Juan Ruiz presents a priest who keeps falling in love. The Archpriest of Hita courts widows, nuns and mountain herdswomen, often helped by Trotaconventos, a quick-witted old go-between. His attempts raise a stubborn question: which love is good, and which only looks good?
This long poem from fourteenth-century Castile moves through love songs, hymns, comic ballads and pointed fables. The Archpriest argues with Don Amor, Love himself, while Carnival and Lent wage a war of foods. In his opening sermon, Ruiz offers two ways to read: as a Christian warning against desire, or a guide to winning love.
What you’ll discover
- Love argues back Meet Don Amor as he defends his power against the Archpriest’s bitter complaints.
- A clever go-between Follow Trotaconventos through messages, gifts and flattery as she works on the priest’s behalf.
- Feasting takes the field Watch Don Carnal and Lady Lent lead rival armies of rich and plain foods.
- Stories with sharp teeth Explore animal fables and short tales whose lessons interrupt the pursuit of love.
- More than courtship Look beneath the love stories for satire aimed at money, clergy and power.
Who will love it
For readers who love medieval voices, bawdy humor, and stories with a sting, and anyone curious about how people joked about love and the Church seven centuries ago.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A priest tells you how to read him
- Love fails again and again at first
- Lord Love argues with his own servant
- Fables carry the sharpest lessons
- An old go-between does the real work
- Carnival goes to war against Lent
- Mountain women, nuns and a Moorish refusal
- Money, clergy and the limits of the Church
- A patchwork poem with many voices
Who’s who
- The Archpriest of HitaA priest and poet who tells his own story, forever falling in love and forever hoping that good love and worldly love can be told apart.
- TrotaconventosAn old, quick-witted go-between who carries messages, flatters women and knows every trick of persuasion on the Archpriest's behalf.
- Don AmorLord Love in person, who lectures the Archpriest on seduction and defends his own power against the priest's complaints.
- Don Melón de la HuertaA young lover who wants to win the widow Doña Endrina and relies on a clever helper to reach her.
- Doña EndrinaA watchful young widow who weighs the pleasures and the dangers of love and answers the go-between with sharp good sense.
- Don Carnal and Doña CuaresmaCarnival and Lady Lent, who lead rival armies of rich and plain foods in a comic war over feasting and fasting.
- Doña GarozaA nun whom the Archpriest tries to court, courteous but not easily won, and a test of the priest's own vows.
Formats and delivery
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- Large-print eBook
- The same book in bigger, clearer type, from the first page.
- Audiobook
- 18 h 44 min, complete, read by Lucas Linden.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 13 minutes, to read or to hear.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
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Das Buch der Guten Liebe
by Juan Ruiz · 1330
A priest courts love with a cunning go-between, while desire and faith compete to show him which love is good.
Challenging10–20 hours to read25 languages
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In short
The Book of Good Love is a long poem from fourteenth century Castile. It was written by Juan Ruiz, who calls himself the Archpriest of Hita, a town northeast of Madrid.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A priest tells you how to read him
The book opens with a prayer, and then with a prose sermon. Ruiz asks God to guide him and praises the Virgin Mary. He then states a plain Christian teaching. People have free will, and the soul must choose between good and ruin. His book, he says, was written to remind readers of the right choice.
Then he adds a turn of his own. He admits that the poem also describes foolish love, which he calls loco amor, or mad love. He says he included it so that readers can recognize it and avoid it. But he adds that some people, who like to use such tricks, may learn them from his pages too. He leaves the door open on purpose.
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What is The Book of Good Love about?
It is a medieval Spanish poem in which a priest tells of his many love affairs, his meeting with Lord Love, and the lessons of fables and songs. Its central question is how to tell good love from foolish love.
Who is the Archpriest of Hita?
He is the narrator of the poem and the name Juan Ruiz gives himself. Scholars treat him as a literary character as well as a real priest, so his adventures should not be read as plain autobiography.
What does good love mean in the book?
Ruiz uses good love for the love of God and virtue, and mad love, loco amor, for worldly desire. In practice the poem shows how hard it is to keep the two apart.
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