The Well at the World's End

Rating:
Summary: Rewarding, yet left me wanting more...
Review: As C.S. Lewis claimed, a story cannot match the wonder and expectation that comes from a title "The Well at the World's End." Indeed, my expectations of a spiritual grail-type quest, the joy of finding another George MacDonald, got in my way of enjoying a fascinating recreation of the medieval romance, an experiment in archaic English, and a materialistic examination of the relativity of culture structure.

Like reading the "Faerie Queene," the characters are shadowy forms whose presence goes beyond simple characterization. Do not look for deep psychosis. Ralph, the hero of this romance, is just that, a hero. Like Ivanhoe or Galahad, Ralph is a luck child and is less interesting than his supporting cast. For example, "the Lady", his first romantic encounter, is a mysterious character, existing beyond good and evil, almost half goddess, a combination of Faerie Queene and Le Belle Dame Sans Merci. Unfortunately, she does not inhabit the whole quest, and her replacement, Ursula, who is confused with "the Lady," is lifeless mirror image her.

The difference between the Well quest and a Grail quest is that the Well quest is attainable. While the Grail lies outside of reach, a spiritual mystery to be claimed at the end of life, more spirit than body, the Well is a material mystery connected to life not death, body as well as somewhat spirit. Being a material possession "The Well at the World's End" is less concerned with spiritual transformation as it is cultural transformation. Therefore, the climax is not the drinking of the well, but the in the life that follows. The relativity of the divergent cultures that Ralph eludes aligning himself with, becomes more black and white after the well. Morris's Marxist optimism shows himself as Ralph retraces his steps and like a revolutionary transform what was a cultural mixed bag into wholly good.

I think my disappointment was a mater of preference and personal expectation. Perhaps my desire for a climax at the end of life reveals my lack of living.

Quick note: this is only part 1. Part 2 is in orange.

Rating:
Summary: The Well, from which only the 'strong of heart' may drink.
Review: Don't let the dismal fact that this book is twenty-zillionth on the bestseller list discourageth you.... it is well worth orderething.

I first came to this book through the published endorsement (hence, not personal) of the great C.S. Lewis, who made his first reading of the Well in November of 1914. He read it many times thereafter.

In my ONE reading of the two volumes, I can attest to the fact that this is a beautiful story, a rich fantasy, a vibrant fairy-tale with no fairies. Among other things... a love story. Strictly speaking, as regards genre, it is a "romance". The chivalric, bardic story of Ralph of Upmeads, the least likely of the King's four sons, who devotes his life to the quest of the Well at The World's End... a fabled well which promises to reward its discoverer with perpetual youth.

If you are in love with Tolkien's The Lord of The Rings (and who isn't) you should definitely consider having an affair with The Well At The World's End. Let me defuse the daunting issue of Morris's use of archaic language. Be ye warned, in every sentence you will constantly encounter words such as forsooth, hitherward, quoth, whither, rideth, erstwhile, deem, draweth, betwixt, and I wot not else. At first I thought this would be really intolerable. But I quickly adapted to it, and even found it kind of "not vile".

Remember... Volume 2 is essential. It's NOT a sequel, it's a conclusion. Get both volumes, and escape the world of car horns and remote control for a bit.

I applaud this new re-issue of what is definitely a fantasy classic. Previously, one had to search a hundred used-book stores to find it. Now it's a click away.

And as regards it's place on the bestseller list? I am reminded of the wise words of the great Henrik Ibsen, who once suggested that "the solid majority is always wrong."

Rating:
Summary: Back to the Classics!
Review: Have you ever walked into a bookstore and browsed around the fantasy/sci-fi section only to find yourself convinced that of the 10,000 or so novels adorning countless shelves that only about 10 of them are worth reading? Modern fantasy is chalk full of endless series of Dragonlance spin-offs and 1000 page multi-volume behemoths that somehow manage to say very little. All of this can put one in a predicament: which books are good books? The answer: those that have stood the test of time. So instead of wading through piles of junk trying to find a good read here and there, let's go back to the beginning.

William Morris (according to Lin Carter) is the founder of modern fantasy literature and The Well at the World's End is his masterpiece. And after reading this book and the little that I have about the author I find it odd that his works are not more widely read or discussed in the fantasy literature community. I searched the internet and various bulletin boards and found a few isolated discussions or worthy mentions, but nothing like what this novel or its author deserve. So here I am, giving credit where it's due.

The Well at the World's End employs an archaic style of prose and a clear mastery of the novel form to tell an old fashioned bardic story of an imaginary medieval land. Ralph of Upmeads, the son of a little known King of a northern land, plays our eager adventure-seeking hero. We travel through a host of towns and villages, forests and castles as Ralph seeks the enigmatic Well that everyone has heard about, but only a handful have ever been there or returned alive. At the beginning of the novel Morris' style was a little of a burden for me. There is a quite a bit of archaic vocabulary I had to get used to in addition to the rather formal style. Even through all of the 560 pages I had to read this book more slowly than most books lest I find myself unable to understand the often unfamiliar arrangements of Morris' words into sentences. All of this can get tedious or repetitive at times but at other times I found myself stopping to marvel at a perfectly realized sentence or piece of dialogue. And I have to give Morris credit for the poetry; although less abundant, it is better than Tolkien's.

Tolkien was heavily influenced by Morris, and some of the elements in The Well at the World's End will be curiously familiar to fans of Lord of the Rings. There's a horse named Silverfax, a Fellowship of Champions, a Lord named Gandolf, a rock sea-plain surrounding a volcano (Mordor?), and a scene where the old hiding-under-the-magical-cape-that-looks-like-a-rock trick is employed. Even the ending resembles the scouring of the shire (the hero comes home only to find his homeland in upheaval). But the only vague similarity I could find between Tolkien's Ring and Morris Well is when a certain character references the power of the Well and his unwillingness to use it lest he should abuse it (sounds familiar). Of course, both novels also center around the idea of the heroic quest. The difference is that Morris' story veers toward romance (and indeed it is a romance in its own right) whereas Tolkien strays into more universal issues like divine providence, anti-industrialism/modernism, etc. In this respect Tolkien's story seems to be more applicable to the modern individual.

So now for the big question: is it better than The Lord of the Rings? Well, not exactly. In comparing Tolkien to Morris on the basis of their two masterpieces I would say that Morris displays a more developed sense of the technical side of storytelling but falls short of Tolkien when it comes to world-building, historical authenticity, and emotional involvement of the reader. The Well at the World's End has a very "tight" storyline in that Morris never strays into tangents or gets sidetracked. The entire book is highly linear and chronologically regular (that is the ratio of time passage to a given number of pages remains constant). All this results in what one might call near perfect style but it also means that we miss those interesting quirks that are so abundant in Tolkien's writings. All of those "flaws" (Bombadil) and "overly elaborate" descriptions (just about the whole of LOTR) give Middle Earth a sense of history and the reader a sense of discovery that isn't quite matched by Morris. Of course, Morris wrote as long before Tolkien as Tolkien did before modern authors so the fact that his works stands up in comparison is a tribute to his abilities. Indeed, it is surprising to learn that Morris was not a writer by trade given the quality of this book.

One might say that Tolkien felt a little bewildered by the modern world and wanted to go back to an earlier time when man was not constrained or corrupted by modern devices of his own making. The medieval period of northern Europe was the perfect place for his stories and for the stories of many fantasy authors both before and after him. I felt a similar desire to go back...to the very first of those books that brought us the magic of modern fantasy.

Rating:
Summary: Great Story - Not-So-Great Edition
Review: I first ran into this book by accident in 1975 - it still remains one of my absolute favorites and I encourage anyone interested even remotely in fantasy or heroic romanticism to read it.

However, some caveats should be observed. The ORIGINAL story was published by Kelmscott Press which used "gothic" fonts and unconventional design. Ballentine used this as the source for the 1970 edition and a lot of textual errors crept in - not all of which have been corrected in this new version. (For example "A garth of pound" should read "A garth OR pound.")

But this does not excuse the omission of several paragraphs which are dropped from the bottom of page 308. It looks almost as though a whole page is missing.

I still highly recommend this book regardless. But if a better edition makes its way into the market I would buy that one instead.

Rating:
Summary: One of the Best!
Review: I first read this book as a teenager and was captivated. The memory lingered. As an adult I spent several years looking for it to no avail. This edition was my first online purchase after searching the then new Amazon.com on a whim.

Very rich. Lots of Olde English language and chivalry. Very alluring but sublimated sexuality. Very difficult to categorize. A fantasy masterpiece! I've reread it twice.

I am also fascinated by William Morris the man. He is quite famous as an artist/designer/thinker. See: http://www.lbwf.gov.uk/wmg/ and http://www.morrissociety.org/

Rating:
Summary: Get this book back in print!!!!
Review: I rank this book up there with the Gormenghast series and the Lord of the Rings. A fantasy masterpiece, it is the precursor for everything that came after. Yes, the archaic medieval language is tough to get into at first, but after ten or twenty pages it becomes natural to the mind and presents no problem. One sees that the language is part of the beauty. Overall, this book is like one of those medieval detailed tapestries, with kings, adventurers, knights and noble women trotting through forests toward distant castles. This is medieval romance at its finest, and because it dates from 1898, it is happily free of the Tolkien imitativeness that has so infected a large portion of modern fantasy. Forget Terry Brooks, read The Well At the World's End.

Rating:
Summary: The best fantasy book ever written!
Review: I read this book in 1976 and have been looking for a copy of it ever since. It made me appreciate the beauty in a fantasy world that really was like real life in a dream state. Please bring this back!!! I have read all the other adult fantasy ie The Last Unicorn, The Hobbit and other books, but The Well at the Worlds End is THE best.

Rating:
Summary: Will Wonders Never Cease?
Review: I read this book when I was 15, in 1975. I still have the 1st paperback edition from Ballantine Books. It was a bit of a daunting read when I was a teenager. After reading this book I was hooked. I have never looked back, and have been reading this type of literature ever since. I remember spending hours in the forbidden alcove in the back of the local bookstore perusing all of Ballantine's Adult Fantasy series: E.R.Eddison, Lord Dunsany, James Branch Cabell, Tolkien, H.P.Lovecraft. My mother cut off my allowance because I spent too much money on these types of books. So I got a job. As a teenage artist I spent many days and nights depicting scenes from this gorgeous work of imaginative fiction. I even started writing my own fantasy. This is a work of the highest order and tradition. This is not for everyone being as how this book was penned in the 19th Century. But for those who are patient readers looking for romantic fantasy, I highly recommend this book and other books by authors I have mentioned in this article. BE WARNED: This is not your usual swords and sorcery fare. THIS IS LITERATURE. I'm ordering a copy as soon as possible because I'm still reading my dog-eared 1st Edition. I can't believe these marvels are being reprinted again! Thank The Gods someone is reviving this seemingly dying genre. THERE IS STILL A LIGHT IN THE WORLD!

Rating:
Summary: Too Bad Few People Read It
Review: I've been interested in the history of fantasy for a while, and I was definately intrigued when I happened upon this title. I immediately ordered it and read it. The Well at the World's End is marvelous. Every once in a while I start wanting to read a romance, and this is a good romance. The story is pretty original and was very different for its time. The story follows Ralph as he searches for the WELL AT THE WORLD'S END. He has enemies and intrigued galor to fight through. Along the way, there is also a love story, too.

The Well at the World's End is a good read even for modern readers. It is an excellent example of "romance." It is also good just as a curiosity read. Fans of Tolkien, Lewis, and Eliot should visit William Morris's writings. Personally, my favorite thing about the book was the archaic prose. For the first twenty pages I thought it would be bothersome. After that, I was used to it and the book flowed nicely. It is sad that few people read William Morris today.

Rating:
Summary: Seminal heroic fantasy
Review: Morris is the early master of "modern" heroic fantasy.
At the same time, Morris was a socialist and there are many political overtones to his last prose romances. These subthemes are subtle but elevate him above most others in genre. Tolkien and his one-dimensional, and somewhat puerile characters are a far cry from Morris, his literary grandfather.

Check out his other prose romances if you can find them esp. "The Water of the Wondrous Isles"