The Once and Future King

Rating:
Summary: A Plethora of Themes
Review: The Once and Future King by T.H. White is a complex story with multiple characters that evolve over the course of the book. In over 600 pages, White explores so many different themes and plot lines that the reader must read carefully to not miss important insights. In my review of The Once and Future King I hope to convey the complexity of the literary work of art by identifying and explaining some of the themes that I found worthy of note.

One of the themes is "Choices in Life." Arthur must make many choices over the course of his life, and these decisions mold his life. One decision was to sleep with Morgause. This single poor choice leads to his downfall as king. There is a particular passage in the story that highlights the importance of that choice. In the passage, Arthur reflects, "When I was a young man I did something which was not just, and from it has sprung the misery of my life" (579). Sir Lancelot's plot line supplies another example of a bad life choice. While Arthur is out hunting, Guenevere calls for Lancelot in the middle of the night. Gareth has warned Sir Lancelot to avoid temptation, but Sir Lancelot responds to Guenevere's call anyway. This decision leads Sir Lancelot to kill several men, including Gareth, and nearly causes the death of Guenevere. These plot lines involving Arthur and Lancelot furnish concrete examples of the underlying theme "Choices in Life."

A second theme is "Conflict of Values." Arthur recognizes the tension in his society. On several occasions, Arthur must reject accepted customs of the day in order to achieve a more just society. For example, Arthur attacks the opposing knights and noble class with his own knights in one of his first battles as king. By putting nobles at risk, Arthur disregarded the old English tradition, in which the knights sportingly slaughtered the common people rather than the gentry. Yet another example of this theme is the "Round Table." The creation of the "Round Table" is Arthur's attempt to reform old notions of chivalry and principle of "Might and Right." Noble society viewed "Might" as equivalent to "Right." Arthur, though, views "Might" and "Right" as two separate ideas.

A third theme is "Loss of Innocence." When Arthur is young and innocent, he is very optimistic. He said things such as, "I should pray to God to let me encounter all the evil in the world in my own person, so that if I conquered there would be none left, and if I were defeated, I would be the one to suffer for it" (181). Young Arthur is obviously naïve to think that a single person could rid the world of evil. In contrast, at the end of Arthur's life, he is more pessimistic. He questions whether humans really have values that distinguish them from machines. He asks himself if there is a purpose to life. His views of humanity are more jaded and far different from those he held during his innocent, optimistic childhood. These more cynical views began to emerge after he slept with Morgause. This is the beginning of the end of his innocence.

A fourth theme that was apparent was the "Search for meaning." Throughout his life, Arthur tries to find a meaning for human existence. He endeavors to find the cause of injustice. To rid England of evil, he initially tries to find a constructive channel for basic human instinct; but he later discovers that more fundamentally he must destroy the root causes of evil. After a life of searching for such overall meaning, he ultimately questions if there really is one.

The last theme is "War and Peace." The basic view T.H. White offers in The Once and Future King is that war causes chaos. England is constantly warring when Arthur first becomes king, and the entire country is in chaos. Merlin states that the common people are scared to walk outside and that the nobles have become thieves. How can a country survive while the ordinary people are scared of their own lords? When Arthur ends the warring in England, the people finally enjoy peace, and no longer are fearful of their leaders.

In 800 words, I can only scratch the surface of the underlying themes in The Once and Future King. I recommend this book not as a fun novel to skim through, but rather as a multifaceted book to read slowly. Only then can the reader appreciate all thoughts, paradigms, and ideas it evokes. If you are reading to think, learn, and ponder life's most meaningful aspects, this is the perfect book for you. In fact, The Once and Future King is worth several readings. Every reading will undoubtedly yield new insights and still deeper levels of meaning.

Rating:
Summary: The Exquisite Legend of King Arthur
Review: The Once and Future King is an interesting book about the tale of King Arthur and his knights. In it, many adventures and stories of wonderful quests and deeds are completed. Reading this book will require patience because it is a slow starter. About halfway through the book, it will begin to become really interesting. First impressions of the book may be that it is too long and monotonous or boring in the beginning, but completing this book will be well worth your time. The Once and Future King is divided into four books, each one is vital to the whole of the story. The "Once and Future King" can be classified as an action book filled with tragedy. The four books are:
"The Sword in the Stone," "The Queen of Air and Darkness," "The Ill-Made Knight," and "The Candle in the Wind."

The first book, called the "Sword in the Stone," was the beginning of Arthur's legacy. This section is devoted to Arthur's experience as a little boy. When Arthur was younger, he was referred to as the Wart. The Wart becomes King Arthur by committing a miraculous act. Mostly everyone knows the story of the "Sword in the Stone." Cartoons have been made to explain it. Before the Wart completes his miraculous act, he has been instilled upon him many valuable lessons. Merlyn acts as a teacher and prepares him to become the best king there was, the once and future king.

This book is a great tale of betrayal, love, and almost every human emotion there is. It may be slightly confusing at first, but everything works its way out and fits in perfectly to the big puzzle. The book vividly explains human nature and its power. The power of human nature was so strong that even the strongest could not even prevent it from happening. For example, Sir Lancelot is Arthur's most trusted knight and his best friend, yet human emotions such as love cause Sir Lancelot to betray his king and loyal friend. Many valuable lessons and morals are found throughout the novel. Several of the true meanings of morals and lessons are hidden upon the thousands of words in the book. Reading "The Once and Future King" will require time to analyze every paragraph to find the actual meaning of them. Some of the paragraphs may be taken apart and interpreted in many different ways. One example of a paragraph that can easily be interpreted several ways is as follows: " 'Love is a trick played on us by the forces of evolution. Pleasure is the bait laid down by the same. There is only power. Power is of the individual mind, but the mind's power is not enough. Power of the body decides everything in the end, and only Might is Right' " (52). One of the main ideas of the book is in this quote. The idea of chivalry and whether might is right. 'Might is Right' was an idea proposed for chivalry, but Arthur later finds out that this idea is not correct. Other quotes like that can easily be found throughout the whole book. The book can easily be called a quote journal because each passage has some sort of meaning or idea behind it. The last chapter in the book is the major one. Everything unfolds in it.

T.H. White is a very creative writer and is able to portray the actions of King Arthur very well. He shows his ideas of right and wrong throughout this book. His masterpiece is one that will be read and studied for many years to come by students and others. This fantasy story is truly one of the best. Anyone who enjoys reading will love this book. Even if you do not like these types of books, this is a must read. "The Once and Future King" is a great novel that is waiting for you to read it and become another victim of being enchanted with its magical fantasy just like the thousands of other readers who have enjoyed it.

Rating:
Summary: Great Author, Great Book, Great Reading
Review: The Once and Future King is a very good book. It is a wonderful version of the legend of King Arthur that appeals to the people of today. It is well written, but there are a few things that do not appeal to me.
In the book, the author describes the characters, times, activities, and places very well. His descriptions made the story come to life. This I find good in some cases and not so good in others. I enjoyed when the author described the people through the story, not interrupting the storyline. One good example is in the first chapter of the Sword in the Stone. The author is able to describe the beliefs of the society, in this case, ideas about education, and influences of other cultures, Roman influence, in a dialogue between two characters. In doing this, he does not have to interrupt the storyline to describe these things. I disliked when the author stopped the story in order to describe things. One such example is the third chapter of Castle in the Wind. Almost the whole chapter is describing the time of King Arthur's rule and does not seem to have any relevance to the story. Spending a whole chapter on the description does give you a greater knowledge of the time the story takes place. However, because it does not have an effect on the story, I do not believe it needs to be there. Instead of putting everything out at once, I would have liked him to do what he did with the characters. In many cases, he developed the character's characteristics throughout the story instead of all at once. For example, T. H. White developed Kay's personality throughout the Sword and the Stone. In this way, he was able to describe a great deal without making the descriptions boring.
I felt that parts of the book were too predictable. For instance, I could tell the purpose of Merlyn turning the Wart into various kinds of animals from when he first turned the Wart into a fish. I knew the story of King Arthur. Therefore, when the author added politics into the adventures, I could tell that it would be used to help the Wart when he became older. T. H. White's messages in the Wart's adventures are very clear. This I believe is good because if it were not clear, the times when he tries to send a message across may have seemed irrelevant. Some of these ideas could even be used by people today.
T. H. White was able to make the story less predictable and boring than it could have been. One way he made the book less boring was by changing the storyline, therefore making the story less predictable. Some of his changes, however, I disliked. One such change is the portion of the story when Kay and the Wart meet Robin Wood. In most of the stories I have read, the stories of Robin Hood and King Arthur take place at totally different times. However, it was needed in the story in order to teach the Wart what real bravery was, in contrast to the Wart's belief that jousting shows bravery. Another change I did not like was the making of Arthur into a Norman, when, historically, Arthur was a Celt. I dislike historical changes in stories. Personal changes, however, I enjoy. It changes ones view of a character. One example of this is the idea of Lancelot being ugly. This contradicts some stories where Lancelot is handsome, such as in the movie Merlin. It makes Guenever seem even worse, in that she was even cheating on her husband with a good looking person. T. H. White also made the story more interesting by adding humor. The Questing Beast's love for Sir Grummore and Sir Palomides is an example of White's humor. This humor in a monster in love with two humans gives the story more of a light-hearted tone, so it is not just about bad things happening to King Arthur....
I disliked how at times it sounded as if T. H. White were reading the story to us, adding his own comments into the story. One example is the following quotation, 'There is no need to give a long description of the tourney. Malory gives it' (349). This does not need to be there. If he is not going to describe the tourney, he should not explain why. I feel it just interrupts the storyline. However, it could be good if you wanted to know more about it, for you know where you can read about it.
If I could, I would probably give the book 4½ stars. It had a great storyline and the author made the story come to life. He was able to incorporate the culture of England at the time into the story without the reader actually acknowledging it. Part of my dislike may be that I have seen Disney's The Sword and the Stone, a great retelling of the first book of this novel for those who are young and have a short attention span, and I already had an idea of what was going to happen. For anyone interested in medieval England or just a good book, I suggest you read it.

Rating:
Summary: The Once and Future King: The Arthurian Legend
Review: As many of the other reviewers you may read, this book was assigned to me for summer reading. I also regretted reading such a long book, but I had some previous interest in The Legend of King Arthur. I've enjoyed it ever since I saw the movie "A Kid in King Arhur's Court," (This has no relevance to my review, but I thought I would throw it in anyway.) It helps a lot to want to read this book, but anybody who starts it will want to finish it and maybe even read "The Book of Merlyn", The fifth and final book of the set. T.H. White breaks this novel into four books. The Sword in the Stone, The Queen and Air of Darkness, The Ill-Made Knight, and The Candle in the Wind.
The first of these books is the classic that has been told over and over again, though not always involving Sir Ector's Castle. It is the beginning for the life of Arhtur, who lives with a foster family. Arthur grows up with Merlyn as his tutor. Merlyn teaches Arthur about government and people in to form of becoming an animal. All of Merlyn's teachings prepare Arthur for his reign as king, after he pulls the sword out from the stone of course.
The Queen and Air of Darkness tells the history of Arthur's father and of the fueds between the Gaels and the Galls. Also, it tells of the deception of Morgause, which eventually leads to the downfall of Arthur. This book moves kind of slow, but it is necessary for the plot. Arhtur come up with the idea to use Might for Right in this book.
The Ill-Made Knight deals with Sir Lancelot, who turns out completely opposite from what I thought he would be like, and of Arthur's Round Table. The Ill-Made Knight was by far my favorite book, even though it was the longest. The beginning of the end of the Table is brought out in this book, when knights start competing with each other. Because of this, Arthur sends his knights on the quest for the Holy Grail. T.H. White brings out the reality of his characters extremely well in this book, showing the breakdown of Lancelot and torment Arhtur is put though. Guinevere and Elaine also show how love can destroy lives, but neither one wanted to be without it and they both gave all they could for it.
The Candle in the Wind is the final book and the conclusion to this novel. This book is the story of Arthur's downfall from the greatest King in all of the world, to being seen as an old man who is "out of touch." Also, Lancelot suffers the consequences for his sins. All of which is the result of Arthur's illegitimate son, Mordred, and his hatred for Arthur. This book has the greatest psychological value of the novel. All of Arthur's triumphs and disgraces are contemplated over and over again. While this book leaves before the final battle and the conclusion of the story, it still has a glorius ending, which shows Arthur as he sould be remembered.
The Once and Future King was definitely worth the time and effort it took to read. The only reason I gave it four stars is because, even thoug I have not read it, I think it sould have included The Book of Merlyn.

Rating:
Summary: Very good
Review: I had to read this book as a summer reading assignment, and like every other High Schooler, I hated the thought of doing so. In addition, I wasn't a big fan of King Arthur and his adventures before hand, so when I finally started to read this book I wasn't exactly thrilled to have to read over summer. However, after reading just the first part-The Sword in the Stone-I was pleasantly surprised. There were many lessons to be learned, especially those taught to "the Wart"(the young Arthur)by several different animals and the mysterious Merlyn as he grew up. The plot was entertaining with the numerous quests characters of King Pellinore, Sir Lancelot, and King Arthur, as well as the growing controversy between King Athur, Guinevere, and Sir Lancelot. The plot overall is easy follow, entertaining, and full of surprises.

Besides a captivating plot, T.H. White showed his views of the world's societies throughout the book. Even though this book was written from 1939 to 1958, its main parts are still evident in today's world. For example, as the Wart explores the moat as a fish, he is intorduced into the monarchy, which seems to work fairly well with all the other fish. As an ant though, the Wart exeriences a harsh totalitarian society, which he dislikes a lot. The Wart was also exposed to the peaceful libertarian society of the geese, which functions quite well with all its members. T.H. White shows us that, mainly, a society that is not based on strictness or force functions the best. The subtle ways White expresses his views is unique and thoughtful.

One of the main themes of this book is war, which King Arthur at first enjoys but then finds to be an immoral way of establishing justice. This is still definielty true today. Justice plays an important part in the story, because Arthur is trying to acheive it while maintaining his hold over England and keeping his marraige together all at once. In the end, though, Arthur finds justice and ideal society impossible to achieve, just as it is today.

Overall, this book is one of my personal favorites.

Rating:
Summary: A Cerebral Feast for the Arthurian Enthusiast
Review: The Once and Future King is an intricate, brilliantly composed novel that any wisdom-thirsting reader should enjoy. In this literary masterpiece, T.H. White combines the ancient legend of Arthur, Lancelot, Guenever, and the Knights of the Round Table with ethical themes found in feudal and modern societies alike. Through the Arthurian framework, White is enabled to convey a somber message about human nature's many vices while upholding an engaging and mirthful plot.
One quality of this book that I greatly benefited from was the combination of modern events and factoids with the familiar story of England's greatest monarch. Arthur's teacher, Merlyn, in deference to his "weakness for humanity", often uses contemporary occurrences to demonstrate philosophical viewpoints:

" 'Very interesting,' (Merlyn) said in a trembling voice. 'Very interesting. There was just such a man when I was young- an Austrian who invented a new way of life and convinced himself that he was the chap to make it work. He tried to impose his reformation by the sword, and plunged the civilized world into misery and chaos. But the thing which this fellow overlooked, my friend, was that he had a predecessor in the reformation business, called Jesus Christ" (266-267).

This reference to Hitler along with numerous other modern allusions help the reader understand Arthur's dilemmas, while giving the writing a humorous tone because of obvious anachronism.
By the end of Book IV, the jovial mood of Books I and II has all but dissipated, and Arthur finds that his efforts to change civilization have failed because of one major human flaw: imperfection. But even this dreadful feeling of futility does not extinguish the flame that Arthur lit. Instead, it gives him hope for the peace and perfection of future generations.
This book is not an easy read, but if you really strive to understand the deeper meanings woven into this remarkable tale, you will find the reading of T.H. White's The Once and Future King an enlightening and gratifying experience.

Rating:
Summary: If you like the story of King Arthur, you'll like this novel
Review: When I was assigned this novel as a summer reading project, I was scared to read it because of its length. When I finally picked up the novel, it took me a few days to "get into it"; however, the novel captured my mind and I had trouble putting it down. Before reading this novel, I had no interest in the Arthurian legend, but now the story of King Arthur intrigues me. This book is divided into four main sections: 1) The Sword in the Stone, 2) The Queen of Air and Darkness, 3)The Ill-Made Knight, and 4) The Candle in the Wind.
The first section, The Sword in the Stone, is a story that we all know and love, thanks to the Disney film. Since this section would capture the mind of the youth, we can all relate to it and remember the first time we heard the story. I enjoyed this section, for the story is a classic.
The second section, the Queen of Air and Darkness, introduces us to the idea and planning of King Arthur's legendary Round Table. Also, King Arthur is tricked into having sex with his half-sister; the result of this affair, King Arthur's son Mordred, eventually leads to his downfall. Personally, I love the idea of the Round Table.
In the third section, The Ill-Made Knight, we are introduced to the great Lancelot. Lancelot is the greatest knight in the world because of his relationship with God and his care for other people. Later, King Arthur begins to fear his Round Table, and wants to turn his knights to God. He wisely sends them on a quest for the holy grail.
The final section, The Candle in the Wind, is my favorite part. As a reward for reading the first three sections, T. H. White gives us the Candle in the Wind. If you are as into the novel as I was, you will find yourself talking out loud trying to warn Lancelot. This is all I will give you for the final section, so if you want to receive the reward, read the entire novel.

Rating:
Summary: Endure the length and receive a fourth quarter reward
Review: Because of its content, the Arthurian Legend, and its unique description, it is conceivable that T. H. White's novel, the Once and Future King, may be considered a classic. This account of the story strays from the typical version in two main ways: Sir Lancelot is not hansom, and Merlyn knows the future because of what T. H. White calls it, his irregular reverse aging process. In my opinion, this story is not a classic because of its pitiful form. The author, T. H. White, has a long, drawn-out style of writing that managed to put me to sleep on multiple occasions. His extensive descriptions of such things as landscapes and castles were far too much for me to bear.

The novel is divided into four sections. The first section is the Sword in the Stone and will appeal to many children. The Sword in the Stone is a terrific fantasy, but T. H. White went overboard on the descriptions. He took a simple child's fantasy story and made it impossible for a child to read and understand. Since I am a teenage male, the rest of the book appealed more to me. In the next two sections, the enjoyable topics of sex and fighting were presented. Despite these lovely topics, the novel continued at a slow pace. If you can endure the first three sections, you will be rewarded by the fourth. In the final section, love affairs and family feuds combine, and there will be heck to pay. King Arthur's end will surface with the help of his son. This provides for a magnificent finale in which man saves woman, friend betrays friend, and father fights son.

Rating:
Summary: A light-hearted (on the surface) retelling!
Review: I have to admit that I absolutely adore this book. I read it as a child and loved the way the author humanized both Arthur and the other important characters (I mean, King Arthur being called Wart as a boy?), but mostly I identifed with the core of the tale itself. As I got older, I read the book again and I began to see the things that I just couldn't appreciate as a child. Things like White's inclusion of the class-distinction that permeated feudal society (and his own ideas about the "upper class"???), the absolutely incredible teachings of Merlin in the forms of the geese lesson and ant lesson, and, most of all, the incredible handling of Lancelot. White looks at Lancelot (and all of the characters, really) from the perspective of a Social Psychologist explaining how these famed people became what they did and does so in a humanizing and very powerful way. This idea of "explaining" fantastical characters has become popular in modern fantasy (see Marion Zimmer Bradley or Morgan Llywelyn), but T.H. White is a master. Arthur, Lancelot, Gawaine and all the others become REAL people for a time, with problems and insecurities just like us. I can't say enough about this book and its impact on me, it really taught me how to look deeper than the written word and see the author's meaning, both written and implied, and, in this case, see the author himself! I felt like I really knew what kind of person White was after this story, and when I read the biographical intro to "The Book of Merlyn", I was right! Whenever I read this book now I see a vague imprint of a face on every page (kind of Shroud of Turin, creepy-like wooooohaaaaah) and, although I've never seen a picture of him, I know its T.H. White I am seeing.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent Book!
Review: This is a great book that can literally take you back to the time of King Arthur and Sir Kay!