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Summary: Once and Future King
Review: When reading Once and Future King, by T.H. White, I could not wait until I was finally done with the book. This is a fantasy tale about a young boy who turns into a legendary King and changes the way this medieval fantasy world works forever. This entire novel is littered with long conversations using tricky dialogue and making the reader guess at who is talking to who. When you pick this book up and look at it, you will imagine it to be a strong fantasy tale with lots of magic and swords, but it turns out to be a fantasy tale about politics and alliances. Only in the beginning is there much use of magic, it slowly turns into a talk-fest.
In the beginning of the book, you get to go through the exciting phases of the main characters life. He slowly grows up, meet's Merlin the wizard and becomes his pupil, learning the lessons of life through magical and fun ways. As he gets older, Wart goes to a jousting tournament in London and is told the story of the Sword in the Stone. Wart gets lost during their movement through London and stumbles upon the famous sword, Excalibur, in the stone in front of a church. He pulls it out and becomes the legendary King Arthur. From this point on, the book basically went downhill for me. It began a series of chapters that were all about politics and little sword fighting and other fantasy type things. There are a few fights thrown in to spice it up every now and then, but it is basically all about the changing of a government. When I read a fantasy book, I expect lots of magic and mythical types of events to happen.
Another habit this book seems to have is the constant confusing dialogue between characters. Throughout the chapters, out of every single conversation I can remember, there is not one that has names to identify the speaker, except at the very end, or maybe very beginning of the conversation. This can be very confusing at times and you can get quite lost in what you are ready, having to go back a couple of pages to realize what just happened. If the author had done the easy task of adding identifying names to the dialogue, it would have made it much simpler to read and comprehend.
In the end, I did enjoy this book a bit, but I think it could have been written much better than it is currently. I had to re-read many areas of the book to understand them and connect them to other parts, but I did understand it in the end. If you're a true fantasy fan, I suggest you go read a book such as The Lord of the Rings series, but if you like politics mixed into your fantasy, Once and Future King is the way to go.
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Summary: Once and Furure King
Review: In the book Once and Future King, the author TH. White guides us through the life of King Arthur, and describes all of his trials and ordeals. White describes how Arthur grows up during the medevil times in a palace. Also how the great magician Merlin teaches Arthur about life and the things around him. Arthur takes many journeys throughout the book, he meets many new people, and makes new friends as he makes his way to the top to be King.
The book Once and Future King starts off very exciting. Within this very thick book, there are four smaller books. The first book, The Sword in the Stone, is a very interestin, and exciting book. Not because everyone knowsthe story, but because the reader can get involved in it. It is not just the narrorator talking, the people and animals talk also. Where as in the other three books, it is basically the narrorator talking the whole time, and it is hadr to get involved in the story. It was very hard for me to get involved, that is for sure.
I would recommend this book to any one who likes the medevil books. It is probably more geared towars high school kids and above, just because younger kides might not understand what the author is saying. Sometimes it is also hard to understand what the person is trying to say, because they talk differently than we do now. Overall the book was pretty good, but not great.
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Summary: One of the best books written!!!!!!!!!!!
Review: I thought that this book was one of the best books ever written. We had to read the Sword In the Stone Part of the book and reading the rest was optional. Of course, me, Being a huge fan of books like this read it. The retelling of king Arthur by T.H> White was one of the best that i have read.It starts out with the tell of Warts(Arthur) "eddication" by Merlyn the wizard, with a number of adventures in which The Wart is turned into several different animals. and learns the secrets of all the animals. WHen you get into the second, third and fourth book is takes you through arthurs Reign as King. We see him Marry Gewn, be betryed by Lancelot, and the quest for the Holy Grail. It ends with the knighting of Arthurs page when the Round Table is in Disaray, and with Arthur reminiscing aobut his childhood, and he remembers all his teachins from Merlyn. All in all, I give this book 5 stars. I couldnt put this down and i would recomend it to anyone who likes to read. :)
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Summary: King Arthur, Retold with a Passion
Review: From T.H. White's account of the rise and fall of King Arthur, he reveals very quickly and with little hesitation that he is retelling the tale from La Morte d'Arthur by Thomas Mallory. Obviously, Mallory's account is perhaps the more encompassing and reliable as it comes to Arthurian legend, as it commands a status of source material to many later works. Moreover, Mallory's novel certainly divulges and explains most if not all of the life and exploits of King Arthur, which White admits that he does not. If all this is true, it raises the very distinct question, why would White retell a tale in part? The answer comes across very clearly for those who have read The Once and Future King: to animate it and breathe life into characters that live only within the realm of historical fiction depicted by Mallory. La Morte d'Arthur gives the life of Arthur; The Once and Future King, instead, gives life TO Arthur--and for that matter, every character to appear within the text. For that reason--and to say the very least--this book is one about characters, not about events or wars or places or times or even the philosophical debate that tears apart the protagonist's mind. It is instead about discovering the intricacies of character and exploring their motivations through all of their psychological complexities. To read through The Once and Future King is to discover the most intricately fleshed out, diverse, and imaginative characters ever to grace the page of a novel: Arthur's righteousness, Lancelot's self-deprecation, Quenevere's indecisiveness, the Torment of the sons of Morgause. No man or woman in this novel is a villain, nor is he a hero, lest he is a hero and villain to his own self. And for all those reasons, this novel excels beyond a simple depiction of medieval Knights and chivalry; it is the lives of men as they struggle with wrong, in pursuit of the illusive and ill-defined right, in pursuit of civilization. Intermingled, however, is a mastery of story telling. It is a fascinating experience, witnessing the meek Wart of "The Sword in the Stone" turn into the great humanitarian King that created peace, created Lawfulness, and then watched as it all crumbled around him. So complex is the interaction of plot and character, that this is necessarily a novel fraught with intrigue and rediscovery. Whether you know the tales of Arthur or not, you will discover something new and interesting with every adventure; something new not just in the adventure, but in the man himself. And so, if one where to decide whether or not to read White or Mallory in their pursuit of Arthurian legend, it comes down to the simple question: Do you want to know about the history of Arthur, or Arthur himself? White's novel is no doubt more pleasing, because it covers a diverse host of individuals and all the elaborate intricacies of their relationships. It is truly a experiment in character study that still never fails to appeal on all levels. The story, the accounts, the psychology of it all is a thrilling endeavor, and one that no book lover should miss. This is the tale of King Arthur at its most human, its most intense, the way the King would be in the flesh.
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Summary: boring and dull
Review: i am a huge fan of fantasy and medieval legends, but i HATED this book. i found the descriptions to be dull, and thought the entirety of the novel to be boring. i may be in the minority, but i'll take disney's adaptation of this (The Sword in the Stone) any day! give me Lord of the Rings or The Chronicles of Narnia; but as far as this book, run away!
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Summary: A marvellous, intruiging read
Review: This book was not what I expected it to be. It in fact, far surpasssed my expectations and proved to be triumph of entertainment and storytelling.
The book begins with a very light-hearted style, as we watch Arthur grow up and receive a rather unusual education from Merlyn. It is a very enjoyable introduction but expertly develops the character of Arthur. In fact, all the characters of the book are very realistic and well developed, and the reader feels as if he is experiencing real interaction between people with real emotion.
As the book develops, it becomes a much heavier but more interesting read. White takes the reader step by step through Arthur's grand plan to remake England and the various challenges, both political and personal, that he must face to do so.
The introduction of Lancelot into the story is the pivotal point in the book. He is a character worthy of both great admiration and incredible pathos. Lancelot elicits the greatest emotional response from the reader, as he must struggle to deal with his betrayal of Arthur and try to maintain his own ideal of honour, which changes many times as he grows older and wiser. Between Arthur's philosophical quest and Lancelot's more personal and emotional quest, both of them lifelong, the reader is always kept intruiged as to how the story will play itself out, and entertained by White's sometimes humorous and sometimes poignant writing style.
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Summary: Fabulous book with great lessons
Review: This book is marvelous. Don't miss out.
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Summary: long but well worth every page!
Review: Reading several of the other reviews, I found many people complained of the lengthiness and description. I have no complaints. After all, how is the average reader who is not an expert in medieval England going to understand what is going on unless White tells us? I loved the fact that White was so researched and was able to back up his story so that it became more an accurate account of history than a will-o-the-wisp fairy-tale.
This is the first Arthurian book I've really read, and I've fallen in love with this vision of simple nobility and honor. Arthur, Guenever, Lancalot, Merlyn, Gawaine . . . White made them so human I felt great surges of emotion while reading.
If you are impatient and want things to be spelled out for you rather than requiring you to think (as Merlyn tried to steer Arthur away from in the book) then you probably won't enjoy this book. It probably wouldn't appeal to the younger sort. However, if you enjoy reading and thinking you will adore this book.
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Summary: Made it all alive for me
Review: This was a fabulous book that made the great King Arthur, Merlyn, Gwenyver, Lancalot, Gawaine -- all of them blazed live before me. There is such hope tinged with sadness at the end when Arthur imagines he sees Merlyn. Arthur was such a lovely happy boy and such a kind simple man, ravaged by the sorrows of evil done unto him by man. I adore the nobility of dear King Arthur and infinitely sweet Sir Lancalot with the ugly face.
Also, it is interesting to note that T. H. White really researched this novel! He truly validated it and turned it into a true historical account rather than fairy-tale fiction. This book made me want to read more of T. H. White's works.
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Summary: The Knights of the Round Table Were Here
Review: I had to read this book for an english assignment over the summer so naturally I had my doubts and hate towards this book as I went into it. But, after I started reading through it the book began to grow on me and get under my skin. I actually began to enjoy reading this book. The storyline is almost as well known as the storyline from the disney movie's take on "The Sword in the Stone" (Which, was horrible compared to the book) There are four installments in the book and each is better than the last. The first installment is Arthur as a young man growing up and meeting Merlyn, Merlyn teaches young Arthur many things. For instance, Merlyn turns Arthur into a Hawk for one night so that he can learn about the life of the Hawks in his family's hawk nests at the castle. Merlyn also turns both of them into fish, and that was an extremely enlightening experience for Arthur. The second installment we still see a young Arthur but he has met Robin Wood (a.k.a Robin Hood) and Maid Marian and together along with the merry men go to the Queen of Air and Darkness. At their castle they fight Gryphons and Wyverns and it is a spectacle of a battle no one who likes reading should miss. The last two installments sadly I have not been able to read yet. But, I am a little bit throught the third of the four installments and it won't disappoint. So if you have kids buy this and read it to them. If you like knighthood and the whole chivalry thing. Read this at least once. you won't regret it.
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