Book of Merlyn

Rating:
Summary: White's political views abound in this fantasy gem
Review: Professor/author T.H. White wrote a powerful work that provokes inquiries from the reader. The complex characters serve as backboards for the major themes that vary from war to humanity resorting to primitive ways. White constructs a simple plot and adds layer upon layer of wordplay, philosophies, political views, and much more to transform the basic premise into something magical. The most warped character of all, the bumbling eccentric Merlyn, serves as White's voice throughout. The weary Arthur's gripes seem so genuine that the reader may empathize with the lonely soul. White's work contains some of the only material that can be compared with that of fantasy master J.R.R. Tolkien. Tolkien and White both utilized dead Anglo-Saxon languages' roots and base words to the maximum, mixing Old English prefixes with Norse suffixes. This is a brilliant work, I highly recommend it.

Rating:
Summary: A Curiosity , Vital for T.H. White Completists
Review: So, we learn that T.H. White's ultimate design for his saga was to bring things full circle. The final book takes Arthur underground to meet with Merlyn, and some animals for a grand debate about the nature of humankind. This is a pretty tedious read...long on ideas and short on action. This certainly doesn't come across as a final version of the text. Things that White normally nails, like characterization, aren't always on the mark here.

Of course, there are some chunks of prose that are absolutely brilliant. We're talking T.H. White, after all. Things are enlivened by Arthur's trip to the worlds of the ants and the geese. (However, I feel these episodes functioned better in Book 1.)

Editorially, I found this edition tantalizing but unsatisfying. A highly personal introduction provides details about White, but fails to explain some basics -- how did the goose and ant segments ultimately ended up in Book 1? How and why was the text "lost?" Frustrating.

Rating:
Summary: What a disappointment....
Review: T. H. White uses this book as a platform to discuss his political views and WWII. That might have worked, except that any story or character development takes a distant back seat to the political commentary. It's kind of a thin book. I wouldn't recommend it.

Rating:
Summary: a lost chapter to an epic!!!
Review: The Book of Merlyn is like a lost chapter out of white's larger work, the once and future king...here King Arthur meets his tutpr Merly for the last time yo find the antidote to war....I think TH White was planning this book to be in "The Once And Future King", but instead took two chapters out of this volume and wove them into "The Sword In The STone" part as found in his larger work... the book of merlyn makes more sense if read right after the once and future king; on it own it is still a good read, but not quiete up par with the other books as found in White's once and future king; although the last few pages are very touching and deserve a place in the larger work...

Rating:
Summary: A Wonderful Piece of Wizardry
Review: The Book of Merlyn was an incredible book, once again proving the genius of T.H. White. This book is the only sensible conclusion to the Once and Future King and should have been included in the original printing. In The Book of Merlyn, we revisit King Arthur on the night before his final battle with his son, Mordred. Feeling dejected and alone, Arthur's mentor, the lovably eccentric and ingenious Merlyn, returns and whisks the king away to learn two final lessons from the animals he knew as a child. This book is not merely a childish fairytale, but rather an in-depth dissection of human nature in which the human condition is explored in depth and the ever-elusive meaning of life is hinted at. A book for the serious reader or any serious fan of Arthur and Merlyn, The Book of Merlyn is a masterpiece from the mind of one of the greatest writers of the past one hundred years.

Rating:
Summary: Pointless and Unnecessary in Light of its Predecessor!
Review: The cover of this book touts itself as the TRUE final chapter to The Once and Future King. It very well may hold that distinguished title, however after reading The Book of Merlyn it becomes abundantly apparent why it was not included in the complete novelization of the first four books. In fact, what relevance The Book of Merlyn does hold for the series is severely negated by the fact that much of its impact was integrated into The Once and Future to make that novel complete in and of itself, without the hassle of a superfluous subsequent novel.

And that is what The Book of Merlyn appears to be: superfluous. It was originally intended to be King Arthur's climax, where he finally discovers the truth of the eternal battle between Might and Right as it is capitulated into war. The problem with this amended work is that all of the character development and thought processes that devlops Arthur into the final great Monarch, the one who stops the war, were added to The Sword in the Stone before it was first published. The experiences and situations detailed in The Book of Merlyn ultimately become repetitions, and therefore, anyone who has read The Once and Future King has no reason to read the book of Merlyn.

Moreover, however, standing alone by itself, the Book of Merlyn should not and probably could not be read without the background presented in The Once and Future King. So, inevitably and under any multitude of scenarios, the Book of Merlyn becomes superfluous for any fan of great or minute devotion to White's work. If, in fact, the published version of The Once and Future King had been complete with this amended work, it surely would not have become the classic that it is revered to be today. For one thing, the story and the retelling of Merlyn do not succesfully mesh with the remainder of the books. Second of all, it is nothing more than a philosophical debate and not a story itself. It is all well and good to tell the audience a fact; but it is certainly more stimulating to show them, as someone once said in different words. And indeed, The Book of Merlyn is nothing more than an inconsequential debate that becomes superfluous in light of the better-depicted events apparent in The Once and Future King.

And so, in finality, The Book of Merlyn is a poor addition to the Once and Future King, depleting the value of the original narrative, and being of little literary value even while standing alone. What is intended to be the climax of the series comes across forced and uninteresting, while The Once and Future King depicted the tragedy in a far more fascinating light. A simple solution that might better resolve the original novel and still present White's vast vision would be simply to tack the final two chapter's of Merlyn onto the conclusion of The Once and Future King. Then the epic would come around full circle, as he intended, and resolve the eternal issues which plagued King Arthur in his tormented realm of Camelot. In the end, read the Once and Future King: you will find the story you seek, written perfectly; and you'll avoid the worthless preaching found in White's inevitable conclusion to his far superior book.

Rating:
Summary: Pointless and Unnecessary in Light of its Predecessor!
Review: The cover of this book touts itself as the TRUE final chapter to The Once and Future King. It very well may hold that distinguished title, however after reading The Book of Merlyn it becomes abundantly apparent why it was not included in the complete novelization of the first four books. In fact, what relevance The Book of Merlyn does hold for the series is severely negated by the fact that much of its impact was integrated into The Once and Future to make that novel complete in and of itself, without the hassle of a superfluous subsequent novel.

And that is what The Book of Merlyn appears to be: superfluous. It was originally intended to be King Arthur's climax, where he finally discovers the truth of the eternal battle between Might and Right as it is capitulated into war. The problem with this amended work is that all of the character development and thought processes that devlops Arthur into the final great Monarch, the one who stops the war, were added to The Sword in the Stone before it was first published. The experiences and situations detailed in The Book of Merlyn ultimately become repetitions, and therefore, anyone who has read The Once and Future King has no reason to read the book of Merlyn.

Moreover, however, standing alone by itself, the Book of Merlyn should not and probably could not be read without the background presented in The Once and Future King. So, inevitably and under any multitude of scenarios, the Book of Merlyn becomes superfluous for any fan of great or minute devotion to White's work. If, in fact, the published version of The Once and Future King had been complete with this amended work, it surely would not have become the classic that it is revered to be today. For one thing, the story and the retelling of Merlyn do not succesfully mesh with the remainder of the books. Second of all, it is nothing more than a philosophical debate and not a story itself. It is all well and good to tell the audience a fact; but it is certainly more stimulating to show them, as someone once said in different words. And indeed, The Book of Merlyn is nothing more than an inconsequential debate that becomes superfluous in light of the better-depicted events apparent in The Once and Future King.

And so, in finality, The Book of Merlyn is a poor addition to the Once and Future King, depleting the value of the original narrative, and being of little literary value even while standing alone. What is intended to be the climax of the series comes across forced and uninteresting, while The Once and Future King depicted the tragedy in a far more fascinating light. A simple solution that might better resolve the original novel and still present White's vast vision would be simply to tack the final two chapter's of Merlyn onto the conclusion of The Once and Future King. Then the epic would come around full circle, as he intended, and resolve the eternal issues which plagued King Arthur in his tormented realm of Camelot. In the end, read the Once and Future King: you will find the story you seek, written perfectly; and you'll avoid the worthless preaching found in White's inevitable conclusion to his far superior book.

Rating:
Summary: A startling conclusion.
Review: The marvelous 5th book of T. H. White's incredible Arthurian saga. This one, in it's complete lack of swordplay and thrill, is set apart from the preceeding four.

Ok, the first four--definately the Story is the major priority. Focal characters: Arthur, then after "The Sword in the Stone" the focus shifts to Lancelot and the queen, and to a lesser extent the Orkneys, etc. In the final chapter the reader is brought back to Arthur, whose musings on the nature of Man and War also smears our noses in these two essential elements, whose dissection was an important objective in the story for White.

Yeah, yeah, anyone who's read the book knows that. But what about the "Book of Merlyn"?

Well, picture drawing aside the glitter and pizzaz of the storyline that has won over so many people to focus on that teaming world of philosophy and abstract thought that Merlin had shown Arthur as a young king. Take "The Sword in the Stone", a primarily whimsical book in which I believe White first lay the groundwork for the "Book of Merlyn", return an aged, experienced and almost broken Arthur to this sort of setting, and...tada! bring back Merlin and the animals(or rather bring Arthur back to them). There now follows that dissection of War and Man we were talking about.

Yup, the whole book is essentially White's essay on these two subjects, given in a long philisophical discussion between the animals, Merlin, and an older Arthur in the comfort of the Badger's underground burrow(Nimue's cave, ha ha!).

Now for those who are thinking ,"Ye gods, the horror!", I gotta admit, in part, you're right. If you're thinking of reading this as the conclusion to "The Once and Future King" in a steady, smooth stream, you're in for a bumpy ride. Think about it, the book was published posthumously--there are structural problems and stuff(why I rate it 8 and not higher), the most blatant of which is the episodes as the ant and the goose from "The Sword in the Stone" properly belonged here originally, so you bump over that.

Bump.

Next, like I said, Story has taken a decided back seat to Essay. That's a bump for those who loved "The Once and Future King" for the laughter and the tears, a...MAJOR...bump.

BUMP.

But for those who can accept Story's new position in the scheme of things, you'll really dig this. Because White returns to someone he has really neglected in favor of Lancelot and Jenny and all that other stuff--Arthur. Arthur's back and he's gonna get a little attention, undergo a little developement. This is a must for you people. There is also now this beautiful circle to White's saga. And, getting down to the dirt, you are gonna love that Essay I was talking about.

It...is...BRILLIANT. For those who like this sort of thing, you will LOVE it, and for those who don't like this kind of stuff normally, you'll LOVE it anyway because of the original way White did it.

People who dug the "Tao of Pooh", you will LOVE this.

Kids doing an assignment on the underlying symbolism and whatnot of the "Once and Future King", you will LOVE this--it'll be so much help, it's almost cheating.

And. Finally. T.H. White fans everywhere. Read "The Book of Merlyn". In the end, this is what he's all about.

Rating:
Summary: GOOD READING.......
Review: THIS IS A GOOD BOOK TO VIEW T.H. WHITE'S OVERVIEW OF MAN IN THIS
WORLD. AS MERLIN TELLS AND SHOWS ARTHUR JUST WHAT MAN IS LIKE AS COMPARED TO THE OTHER ANIMALS WE CAN GET A TRUE LOOK AT OURSELVES.

A GOOD BOOK TO HAVE......

Rating:
Summary: GOOD READING.......
Review: THIS IS A GOOD BOOK TO VIEW T.H. WHITE'S OVERVIEW OF MAN IN THIS
WORLD. AS MERLIN TELLS AND SHOWS ARTHUR JUST WHAT MAN IS LIKE AS COMPARED TO THE OTHER ANIMALS WE CAN GET A TRUE LOOK AT OURSELVES.

A GOOD BOOK TO HAVE......