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    The Once and Future King
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    The Once and Future King
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    The Once and Future King
    Ebook911 pages

    The Once and Future King

    By T.H. White

    4/5

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    About this ebook

    T. H. White’s masterful retelling of the saga of King Arthur is a fantasy classic as legendary as Excalibur and Camelot, and a poignant story of adventure, romance, and magic that has enchanted readers for generations.
     
    Once upon a time, a young boy called “Wart” was tutored by a magician named Merlyn in preparation for a future he couldn’t possibly imagine. A future in which he would ally himself with the greatest knights, love a legendary queen and unite a country dedicated to chivalrous values. A future that would see him crowned and known for all time as Arthur, King of the Britons.
     
    During Arthur’s reign, the kingdom of Camelot was founded to cast enlightenment on the Dark Ages, while the knights of the Round Table embarked on many a noble quest. But Merlyn foresaw the treachery that awaited his liege: the forbidden love between Queen Guenever and Lancelot, the wicked plots of Arthur’s half-sister Morgause and the hatred she fostered in Mordred that would bring an end to the king’s dreams for Britain—and to the king himself.

    “[The Once and Future King] mingles wisdom, wonderful, laugh-out-loud humor and deep sorrow—while telling one of the great tales of the Western world.”—Guy Gavriel Kay
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPenguin Group
    Release dateNov 1, 2011
    ISBN9781101657546

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    • 4/5
      The time when it was written and the time when it is read matter a great deal in this retelling of the King Arthur legends - T.H. White deliberately sets the story in a post Norman conquest 'Gramarye' and prefixes imaginary or legendary to the names of 12th-15th century figures, and the technological level is mostly late middle ages. There is an appropriateness to this as to some extent the Saxon antagonists of Mallory's story were the victims of the Normans who promulgated the iteration of the older tales on which Mallory based his book. Except for the first part, this is not an easy read at all, and re-reading it after decades I certainly notice it's combination anti-fascist/anti-anarchist message much more than I did in the 60's or 70s. It is full of cleverness, and there are action scenes, but mostly there are dialogs - between Arthur and many others, among the Morgause's sons, between Lancelot and Guenever, and others, only occasionally in the midst of action. A brilliant section deals with the quest for the Holy Grail by having the surviving questors relate their tales, directly of indirectly to Arthur and Guenever and indicating the effect these tales have on Arthur. Still I am not and never have been happy T.H. White's Arthur of simple slow thought any more than I like other author's gay or bisexual Arthur. All of the other characters given any portion of dialog, and the young Wart are well, are well done. So when I read this long ago the take away seemed to be look what good and just times we live in now - but just now it seems like the candle is truly in danger of going out.
    • 4/5
      While I still loved the first book "The Sword in the Stone" (4.5* for that one in this audiobook edition), each succeeding book was less enjoyable and the final book "The Book of Merlin" was just a vehicle for White to expound his own philosophical ideas about why men fight wars and how, if possible, to prevent it. I had never read this 5th book of the series (it wasn't in my old paperback edition of "The Once and Future King") and while I liked the return of Arthur's adventures in the animal world, Merlin and his 'council' were tedious.
    • 5/5
      This book was chosen by a book club member when she was asked to name a favourite classic. The story of Arthur who became King of England and head of the Knights of the Round Table. was rich and meaty and delightful.
    • 5/5
      Simply the GOLD standard of Arthurian tales
    • 4/5
      I know this book is often read in high school classes, but not having ever had the opportunity to read it before, I was in for several surprises. First, I was surprised to find that this was the book that Disney based it's 'Sword in the Stone' movie on. Next, I was surprised at the great description in and the research done for this story. T.H. White gives us a lot of details about the era, such as how hay was made and the sport of falconry. He describes tapestries, weapons, and warfare, as well as chivalry. My favorite part of the story was probably where Merlyn changes Wart into different animals. I was amazed at how he gets you to think like a fish, an ant, an owl, or a goose. However, the story was depressing in a way too. At times it seems like no one is really happy. Guenever and Lancelot have their affair and feel guilty. Arthur is sad about so many things; Guenever and Lancelot's affair, his son's behavior, and the fact that no matter how he tries to rid his kingdom of warfare, someone is always fighting. He loses so many of his friends in one way or another. It really makes you wonder about human nature. I think this is a great classic.
    • 5/5
      The Once and Future King by T.H. White (1996)
    • 5/5
      I've gone through many fixations in life--enjoying a season of enthusiasm for this, that, or another thing. One I had back in college was with the Arthurian legend. It was my ambition to collect every retelling of the story. Like most of my ambitions, my dedication wasn't up to the task. I purchased a handful of books for my library, but nowhere near all of them. And, of course, my rereading any of these fine books doesn't happen too often. Too many (other) books, too little time.But every now and then, I do crack open an old favorite. I think I read The Once and Future King only once before, back when I purchased it in the ancient 80's. Recently I decided to give it another read, feeling a bit guilty as it stared at me from the shelf. It was a pleasant surprise to find the book better than I remembered. Mr. White retells the saga of Le Morte D'Arthur, vastly expanding it with more story and humor. (Though, to be honest, it's been years since I read Le Morte as well.) He chronicles King Arthur's life from childhood to the eve of his final battle, as well as taking forays into the lives of Lancelot, Guenever, and Gawaine. It's definitely a 20th Century book, however, as there are a number of side comments alluding to the events and mores of the middle of that century. I'm curious if younger readers who came of age in later decades would find the references as amusing as I did. Still, I don't think human nature has changed all that much, be it in the 6th, 14th, 20th, or 21st Century. I bet the story would still hold up. But don't take my word for it, read it yourself and make up your own mind.-J.
    • 1/5
      Horribly disappointing.Written by T.H. White, this book, ON THE COVER, totes itself as being “THE WORLD’S GREATEST FANTASY CLASSIC”. Lies. Give me my Hobbit any day.If I was still in middle school, I may have enjoyed this story more. This is another re-telling of King Arthur, that is that it sadly only shows us his childhood and then goes over to Lancelot and his story. Part of this disappointment has to do with the writing style, most of it has to do with White constantly telling me what he wants me to get out of the story. And all of the historical references to more modern stories that are SO UNNECCISSARY! It was a pain to work to finish this book, and I only did because it is a tale of King Arthur.There was only a passing mention of the Lady of the Lake, of the quests, the second half of the novel was focused on Lancelot and Jenny. And that is the most hated part of the story for me. Always have been.If you are into King Arthur, it is worth the read to see the interpretation, but if not, don’t bother. Seriously.
    • 5/5
      White's retelling of the Arthurian legend still has the power to bring both laughter and tears, even on the umpteenth re-reading.

      This is on mly re-read list (along with 'Gone With the Wind', 'Hawaii', and most of Steinbeck -- the books I would take with me to that fabled Desert Island -- and like its compatriots, reveals something new to me every time I read it.
    • 5/5
      What an exciting book about King Arthur…. before he pulled Excalibur out of the stone, and after! Merlyn showed him a wonderful world! The book is exceptional at describing everything that is going on.
    • 5/5
      This is one of my most favorite books ever. I just love all the stories of King Arthur and Merlin. I read this a while ago, but I can still remember my favorite parts.

      I felt the story flowed along quite nicely and the characters were all engaging. There might be better King Arthur novels, but this one is still my favorite!
    • 3/5
      Was really disappointed, expected to enjoy this but found the casual tone and references to current day (at time of publication) events detracted from the story.
    • 2/5
      DNF at page 53. This was all a bit Disney for me to begin with, but the decision to DNF came when I hit the THIRD casually racist comment about Native Americans. This is an Arthurian legend set in motherfucking England. What kind of effort of will does one need to slam Native Americans repeatedly in it?Anyway, there are loads of Arthur retellings out there. I'm moving on.(NOTE: According to another reviewer, there's an n-word in a rant by a *checks notes* deranged bird later in the book. Why??!!)
    • 4/5
      The first two thirds are so fantastic that they almost make up for the priggish ending.
    • 5/5
      I really enjoyed this book. T.H. White has a fine imagination and makes lovable characters.
    • 5/5
      There has only ever been one King and he is king in a land where he IS the land. His education and his tale of hard knocks makes for fascinating reading. The lies and bretrayal doom him [and the land]. The feminine characters' perspective in Bradley's _The Mists of Avalon_ is a great companion because it creates a sort of parallel universe to this one.
    • 4/5
      I was really excited to read the Once and Future King because, well, it feels like it’s one of THE King Arthur novels to read, and I like the Disney movie The Sword in the Stone. Which is why I was surprised when I wanted to quit 50 pages in. It just seemed…flippant, and light-hearted in a way that I guess I don’t like in my Arthur stories? At the same time, I think that’s why it made a good Disney movie, so it was probably silly for me to feel that way. What really irked me, however, was a line about them drinking sherry, that went sort of like “well, it wasn’t sherry they were drinking, but the medieval version of sherry”. That, along with deferring to Malory, seemed like lazy writing. The fact that he puts Arthur into the later centuries, rather than after the fall of Rome bothered the historian in me. As I continued through the book, however, these sorts of things bothered me less and less. He defers to Malory because those are tedious parts of the story he’s not interested in writing. He has specific aspects he wants to focus on (its much more about character development than Malory, thankfully). And in the end, Arthur is a myth, so does it really matter what century he lived in? From about page 300 onward, I sped through, and was very engaged in the story. He mentions that it is “difficult to write about real people”, real meaning characters with myriad emotions and feelings, but he did so with great skill.
    • 5/5
      A book - no, four books - to revel in the language and the wit, relating the story of Arthur from his childhood as the Wart, living with Sir Ector, through his reign, the idealistic creation of the Round Table, the affair between Lancelot and Guinever, his old age and decline. The end, where Arthur, before going into final battle, reflects on his childhood and all he learnt with Merlin and observation of the animals, is incredibly profound and moving, in particular his thoughts about war:"He remembered Lyo-lyok and the island which they had seen on their migration, where all those puffins, razorbills, guillemots and kittiwakes had lived together peacefully, preserving their own kinds of civilisation without war - because they claimed no boundaries. He saw the problem before him as plain as a map. The fantastic thing about war was that it was fought about nothing - literally nothing. Frontiers were imaginary lines. ... It was geography which was the cause - political geography. It was nothing else. Nations did not need to have the same kind of civilisation, nor the same kind of leader, any more than the puffins and the guillemots did. They could keep their own cilivisations, like Esquimaux and Hottentots, if they would give each other freedom of trade and free passage and access to the world. Countries would have to become counties - but counties which could keep their own culture and local laws. The imaginary lines on the earth's surface only needed to be unimagined. The airborne birds skipped them by nature. How mad the frontiers had seemed to Lyo-lyok, and would to Man if he could learn to fly."
    • 2/5
      I've had this book sitting around for many years now and I always assumed it was the "definitive book" about King Arthur and Camelot. So I was really surprised that it was so incredibly silly. It seems like it's written for kids, but then the level of detail about things like jousting, seem like it's written for adults. The other thing is that I've been reading voraciously for about 40 years now, but many of the words used in this book left me scratching my head wondering what they meant. At first I thought, "Maybe I would have enjoyed this as a child?" But I think the answer is still no. At some point I just felt I was reading the words to get it done, so I stopped around page 70.
    • 1/5
      I don't care what anyone says, this is not a classic to me. It's just a bad story with annoying characters.
    • 5/5
      Amazing read that really immerses yourself into Arthur's and Merlyn's world. This is the collection of 4 of the books in Arthur's timeline. The first book, Sword in the Stone, is more of a children's tale that has a good deal of humor. When Arthur is more adult, the book itself is also more adult. I really like how the book tackles different themes. Arthur is first taught by Merlyn the proper way to rule, while when he is the king he has to maintain his kingdom. It covers problems that rulers probably experience regularly: justice, responsibility, peace, war, feuds, friendship and fidelity. In scenarios where right and wrong do not matter, but whatever is necessary to keep the peace.
    • 4/5
      There have been many accounts of the Arthurian saga over the 1500 years, the best thought of the past century has been T.H. White's "The Once and Future King". Though White's prose is good and engaging, the narrative arc through is tetralogy-in-one edition is problematic enough that it sometimes overshadows the wonderful characters he has developed.The first of the four individual works, "The Sword in the Stone", is the best of all four. White's writes wonderful characters, especially young Arthur (aka Wart), in well-rounded depth. The narrative flow of this work is the best of any of them and sets up the reign of Arthur that makes the reader look forward to seeing what happens next. Unfortunately in "The Queen of Air and Darkness" the characters are not well rounded and the narrative aimlessly wanders between England and the Orkneys without connecting the two until the last chapter when an evil scheme comes to fruition that the reader did not know what actually happening. The third and longest of the individual works, "The Ill-Made Knight" focuses on an ugly Lancelot, his love affair with Guinevere, and the knightly exploits of the Round Table. While this individual work is somewhat engaging, White emasculates Arthur both physically and mentally that continues into final individual work, "The Candle in the Wind", while other characters aren't even given much depth or story arc.Throughout the entire writing, White injects himself and modern day elements throughout the entire book making it hard for the reader to keep to the narrative flow and maintain a "suspension of disbelief". Another unfortunate decision by White was to insist his story was real history of a part of the medieval era then mention "the supposed Henry III" or "the supposed Richard the Lionhearted" throughout. Also White assumed that his readers were versed in Thomas Malory's "The Death of Arthur", which I must admit a half century ago might have been the case, nowadays readers ironically look to "The Once and Future King." And there were White's tangents, whether it was philosophy or history, that were beautifully written but had no bearing whatsoever on the plot or characters or anything else he had just written about before he went down those literary side roads.Upon completing "The Once and Future King", I can see why many people enjoyed it and rated it highly. However, I personally can't ignore narrative stumbles or downright tangents that made three-quarters of the book harder to read than the section covering "The Sword in the Stone". My advice before reading T.H. White is to read Malory's book first and be prepared for references from the 1930s to the late 50s, or you'll be taken aback.
    • 4/5
      This was a funny one. There is a significant change of style and tone over the four books, and I would say that whilst both the childlike whimsy of first book (The Sword in the Stone) and the epic humanism of the final book (The Candle in the Wind) are wonderful reads, in differing ways, neither of the two transitional books work at all.The worst is definitely The Ill-Made Knight, the third book - which is a ill-made mixture of childish simplicity with adult themes, and feels plain odd. The books leaves all character development of its two main protagonists (Lancelot and Guenevere) for the fourth book, barely features Arthur at all, rushes past the deaths of some of the key knights, has none of the madcap creativity of the early books, and tries to do moralising and irony in the same breath.However, you can't not love the collection as a whole, given the strengths of other books. White's textual richness is his main success, and the way he illuminates the 'dark ages', making it feel fizzing with life. Also: is there a more euphonic title than 'The Once and Future King'. Beautiful.
    • 5/5
      Simply amazing. The story of Arthur, from his tutelage (as "the Wart") under Merlyn, to the rise and fall of the round table. Hilarious and heart-rending.
    • 5/5
      Everything I know about life, I learned from this book.
    • 4/5
      Epic, brutal and funny. Brutally funny, really. Now I see where the Monty Python guys got their inspiration for their Holy Grail movie. The humour is similar in many ways. Python approached it with more silliness but the influence is undeniable. Of the four books, I enjoyed the first two the most.Book 1: The Sword in the Stone; tells the story of Arthur's childhood and education by Merlyn, the absent-minded magician who is living his life backward in time. It culminates, rather hastily, with Arthur repeatedly pulling the sword out of the anvil to show that he is the new king.Book 2: The Queen of Air and Darkness, (a.k.a. The Witch of the Wood); tells of Arthur's young adulthood where he conceives the Round Table, defeats King Lot to secure the kingdom, and is seduced by Morgause - thereby sowing the seeds of future ruin.Book 3: The Ill-Made Knight; the longest book in the volume focuses more on the adventures of Lancelot and his illicit affair with Guenever. In this book, we begin to see less humour as the tone becomes more serious and the narrative veers toward the philosohical and tragic.Book 4: The Candle in the Wind; sees Arthur in his dotage. Trapped by the ethics of his own Round Table creation, he struggles to hold his kingdom together in the face of treachery, betrayal, and deceit.
    • 4/5
      Great one to listen to on audiobook-- Neville Jason is really fantastic.
    • 4/5
      A nicely graduated fantasy graduation. The relatively juvenile "the Sword in the Stone" of 1938 begins a deeper and deeper study of the ways of power until we reach "The Candle in the Wind.",(1958) a sad, but hopeful final look at why the rule of law, opposed to the personal vagaries of rulers, makes for better lives for the bulk of the population. I enjoy the book, and dip into it now and again, as I pass my seventies.
    • 3/5
      Humans have retold stories over and over down the centuries; that’s how they develop into myths and legends. It’s how Shakespeare worked, and if it was good enough for him who are we to argue with such a policy? We retool the old tales for the era they’re told in, for the audience of the times. By that token White’s retelling of Malory’s Morte d’Arthur for the 1950s looks extraordinarily dated now; the language, conceits and contemporary references which might have been fresh then now serve to pinpoint when it was written (specifically the cricket and cultural references mostly dropped by the backwards living Merlin). It’s a tale for a generation earlier than our won that’s survived partly by being the basis for a Disney film and partly because it uses the Arthurian myth to deal with big themes; leadership, love and man’s constant struggle to overcome the easy tendency to violence. For the most part it’s appropriate but White drifts to being overly didactic and heavy- handed in the last of the five books that comprise the novel. Given it was written during and in the aftermath of the Second World War that’s hardly a crime; more circumstance. And whilst certain elements might be seen as too ‘on the nose’ White’s contention that the rich and powerful tend to exert an undue influence on justice whatever means are used to enforce remains an uncomfortable truth; one earned by coming from a ruler at the end of his days. The puppeteer might be visible but his clear anger and passion just about carries the day.Structurally it’s something of a mess with the overall story essentially covering a lifetime with large sections time covered in a few pages and characters who might have featured heavily written out of the story in a line or two. Certain story elements are often recounted rather than shown; a wearying tendency for a modern reader to deal with. The switch in focus from Arthur to Lancelot and Guinevere also feels jarring in what’s essentially the life of King Arthur; but then I suspect it’s an issue deriving from Malory. Still, there’s enough of the power of the Arthurian myth allied with passion and a peculiar sense of humour to render it an enjoyable, if often stiff and starchy, read.
    • 4/5
      This was an incredible read! It's hampered by an unusual sense of humor that freely grabbed at anachronisms as well as a writing style that is quickly dating itself and becoming difficult to read.I loved the different styles of the four novels. The Sword in the Stone was great. It took me a few chapters to get into it (I almost quit due to the confusingly irreverent and anachronistic style), but I loved the quirky characters, the lessons, and the light tone. Queen of Air and Darkness didn't necessarily have its own personality, as it seemed more like an aid to show us the new kingdom, how Merlin's lessons were being applied and interpreted, and to introduce the Orkneys and their grudge. Both were completely unlike the beautiful story in the Ill-Made Knight, which makes Arthur a secondary character in favor of Lancelot, and develops him into an extremely benevolent character that can, still, betray his best friend and commit adultery. His appearance is a handicap, and nobody is as hard on him morally as himself. God and Chivalry mean the most to him, yet he still cannot give up Guenevere. It's a beautiful story.And it all ends sadly in The Candle in the Wind, which is all tragedy after tragedy as Arthur's Camelot comes down around him. It seems like he blames human nature more than anything else, but believes his ideas of chivalry are good. That doesn't stop Mordred and the Orkneys from bringing him down with his own laws.All of the characters are very human and believable, which is a little at odds with the historical references this is based on. White skips over these bits rather conveniently. It doesn't come up until the very end of the book that the kind, somewhat dense Arthur, so set on the idea of Justice, would drown a boat of newborn babies. Why would the noble and just Lancelot slay Gareth, who he loves, when the latter isn't even armored? The legends themselves are problematic to the story. As is White's fondness for anachronistic jokes, jokes that have since aged and become somewhat impenetrable themselves. The characters make several odd references to Esquimaux, which took me a minute to puzzle "Eskimo" out of. He compares the behavior of knights often to cricket, descriptions that are lost on me, at the very least, and the historical cricket figures are probably lost on most. Despite that, this is still an incredibly engrossing story. It moves agonizingly slow sometimes, and continually mires itself in quandries about forcing Justice on people when the point is to make them stop forcing their will on others with military strength. But there are usually incidents to back up these discussions, and they are always exciting. Most fascinating was the portrayal of the Orkneys through the saga. I very much would like to read more about this bizarrely and unevenly portrayed group of brothers.I knew very little about the Arthurian Saga before reading this, and I'm so pleased that this was my introduction to the stories. It definitely made me want to read more, though I suspect there will be very little material as accessible or thorough as this.