The Once and Future King Author: Visit Amazon's T. H. White Page | Language: English | ISBN:
0399105972 | Format: PDF
The Once and Future King Description
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Quartet of novels by T.H. White, published in a single volume in 1958. The quartet comprises The Sword in the Stone (1938), The Queen of Air and Darkness--first published as The Witch in the Wood (1939)--The Ill-Made Knight (1940), and The Candle in the Wind (published in the composite volume, 1958). The series is a retelling of the Arthurian legend, from Arthur's birth to the end of his reign, and is based largely on Sir Thomas Malory's Le Morte Darthur. After White's death, a conclusion to The Once and Future King was found among his papers; it was published in 1977 as The Book of Merlyn. --
The Merriam-Webster Encyclopedia of LiteratureAbout the Author
T. H. White is the author of the classic Arthurian fantasy The Once and Future King, among other works.
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- Hardcover: 677 pages
- Publisher: G. P. Putnam's Sons (August 25, 1958)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0399105972
- ISBN-13: 978-0399105975
- Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.8 x 2 inches
- Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
Somehow, I missed this classic when growing up, so when my daughter was assigned this book for her eighth grade honors English course, I eagerly picked it up. I was well rewarded for my efforts.
The Sword in the Stone, the most famous of the quartet and the first, was for me the least interesting, perhaps because of its lack of driving conflict. It concerns the education of Arthur, called The Wart, in often hilarious scenes as Merlyn sets out to instruct him in the way of all creatures.
The Queen of Air and Darkness is a better story than the first, though it lacks the substance of the two later books. It tells of the history and childhood of the Orkney clan (Sirs Gawaine, Gaheris, Agravaine, Gareth, and Mordred) as well as preparing for the emotional battles about to begin.
The Ill-Made Knight is simply brilliant, giving Sir Lancelot a humanity I never thought possible, not for a knight living in legend. The love triangle of Arthur, Lancelot, and Guenever (called Gwen by Arthur and Jenny by Lancelot) is given life and understanding, real force. When I finished this book, I had to stop and swallow all the angst and love before I could continue.
A Candle in the Wind begins with some of the most monotonous descriptive writing possible, with White devoting ten solid pages to Lancelot and Guenever looking out a window onto medieval England. I began to believe that White was desperate to incorporate all his research. Once the story got going, however, I couldn't put it down as the tragedy of King Arthur's life unfolded.
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