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135 reviews for:
The Book of Merlyn: The Unpublished Conclusion to the Once and Future King
T.H. White
3.56 AVERAGE
135 reviews for:
The Book of Merlyn: The Unpublished Conclusion to the Once and Future King
T.H. White
3.56 AVERAGE
Just okay. I think Once and Future King is stronger without this - Arthur returning to the animals from Sword in the Stone before the final confrontation with Mordred seems clunky and unnecessary.
An interesting conclusion that hearkens back more to the Sword in the Stone than the Candle in the Wind. If you read the abridged quadrilogy before this, the bulk of this book's core might be a bit of a retread to you.
dark
informative
reflective
slow-paced
It's a shame that White never got the chance to edit this one, because it would have been just perfect.
A lot of this book is dialogue; a political and philosophical diatribe about how mankind should live. In a lot of ways it goes on too long and is rough around the edges, but I'm glad I read it. It's full of White's charm (with some fun fourth-wall breaks!) and it was lovely to see the story come full-circle back to the good times of Wart's adventures in The Sword in the Stone, though tinged with the inevitable coming of Arthur's death. The ant scene was something out of Kafka and the geese scene was written so beautifully that it felt like i was there. It really feels over now which makes me quite sad. The ending was well-written too and supplied answers to what happens to our beloved heroes whose journeys we followed all this way. If only White's publisher had given him a chance to round it off before he died, this would've been the perfect ending to the series.
A lot of this book is dialogue; a political and philosophical diatribe about how mankind should live. In a lot of ways it goes on too long and is rough around the edges, but I'm glad I read it. It's full of White's charm (with some fun fourth-wall breaks!) and it was lovely to see the story come full-circle back to the good times of Wart's adventures in The Sword in the Stone, though tinged with the inevitable coming of Arthur's death. The ant scene was something out of Kafka and the geese scene was written so beautifully that it felt like i was there. It really feels over now which makes me quite sad. The ending was well-written too and supplied answers to what happens to our beloved heroes whose journeys we followed all this way. If only White's publisher had given him a chance to round it off before he died, this would've been the perfect ending to the series.
Dieses Buch regt den Leser zum Nachdenken an. Konzepte von politischen Systemen und Theorien zu dem Thema Krieg sind sehr anschaulich erklärt. Mir gefiel besonders der Schreibstil, und die Bezüge auf andere literarische Werke aus verschiedenen Zeiten, die mich erst etwas verwirrten, aber Merlin bewegt sich schließlich rückwärts in der Zeit.
adventurous
dark
hopeful
informative
reflective
sad
fast-paced
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This was...not great. The Arthur/Merlyn bit was a barely constructed frame for White’s philosophical and political conversations. I do like the hedgehog though.
I'm not sure I agree with all the conclusions the author seems to come to, but this is a fabulous book. T.H. White was brilliant and self-aware, I think, if troubled. His arguments, if they are in fact his personal arguments, make sense if you keep in mind this was written in the midst of WWII.
The book is heavy on animal parables, like the first in this series, The Sword in the Stone. Although The Book of Merlyn was not published in the author's lifetime, the stories of the ants and the geese made their way into later editions of The Sword in the Stone. I first read the one about the ants when I was a child, and it has always, always, always stuck with me. More than 1984 did, more than Brave New World did.
It is surprising to me how well the Disney movie The Sword in the Stone captured some of White's storytelling. Merlyn is in fact just that kind of silly creature, in some of his aspects, some of his moods, and some of his times. It doesn't capture the depth of the story, the breadth, nor the length of it.
I guess part of what troubles me about the "conclusions" is that this book seems dated. Sometimes when authors work so hard in the midst of their world-changing times, their efforts are a little bit bewildering in later ages.
The book is heavy on animal parables, like the first in this series, The Sword in the Stone. Although The Book of Merlyn was not published in the author's lifetime, the stories of the ants and the geese made their way into later editions of The Sword in the Stone. I first read the one about the ants when I was a child, and it has always, always, always stuck with me. More than 1984 did, more than Brave New World did.
It is surprising to me how well the Disney movie The Sword in the Stone captured some of White's storytelling. Merlyn is in fact just that kind of silly creature, in some of his aspects, some of his moods, and some of his times. It doesn't capture the depth of the story, the breadth, nor the length of it.
I guess part of what troubles me about the "conclusions" is that this book seems dated. Sometimes when authors work so hard in the midst of their world-changing times, their efforts are a little bit bewildering in later ages.
The titular end of 'The Once and Future King'. This book was refused publication originally. Paper rationing during WWII and the anti-war tone were probably equally responsible for its refusal. It sat, unmolested in T.H. White's papers at UT - Austin. Why Texas ended up getting T.H. White's papers is a mystery to me.
Anyway, it was discovered in the late 70s and published excitedly by University of Texas Press. While I loved [b:The Once and Future King|43545|The Once and Future King (The Once and Future King #1-4)|T.H. White|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1338741283s/43545.jpg|1140206], and rather enjoyed The Book of Merlyn, the book is more of an expositiion on war and human nature, mixed with a bunch of geese and ants. OK, so that is too cheeky, but still, it wasn't as good as the first four books, and ended up probably being an unnecessary capstone on an almost perfect series, IMHO. But, anyway, it was still enjoyable.
________________
- Robert Farwell / Edward Jones library / Mesa, AZ 2014
Anyway, it was discovered in the late 70s and published excitedly by University of Texas Press. While I loved [b:The Once and Future King|43545|The Once and Future King (The Once and Future King #1-4)|T.H. White|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1338741283s/43545.jpg|1140206], and rather enjoyed The Book of Merlyn, the book is more of an expositiion on war and human nature, mixed with a bunch of geese and ants. OK, so that is too cheeky, but still, it wasn't as good as the first four books, and ended up probably being an unnecessary capstone on an almost perfect series, IMHO. But, anyway, it was still enjoyable.
________________
- Robert Farwell / Edward Jones library / Mesa, AZ 2014