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A review by hoatzin
The Once and Future King by T.H. White
adventurous
challenging
funny
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
You know, you start this book and see the jokes and ridiculous characters and Merlyn’s shenanigans and you think “this is a lot sillier than I expected”. But as you continue reading, the world loses innocence along with Arthur, and in the end you tear up at his last night alone in his tent.
By book:
Sword in the Stone - the classic, the one the disney movie is inspired by, the story of naive little Wart and ridiculous Meryln teaching him about the world. I really did not expect the jokes and silliness and lots-and-lots-of-medieval-vocabulary. Glad I read H is for Hawk first so I could know what on earth was going on in the falconry scenes. The geese scene was very moving. What on earth is White's obsession with American Indians (I counted 5 references)?? maybe he was reading a lot of Westerns.
Queen of Air and Darkness - somewhat confusing until you accept that the two stories that are switching back and forth are not going to meet up. Instead it's more of a comparison, between how Arthur grew up and how the Orkney clan grew up, while also showing us Arthur as a young man influenced by that childhood, letting us infer how the Orkney's childhoods will influence them in the future. For a book named after Morgause there's not a whole lot of her. This one took me a while and was my least favorite
The Ill-Made Knight - has some of the best bits, especially the opening page, but also drags at bits. unlike the rest of the books he felt the need to retell a lot of Malory's stories which do get repetitive, so this book took me the longest. Also, the portrayal of Guenever (and honestly all the women in this book) annoyed me. We only ever saw her when she and Lancelot were arguing. She gets more sympathetic as she ages but it's still wild that she's the best woman character in this book and she's still a shrew. The Grail Quest was somehow the most boring part.
Candle in the Wind - as a known Tragedy Enjoyer, I did indeed love this book. Arthur as an old man, outmaneuvered by his own justice system. This one was very obviously written close to the start of WW2 (see Mordred's popular revolution which involves black and red armbands-) and includes a lot of rumination on the nature of people and of war. At the end of the day, after all Arthur did, his people are still dying. This redeems Gawaine in a lot of ways, when before you had mostly seen him as a kid and at his worst moments. A lot happens off screen and in between chapters, but that's ok, because the important part is the emotions and the impacts. The bit with baby!Malory at the end could've been cheesy (today I might call it fanservice) but he pulled it off. Also includes one random drop of the n-word???
By book:
Sword in the Stone - the classic, the one the disney movie is inspired by, the story of naive little Wart and ridiculous Meryln teaching him about the world. I really did not expect the jokes and silliness and lots-and-lots-of-medieval-vocabulary. Glad I read H is for Hawk first so I could know what on earth was going on in the falconry scenes. The geese scene was very moving. What on earth is White's obsession with American Indians (I counted 5 references)?? maybe he was reading a lot of Westerns.
Queen of Air and Darkness - somewhat confusing until you accept that the two stories that are switching back and forth are not going to meet up. Instead it's more of a comparison, between how Arthur grew up and how the Orkney clan grew up, while also showing us Arthur as a young man influenced by that childhood, letting us infer how the Orkney's childhoods will influence them in the future. For a book named after Morgause there's not a whole lot of her. This one took me a while and was my least favorite
The Ill-Made Knight - has some of the best bits, especially the opening page, but also drags at bits. unlike the rest of the books he felt the need to retell a lot of Malory's stories which do get repetitive, so this book took me the longest. Also, the portrayal of Guenever (and honestly all the women in this book) annoyed me. We only ever saw her when she and Lancelot were arguing. She gets more sympathetic as she ages but it's still wild that she's the best woman character in this book and she's still a shrew. The Grail Quest was somehow the most boring part.
Candle in the Wind - as a known Tragedy Enjoyer, I did indeed love this book. Arthur as an old man, outmaneuvered by his own justice system. This one was very obviously written close to the start of WW2 (see Mordred's popular revolution which involves black and red armbands-) and includes a lot of rumination on the nature of people and of war. At the end of the day, after all Arthur did, his people are still dying. This redeems Gawaine in a lot of ways, when before you had mostly seen him as a kid and at his worst moments. A lot happens off screen and in between chapters, but that's ok, because the important part is the emotions and the impacts. The bit with baby!Malory at the end could've been cheesy (today I might call it fanservice) but he pulled it off. Also includes one random drop of the n-word???