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booksaremagic 's review for:
The Book of Merlyn
by T.H. White
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.