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babyleo 's review for:
The Book of Merlyn
by T.H. White
There is a small disclaimer at the beginning of my copy of The Book of Merlyn that tells of White revising for the complete collection and that some of the stories will be repeated. The publisher left these repeats in there to maintain the author intent which was nice. These are events from the early years of Arthur so it was nice to revisit them because after so much and so many books I had forgotten these adventures. And after following Arthur's entire life it seemed a lifetime ago I had read them. But not only that, they were not exactly the same for they are written with the surrounds and eyes of the elderly king over the young boy but also these two tales are enveloped with new characters and events.
This book offers some very good insights into human nature and humanity, nothing to get offended at, well I didn't. In fact it is surprisingly very true what White/Merlyn tells Arthur, but you also know all these insights and suggestions and realisations are consciously included as messages to the reader to change humanity anytime soon, humanity is just too stubborn. But we digress.
The Book of Merlyn is the final book of The Once and Future King series. It is thoughtful and deep, and while we don't get to reflect a lot on the overall life and actions of Arthur like we see more in Candle in the Wind, this looks at the overall picture about the entire fate of the human race and Merlyn helps Arthur see why he is stuck in the situation that he is currently in. How humans act, interact and how we think we have evolved when we really haven't even started. In that respect it was profound, and I'd already gotten all worked up and involved and attached to poor dear Arthur at the end of Candle in the Wind so this was more focused on the philosophy which I really liked as well. Arthur was woven in there but there is a lot of long talking done by Merlyn about everything. When it does conclude White continues as he had done occasionally throwing in long bits about history but where he does it sort of helps you see how it all ended and what happened in the future. But I think he took it a little bit too far and too long with no real summarising points about what it actually meant for history to have a king like Arthur. I liked this for the philosophy but as an Arthur story it just seemed to be unfair on Arthur for the most part, even if it did help him in the end.
The Once and Future King is a brilliant story. You start at book one and you see Arthur, a young boy who is just trying to live his life and strive for whatever dreams he hopes for. We follow him through every single stage of his life, we see his teachings by Merlyn, his succession and struggle at the throne and we see his friendships, battles, loves and hardships while he continues to grow and age and become the great king. I can only speak of White but he manages to involve you in this young boy and this old king and you see these characters as real people who you feel for and pity. The way Arthur is portrayed is heartbreaking and spectacular and I think seeing this boy from the beginning to the very end makes it that much more emotionally driven, touching and sorrowful.
As this is the final book I will say that it does deserve a five star rating overall. I think the less amazing stories in between, the books that went up and down, and those that stayed strong constantly should all be ignored because as a whole this is a fantastic story. But if you break it into its separate books there are faults everywhere. But as a whole it was fantastic on every level.
This book offers some very good insights into human nature and humanity, nothing to get offended at, well I didn't. In fact it is surprisingly very true what White/Merlyn tells Arthur, but you also know all these insights and suggestions and realisations are consciously included as messages to the reader to change humanity anytime soon, humanity is just too stubborn. But we digress.
The Book of Merlyn is the final book of The Once and Future King series. It is thoughtful and deep, and while we don't get to reflect a lot on the overall life and actions of Arthur like we see more in Candle in the Wind, this looks at the overall picture about the entire fate of the human race and Merlyn helps Arthur see why he is stuck in the situation that he is currently in. How humans act, interact and how we think we have evolved when we really haven't even started. In that respect it was profound, and I'd already gotten all worked up and involved and attached to poor dear Arthur at the end of Candle in the Wind so this was more focused on the philosophy which I really liked as well. Arthur was woven in there but there is a lot of long talking done by Merlyn about everything. When it does conclude White continues as he had done occasionally throwing in long bits about history but where he does it sort of helps you see how it all ended and what happened in the future. But I think he took it a little bit too far and too long with no real summarising points about what it actually meant for history to have a king like Arthur. I liked this for the philosophy but as an Arthur story it just seemed to be unfair on Arthur for the most part, even if it did help him in the end.
The Once and Future King is a brilliant story. You start at book one and you see Arthur, a young boy who is just trying to live his life and strive for whatever dreams he hopes for. We follow him through every single stage of his life, we see his teachings by Merlyn, his succession and struggle at the throne and we see his friendships, battles, loves and hardships while he continues to grow and age and become the great king. I can only speak of White but he manages to involve you in this young boy and this old king and you see these characters as real people who you feel for and pity. The way Arthur is portrayed is heartbreaking and spectacular and I think seeing this boy from the beginning to the very end makes it that much more emotionally driven, touching and sorrowful.
As this is the final book I will say that it does deserve a five star rating overall. I think the less amazing stories in between, the books that went up and down, and those that stayed strong constantly should all be ignored because as a whole this is a fantastic story. But if you break it into its separate books there are faults everywhere. But as a whole it was fantastic on every level.