The Once and Future King: The classic historical fantasy retelling of Arthurian legends

Awesome

Excellent value and of course a great story for children and adults

Mir ist Nachhaltigkeit sehr wichtig, daher habe ich kein Problem mit dem "akzeptablen" Zustand des Buches und werde es auf jeden Fall behalten und lesen. Allerdings finde ich 9,- doch etwas zu teuer für ein Buch, dass so starke Gebrauchsspuren aufweist (Einband stark abgerieben und großflächig mit bräunlichen Flecken von verschütteter Flüssigkeit, Ecken geknickt, allgemein schmutziger Eindruck). 3,- wäre meiner Ansicht nach angemessen gewesen. Der Versand erfolgte schnell und zuverlässig, deshalb noch 4 Sterne.

The once and Future King, published in 1958, is a rework of four previously published books by White, The Sword in the Stone (1938), The Witch in the Wood (1939), The Ill-Made Knight (1940) and The Candle in the Wind (1958). He uses these titles for the four sections of The Once and Future King. After White’s death a final book called The Book of Merlyn, written 1941, was published. Some parts of this had been incorporated into previous books by White, mainly The Sword in the Stone. This final book has since been added to end of this volume.The first part, The Sword in the Stone, is probably the most famous due to it being made into a movie by Disney studios. Also it isn’t too far removed from that movie. It covers Arthur’s early years, in which he is known as The Wart and is under the tutelage of Merlyn. Just like the movie Wart is turned into a fish and a bird amongst other creatures by Merlyn and just like the movie there is a lot of slapstick comedy. White even manages to squeeze Robin Hood and his Merry men into his version of the Arthurian legend! On the whole this first part is a delightful if somewhat juvenile read. I enjoyed it despite the liberties taken with the legend I knew and grew up with. I liked the way White portrays the world that Wart grows up in as idyllic, beautiful summers of sun and blue skies and winters of deep crisp even snow. It’s a stark contrast to what will come later. Wart even asks Merlyn ‘Why do people not think, when they are grown up, as I do when I am young?’At the start of the second part, The Witch in the Wood, the change is apparent as we see Wart now as a young inexperienced King Arthur trying to grapple with the realities of the grown up world, including wars. There are some interesting points made here on that subject, especially when you consider when the book was published, 1939, the outbreak of World War II. The humour however is still there as it descends into pantomime farce at times, but the story has darker periods. Episodes involving cats and unicorns are particularly gruesome.It is here and in particular the introduction of Lancelot that the stories from Le Morte D’Arthur also become clearer, although White still tweaks them and he quotes Malory a few times during his retelling. I also loved the way he compares situations in Arthur’s world with contemporary times, or as it was in his case, 1930’s and 40’s. It does give the book a bit of a dated feel but in a charming way.By the third part of the book the humour as all but disappeared. This part deals with Lancelot, and White portrays him in an understanding and sympathetic way, especially concerning his relationship with Guenever. I think the complex character of Lancelot is T.H. White’s greatest achievement in The Once and Future King. This version of him is totally different from the Malory Lancelot. The Ill Made Knight is my favourite part in this book and Lancelot my favourite character.The Candle in the Wind is the final part of The Once and Future King. This last part deals with the final days of Arthur. It’s the saddest part of the story. In it White contemplates Arthur’s New England and his achievements. As he does all through the book he again compares it with the contemporary world (i.e. the world of the 1930,s and 40’s). By the time this final book was published in 1958, White had lived through a World War, this is apparent in Arthur’s final assessment of his achievements and his dream of Camelot.Endings are always a bone of contention. They never please everyone and it’s probably the area where people are most critical. It all depends whether the story ended the way you wanted it to. The ending of The Once and Future King is no different. It also has the added burden of living up to Malory’s Arthur as well as the version of Arthur we all have in our heads. The ending of White’s book is different to Malory but still holds some of its principles. I liked it. There is a passage with a page boy at the end, which I will not reveal as it would be a major spoiler, that I particularly loved, it was a nice touch.This edition of The Once and Future King doesn’t end there though. Included here is The Book of Merlyn, a book as I have mentioned, that was published after White’s death and includes passages already included in The Once and Future King.White's intentions were to find an antidote for war, something he felt was a major theme in Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur. He had wrestled with this idea all through the Second World War. In fact he had retreated to Ireland to avoid it, not wanting to be a coward or a hero. ‘It is generally the trustful and optimistic people who can afford to retreat. The loveless and faithless ones are compelled by their pessimism to attack.’ The book was rejected when he sent it for publication in 1941 because it was anti war, it was later published in 1977.The Book of Merlin, although interesting, adds little to The Once and Future King. It is really more of an essay than a story. It is also heavy going. The condensed version of this book which was incorporated into The Sword and the Stone for me was enough on the subject. It made its point without losing the story (and the reader). The only real point of interest as far as Arthur’s story goes comes at the end when White offers an explanation of the fates of Arthur, Guenever and Lancelot. It might have been better to tack this last bit at the end of The Candle in the Wind (although without it I think the book is fine).Despite The Book of Merlin I loved The Once and Future King. I found White’s retelling of the Arthurian legend masterful, it’s an enduring classic. His use of comedy offsets the later personal doom of Arthur and I loved his portrayal of all the major characters, especially Lancelot. In The Once and Future King T.H. White has produced a work of grandeur and charm worthy of its subject.

It is a true masterpiece, perfect pace a hearthbraking story. It tells so much about the era, and human nature

Why do I think that the bad reviews come mostly from school kids who don't want to tackle this book?While the humor is kind of an odd addition at first, it is sometimes laugh-out-loud funny. This is a pretty complete look at the Arthur legend. Most complete including the La Morte D'Arthur (don't make me look up the French spelling okay.) I have read five or six books on the legend. I like this best. Well-written. If you don't want to tackle something that is not the Hobbit or Lord of the Rings (read them too and love them)--don't. This author made no attempt to copy them so I am a little unsure why people thought this book would be similar. White took his time and added some humor to a legend that is based on the lopping off of heads and cleaving skulls without much let up. Character development was not present in most of the legend-based books I have read on this subject.Assigned this in school? If you would rather be reading Conan the Barbarian (yes, I read them too) nothing anyone can say will make this Conan or a superhero. Classics are sometimes a little tedious to modern readers. Then again, there aren't that many classics being written anymore.Wait until you have to report on War and Peace, a wonderful book by the way, but again, a tad tedious at times.You know, building tension in a story is really an art. Tolkien did it in his visit to the Elves. Not much happened there, but on the outside of that Idyllic paradise, lurked a real danger we couldn't ignore. The book had to move forward from that place. That said, men and women, real or imagined, go through hell for lovers or greed or honor.

Selten ein Buch gelesen das mit so viel Humor und Scharfblick für Wahrheit, Menschlichkeit und menschliche Abgründe eine so anspruchsvolle Thematik vermittelt. Wer dieses Buch nicht gelesen hat, hat wirklich etwas verpasst.

Having never read the book before I decided it was finally time. It is everything I expected it to be and more.

Ein unglaublich zärtliches Buch. Ein Märchen, das so weise und klug erzählt und erfunden wird, dass Disney viele Teile daraus entnahm, um seinen Trickfilm damit zu schmücken. Was ihm auch gelang, aber die ganze Geschichte von Merlin und König Arthus zu lesen ist einfach seelenstreichelnd.

There should be a warning sign on this book : this is not your usual, tolkien-like, fantasy, but something much weirder, and don't get me wrong, the genuinely weird is always a good thing in my book. TH White's writing is so indiosyncratic that it is futile to describe, you just enjoy it or not. The plot follows Malory's, but the tone keeps on changing, from the tragic to the comic to the didactic. Sometimes it reads like something straight up from some Monty Python's sketch, sometimes it read like an history lesson, an history quite unlike the one you were taught in school. Highly recommended for the open-minded reader.

Für alle Historie- und Fantasyfans sowie Anhänger der Artus-Saga ist das Buch ein absolutes Muss.Einziges Manko: es werden teilweise "altenglische" Wörter verwendet, sodass man auch auf dem C1-Level noch ab und an einige Wörter nachschlagen bzw. etwas länger überlegen muss. Abgesehen davon ist das Buch absolut lesenwert.

"The Once and Future King" by T.H. White tells the story of Britain's most famous king, Arthur, in a very entertaining but nevertheless profound way. It is not only the story itself, which made it worth reading, but also the author's philosophical thoughts given in it are quite interesting. I can really recommend this book to anybody who wants more than pure entertainment!By the way: I received it a very short time after the order.

The Once and Future King was a pretty good book that i read in my English class. It was a good book if you like people transforming into different things and magic. I thought it was a good book to read because it is pretty easy reading because most of it is plot. It takes place long time ago but the language is just like how people today talk. Every now and then, the books drags and things get a little boring, but then later on it goes back to normal and it gets better. I think that it is a good book if you are in to fictional fantasy.