The Once and Future King

[Gonff the Mousethief]

Has anybody else read this book? I chose to read the first half for a book report, and just finished today, and it really blew me away. I have always loved the Arthur and Merlin stories, and this one takes the cake. There is Robin Hood (Or Robin Wood), Uther Pendragon, Lancelot, and oh is it good. It is overflowing with great quotes as well. Plus, the morals and messages and set in stone (like Excalibur) with humor sprinkled in. Sometimes the writing is a little dull, and if it were written a little neater here and there, it would be a good one for sure.

One of the main reasons it is my third favorite book, is because of how T.H. White writes. When describing something, he makes it so unique (Such as describing a castle as it would be a tourist attraction today). Arthur gets turned into many different creatures, and the way those creatures work and live was outstandingly creative. The ants were a military force, the geese were more hippies, the birds were a Catholic type group and the moat fish acted like a village. Not to mention, since Merlin is born backwards, he mentions things such as Einstein. My favorite one by far was when he was walking to Arthur about war ideals and how to get it through. He compared two people: An Austrian man who had stormtroopers (Guess who that is), and Jesus and His disciples. They both had ideas, but Hitler forced them, while Jesus simply acted kindly when once asked. Now that is pure genius.

So, I really do recommend this book, if you are in to old Classics that hols mountains of truth.

- PoeM

[Jetthebinturong]

I've got The Once and Future King, I haven't read it yet though. It'll probably be the last thing on my TBR that I read, due to its length.

[Lady Ashenwyte]

Is there grey morality in it?

[Cornflower MM]

It sounds reeeaaaalllyyyyyy familiar.. . . . . . So it's likely I've read it, but I just don't remember it. Thanks, Gonffy! I'll see about reading it again. Then we can enthuse about it.

[Vilu Daskar]

I've heard of it but never read it.

[Firehawke]

I read it for my Arthurian Lit class from college...but I have to admit that I don't remember much of it 

[Gonff the Mousethief]

@Ash: In a way yes. It really is with King Lot. He is told to take down Arthur and England by his wife, but really he doesn't really want to. He knows Arthur will somehow best him, and that leaves him in a world of panic.

[Lady Ashenwyte]

I'm not really sure if that's grey morality, but that scheming wife intrigues me. Does Arthur does anything that could be considered bad?

[Gonff the Mousethief]

Well, he does have a kid named Mordred with Lot's wife. However, he was enchanted to. Because of this,

Spoiler

Mordred was the one who defeated him

[close]

Besides that, he does screw up multiple times.