The Once and Future King

by T.H. White

Book Overview

T. H. White's masterful retelling of the saga of King Arthur is a fantasy classic as legendary as Excalibur and Camelot, and a poignant story of adventure, romance, and magic that has enchanted readers for generations. Once upon a time, a young boy called "Wart" was tutored by a magician named Merlyn in preparation for a future he couldn't possibly imagine. A future in which he would ally himself with the greatest knights, love a legendary queen and...

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0441627404
• ISBN13: 9780441627400
• Release Date: June 1987
• Publisher: Ace Books
• Length: 640 Pages
• Weight: 0.70 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.5" x 4.1" x 6.7"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

Book was written in

The first half of the book contains underlining and annotations from a previous owner, and one page is scribbled in— nearly unreadable. Just a bit disappointed.

Coming apart

I purchased this book for my son so he could write in it and make annotations to begin his personal reading library. They just started reading it and it started to fall apart in sections. I've ordered from this company before and never had an issue. Lesson learned.

Perfect condition, wonderful, moving book

I love this book for the detailed narration and the elegant story. This retelling of the well-loved story of King Arthur is the best!

Wonderful, don't miss it

"The Once and Future King" is children's fantasy as it should be, a delightful read for both kids and adults. Author T. H. White manages to mingle the humorous and the sad portions of the King Arthur story successfully, and he never talks down to his audience or tries to oversimplify the events. The result is a wonderfully entertaining book that never slows down, one that's both amusing and serious.I won't try to summarize the entire book. Suffice to say, White covers the entire story of King Arthur's life and remains pretty faithful to the traditional version of events throughout the book. What's really amazing, though, is the way that he captures the spirit of the times, making you feel like you're actually in England during the Middle Ages, watching the tournaments and quests and battles yourself. His descriptions are beautiful without ever being unnecessarily lengthy, his characters seem to come alive (especially Arthur, Guenevere, and Lancelot), and his handling of some of the classic scenes is unforgettable.

Literature at its Finest

I choose to review The Once and Future King by T.H. White, as I consider it the finest specimen of British Literature that has ever been written. I was 17 the first time I read this novel, and I was clearly too young to fully appreciate it. I worry that perhaps now, at age 23, I am still too young. A book with this much depth reminds you just how young you are, no matter your age. It showed me that there is a range of emotions which can only be felt during one's final days. When people think about the subject of this book, the legend of King Arthur, very few would realize that it is a tragedy. The book which originally captured this legend in it's fullest is called Le Morte D'Arthur, or "The Death of Arthur". What I mean to say is, even at it's origin, the legend of King Arthur is a tragedy. In that respect, T.H. White brought nothing new to the legend, he just refined it to a level of beauty without measure. Many readers feel that the first quarter of the book -which deals with the Merlyn's tutoring of young Arthur- is it's finest section. I think it suffices to say that it has the most mass appeal. While we will be moved by tragedy and depth in the later parts of the books; we come to appreciate White's grasp of humor and characterization in the beginning. But, I worry that the style of humor is so unique and subtle that many people just won't see it. But even without humor, there is enough adventure and wonder in the first part to entertain most readers. The section dealing with Arthur as a child is the only part in which we are allowed to see Arthur's thoughts and feelings. White transitions from a first-person perspective to a third-person perspective in the next 3/4 of the book. We are left to guess Arthur's feelings while he is at his highest and lowest. We can sense his pride as he commands a table of the 150 best knights in the world. He is admirably able to use them to right all of the world's -perceived- wrongs. The stories of the famous knights are simply enthralling; and we read about each conquest and tournament with bright eyes and young souls. Without realizing it, we are transformed into men and women with tremendous courage as we fully buy into Arthur's vision for a better world and a better man. It is a fantastic feeling, I promise you. Conversely, we can sense Arthur's despair as his innovative idea of justice must be used to prosecute his dear wife Guinevere and his best friend Lancelot for having an affair with each other. In bitter irony, we read about the code of justice that Arthur created to make the world a better place; then we watch helplessly as it is used to bring the tragedy of King Arthur to fruition. The final fourth of the book is my favorite, although it is the darkest part. I refuse to ruin the plot for you, but it suffices to say that the legend of King Arthur would not be a tragedy if not for the final 4th of the book. It's alm

Literature at it's Finest

I choose to review The Once and Future King by T.H. White, as I consider it the finest specimen of British Literature that has ever been written. I was 17 the first time I read this novel, and I was clearly too young to fully appreciate it. I worry that perhaps now, at age 23, I am still too young. A book with this much depth reminds you just how young you are, no matter your age. It showed me that there is a range of emotions which can only be felt during one's final days.When people think about the subject of this book, the legend of King Arthur, very few would realize that it is a tragedy. The book which originally captured this legend in it's fullest is called Le Morte D'Arthur, or "The Death of Arthur". What I mean to say is, even at it's origin, the legend of King Arthur is a tragedy. In that respect, T.H. White brought nothing new to the legend, he just refined it to a level of beauty without measure.Many readers feel that the first quarter of the book -which deals with the Merlyn's tutoring of young Arthur- is it's finest section. I think it suffices to say that it has the most mass appeal. While we will be moved by tragedy and depth in the later parts of the books; we come to appreciate White's grasp of humor and characterization in the beginning. But, I worry that the style of humor is so unique and subtle that many people just won't see it. But even without humor, there is enough adventure and wonder in the first part to entertain most readers.The section dealing with Arthur as a child is the only part in which we are allowed to see Arthur's thoughts and feelings. White transitions from a first-person perspective to a third-person perspective in the next 3/4 of the book. We are left to guess Arthur's feelings while he is at his highest and lowest. We can sense his pride as he commands a table of the 150 best knights in the world. He is admirably able to use them to right all of the world's -perceived- wrongs. The stories of the famous knights are simply enthralling; and we read about each conquest and tournament with bright eyes and young souls. Without realizing it, we are transformed into men and women with tremendous courage as we fully buy into Arthur's vision for a better world and a better man. It is a fantastic feeling, I promise you.Conversely, we can sense Arthur's despair as his innovative idea of justice must be used to prosecute his dear wife Guinevere and his best friend Lancelot for having an affair with each other. In bitter irony, we read about the code of justice that Arthur created to make the world a better place; then we watch helplessly as it is used to bring the tragedy of King Arthur to fruition.The final fourth of the book is my favorite, although it is the darkest part. I refuse to ruin the plot for you, but it suffices to say that the legend of King Arthur would not be a tragedy if not for the final 4th of the book. It's almost not fa