The Book of Merlyn: Th...

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T.H. White

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The Book of Merlyn: The Unpublished Conclusion to The Once & Future King (The Once and Future King #5)

by T.H. White, Trevor Stubley (Illustrator)

3.91 of 5 stars 3.91 · rating details · 3,775 ratings · 140 reviews

An evocative, exciting tale of wizardry and war features a magnificent fantasy of the last days of King Arthur, his faithful magician and his animal teachers, completes the tragedy/romance of White's masterpiece "The Once And Future King."

cloth, 137 pages

Published September 1st 1977 by University of Texas Press (first published 1977)

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Nov 15, 2009 Miriam rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: arthurian, ideas

This is a longer version of the last book in the collected The Once and Future King and also includes some material (the ant and goose segments) that was incorporated into The Sword in the Stone before this was published. If you've read both of those already what this adds is mostly, erm, depression. Sorry, Wart. Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown and all that.

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Feb 20, 2011 Nikki rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: arthurian, based-on-myth-saga-etc, children-s-and-ya, classics, fantasy, historical-fiction-alternatehistory

The Book of Merlyn is a bit of a disappointment in some ways. Parts of it, for a start, were cannibalised for The Sword in the Stone, in the collected edition, and so they've lost their freshness and originality when read again here. For another thing, the whole book is basically a philosophical treatise on the possibilities of the prevention of war. It goes on and on in a rather didactic fashion, and one could skip whole chunks of Merlyn's dialogue in particular without losing out on story.

Stil...more

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Apr 18, 2012 Maggie rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I have four chapters left of this book and it is terrible. I don't understand a darn thing about it! No plot at all, Arthur is a communist ant and then a peaceful goose! I'm only a kid though and havent read once and future king. Thats why its so confusing probably. Advice to British Literature students dont choose this book for a project, BIG mistake!Finished It and it was terrible just like I found out four chapters before the end!~

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Feb 16, 2013 Edward C. rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The Book of Merlyn is White's initially unpublished conclusion to his masterpiece The Once and Future King. In this book, Merlyn takes the aged King, on the eve of his battle with Mordred, to the Badger's cave, where Nimuë left the negromancer. The animals, with Merlyn as their spokesman, present to the King an argument proposing that Homo sapiens be renamed Homo ferox.

It is, no doubt, White's obvious venting of spleen against violence that kept this book from initial publication and continues...more

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May 29, 2012 Eveningstar2 rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

What's the point?

The Book of Merlyn, published posthumously, was T.H White's "True" ending to the otherwise beautiful Once and Future King. Having finished Once and Future King just a few days earlier, I was touched by the elegaic, bittersweet note upon which it ended. Once and Future King may be the finest fantasy novel ever written, and its final page is consequently one of the loveliest parting sentiments given to its eponymous hero.

The Book of Merlyn takes place during the night prior to Art...more What's the point?

The Book of Merlyn, published posthumously, was T.H White's "True" ending to the otherwise beautiful Once and Future King. Having finished Once and Future King just a few days earlier, I was touched by the elegaic, bittersweet note upon which it ended. Once and Future King may be the finest fantasy novel ever written, and its final page is consequently one of the loveliest parting sentiments given to its eponymous hero.

The Book of Merlyn takes place during the night prior to Arthur's final confrontation with Mordred. Merlyn shows up, something like forty years too late, with his whole menagerie of animal-philosophers in order to drag the King through one last sermon on the nature of man, the inherent wickedness in the heart of man, the inevitability of war and the necessity of failure.

And Merlyn is a massive misanthrope. He comes off like Jean Paul Sartre and Nietzsche rolled into one cantankerous, bearded prat. He is professorial and crotchety, long-winded and without compassion. He isn't the Merlyn I remember, or the Merlyn Arthur remembers, that clumsy old man given to abstract idealism and pontification, the wise old mentor who hated violence and urged Arthur to follow his heart.

And this is what troubles me the most about The Book of Merlyn. That night belonged to Arthur. So little of Arthur's life belonged to him. As a child, he was dragged along the currents of his fate by Merlyn and Sir Ector and Morgause. As a King, he was devoted to his Table, to the ideals of Right over Might, to the virtue of Justice. He was a good friend to Lancelot, and a loving husband, and a forgiving king. And he was never given a moment's peace.

That night was to be his own. He'd done plenty of his own ruminations. Once and Future King describes Arthur in his silence, going over the familiar circles of his thoughts, contemplating war, and life, and love and misery and duty, and all these things that had been taught to him, these concepts with which he had grappled and struggled. Merlyn had always taught Arthur to think for himself--so what business now does Merlyn have, returning at the dusk of Arthur's life to give him some nihilist lecture on original sin and the futility of human effort?

Arthur deserved better. And the readers deserve better. I don't know what T.H White was thinking with this unfinished manuscript, but The Book of Merlyn is a wholly inappropriate ending to the Once and Future King.

The Once and Future King belongs to Arthur, and to Lancelot, and Guinevere and Mordred and the rest of the table. It is a story of humans doing their very best, and sometimes failing, and sometimes not, but trying nonetheless to be good and decent people. Arthur's lessons are his own. Life, experience and his own ambitions taught him more about humanity than Merlyn ever could.

The Once and Future King was a tragedy; The Book of Merlyn, a travesty. Skip it.(less)

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Sep 15, 2010 John rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, classics

For me, this was a disappointing follow-up to The Once and Future King. Most of the book is a conversation between King Arthur, Merlyn, and a council of animals regarding the pros and cons of various types of government and the nature of man and beast. Although it is considered the fifth and final part of the story, it is not at all like the first four parts.

For a good portion of the book I felt like White was using the authoritative aura of Merlyn to advance his own ideas on government, and th...more

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Jun 01, 2010 Mary Overton added it · review of another edition

Sylvia Townsend Warner, in her preface "The Story of the Book," does an excellent job of putting into context both this final volume of THE ONCE & FUTURE KING and the entire Arthur legend, as interpreted by T.H. White. She quotes extensively from his notes and his letters.

In December of 1940, as WWII rages, White writes to his former Cambridge tutor:
"...I am going to add a new 5th volume, in which Arthur rejoins Merlyn underground (it turns out to be the badger's sett of Vol. I) and the ani...more Sylvia Townsend Warner, in her preface "The Story of the Book," does an excellent job of putting into context both this final volume of THE ONCE & FUTURE KING and the entire Arthur legend, as interpreted by T.H. White. She quotes extensively from his notes and his letters.

In December of 1940, as WWII rages, White writes to his former Cambridge tutor:
"...I am going to add a new 5th volume, in which Arthur rejoins Merlyn underground (it turns out to be the badger's sett of Vol. I) and the animals come back again, mainly ants and wild geese. Don't squirm. The inspiration is godsent. You see, I have suddenly discovered that (1) the central theme of Morte d'Arthur is to find an antidote to war, (2) that the best way to examine the politics of man it to observe him, with Aristotle, as a political animal. I don't want to go into all this now, it will spoil the freshness of the future book..." (pg. xvi)

How White goes "into all this," is to have Merlyn and the animals classify humanity as merely one of "'two hundred and fifty thousand separate species of animal in this world...and of these no less than two thousand eight hundred and fifty are mammals like man.... [M:]an is a parvenu among the rest, nearly all of which had already solved his problems in one way or another, many thousand years before he was created.'" The main problem is "'the control of Might.'" How not to war upon his own kind. (pg. 25)

The solution is for humanity to evolve in a way that enhances "the speciality of man," that part of the brain dedicated to "memory, deduction and the forms of thought which result in recognition by the individual of his personality. Man's top-knot makes him conscious of himself as a separate being, which does not often happen in animals ..., so that any form of pronounced collectivism in politics is contrary to the specialisation of man.'" (pg 116) White abhors all the "-isms" - communism, fascism, totalitarianism, capitalism. "'[T:]he Individual is more important than the State. He is so much more important that he should abolish it....[M:]ight was never right... the state never excelled the individual... the future lies with the personal soul.'" (pg. 117) Merlyn proclaims, "'I am an anarchist, like any other sensible person.... The destiny of man is an individualistic destiny ...'" (pg.124)

Also in Warner's preface is White's analysis of Arthur's tragedy:
"The whole Arthurian story is a regular greek doom, comparable to that of Orestes.
"Uther [Arthur's father:] started the wrong-doing upon the family of the duke of Cornwall, and it was the descendant of that family who finally revenged the wrong upon Arthur.... Arthur had to pay for his father's initial transgression, but, to make it fairer, the fates ordained that he himself should also make a transgression (against the Cornwalls) in order to bind him more closely in identification with the doom.....
"....Mordred [Arthur's son:] was thus the fruit of incest (his father was his mother's half brother), and it was he who finally brought the doom on Arthur's head. The sin was incest, the punishment Guinever, and the instrument of punishment Mordred, the fruit of the sin. It was Mordred who insisted on blowing the gaff on Launcelot and Guinever's affair, which Arthur was content to overlook..." (pg. xi)(less)

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Sep 20, 2009 Surreysmum rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 1981, fantasy-fiction

[These notes were made in 1981:]The fifth and last book of The Once and Future King, according to the PR. But without that trumpeting, one might be forgiven for thinking that this book is not part of the same overall plan as the others, though it is indisputably by the same author and "about" the same characters. In fact, what it is "about" is polemics - a political treatise, if you will, with some passages which have the same kind of imaginative vision that the earlier books have, but mostly ju...more

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Jun 25, 2009 Jason rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I must admit some bias associated with this unfortunately short novel. Although it is a little weak when trying to read it independently of The Once & Future King, when you read it immediately after that greater work it is pure brilliance.

White's narrative tone draws you into a deceptive bedtime story world that swiftly moves with old/young Arthur through more metamorphic juxtapositions than a week's worth of "Wild Kingdom," as the fabled sorcerer returns on the night before Arthur's fateful...more

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Apr 15, 2012 Alex Baker rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The Book of Merlyn is overall, a good ending to the pentalogy of The Once and Future King. This is despite the fact that 90% of the book is a discussion about war and politics, which forces White to limit the progression of the Arthurian Legend. Despite this, the book is still interesting. It has parallels with the works of other English authors, namely Lewis Carroll and George Orwell. It also uses two interesting themes present in movies to close out the book: the Final Goodbye and the Hero's R...more The Book of Merlyn is overall, a good ending to the pentalogy of The Once and Future King. This is despite the fact that 90% of the book is a discussion about war and politics, which forces White to limit the progression of the Arthurian Legend. Despite this, the book is still interesting. It has parallels with the works of other English authors, namely Lewis Carroll and George Orwell. It also uses two interesting themes present in movies to close out the book: the Final Goodbye and the Hero's Return Home.

The main problem with The Book of Merlyn is that it is separated into two parts, 10% Arthurian legend and 90% discussion. The end of Candle in the Wind hinted at what the final battle would be like, leading the reader to think the next book will jump straight into the action. Instead, after only a few pages, Arthur is sent back to the animals for a 17 chapter long discussion on war and politics. Much later, as Arthur is continuing to debate with the animals, he abruptly announces that he needs to go back to fight.

The resulting shortness of the battle is detrimental to the book. Unlike the battle in The Queen of Air and Darkness, this one has immense significance (due to all the main characters who get killed) and does not deserve to be rushed through. However, in two pages the book goes from Arthur negotiating a truce to the death of the last four members of the Round Table, years after the battle.

Despite the quick changes in the story, there are pluses. The Legend section of the book is enhanced by two great themes. The first is The Final Goodbye. Just like in other works of literature, The Once and Future King ends with a long farewell between the old tutor (Merlyn) and his pupil(Arthur). I liked the way White did this, as it made me think back upon the other four books of the Pentalogy and the change in Merlin's relationship with Arthur from a "Kind Old Tutor" to just an old friend, and the way they had each others backs throughout the first four books.

Another theme is The Hero's Return Home. In movies, the hero is exiled, and then returns to the joy of all of his countrymen. In The Book of Merlyn, Arthur is sent back to the animals he grew up with, to see how they are doing. Although it wasn't an exile, it still gives the reader a warm and fuzzy feeling that "Some things never change." The use of these themes help construct a good ending to the series.

The Book of Merlyn has similarities with Lewis Carroll and George Orwell. When Arthur is teleported back down into the ant colony, he attempts to describe to the ants the meanings of words like freedom and liberty. However, all he can manage to say in the ant language is Done and Not Done in place of Good and Bad, and doesn't even try to explain freedom and liberty. Arthur refers to himself as someone attempting to explain color to a blind man. The main words Arthur can use, Done and Not Done, are similar to the New Speak in 1984, namely the adjectives Good and Ungood.

Another similarity to an Orwell novel is the importance of thinking animals in The Book of Merlyn. The Committee sits and discusses, day and night, presumably for years, about war, politics and the like. Although they do not play a direct role in the politics of England, they do influence Arthur through his lessons with them. This is similar to Animal Farm, where animals are used to show the benefits and harms of a political system, Communism.

Although a hundred years separate the books, The Book of Merlyn is also similar to Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland. Arthur is shrunk down, just like Alice, and enters a world to discuss politics with various animals. These similarities to other classic books made the Book of Merlyn more interesting, as I was always thinking about the other books while reading it.

Overall, I really like The Book of Merlyn. It is a good end to the Once and Future King pentalogy, despite being too quick in killing off the characters at the end. I would recommend this series to anyone who likes to read about the medieval era and doesn't mind a philosophical analysis here and there. I look forward to reading series like this in the future.(less)

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Jan 09, 2009 Adam Kranz rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: magical-connective-fantastic-lit

"Even the Greek definition anthropos, He Who Looks Up, is inaccurate. Man seldom looks up above his own height after adolescence."
Page 53

"He knew suddenly that nobody, living upon the remotest, most barren crag in the ocean, could complain of a dull landscape so long as he would lift his eyes. In the sky there was a new landscape every minute, in every pool of the sea rocks, a new world. He wanted time off, to live."
Page 99

"There is nothing so wonderful as to be out on a spring night in the coun...more "Even the Greek definition anthropos, He Who Looks Up, is inaccurate. Man seldom looks up above his own height after adolescence."
Page 53

"He knew suddenly that nobody, living upon the remotest, most barren crag in the ocean, could complain of a dull landscape so long as he would lift his eyes. In the sky there was a new landscape every minute, in every pool of the sea rocks, a new world. He wanted time off, to live."
Page 99

"There is nothing so wonderful as to be out on a spring night in the country; but really in the latest part of night, and, best of all, if you can be alone. Then, when you can hear the wild world scamper, and the cows chewing just before you tumble over them, and the leaves living secretly, and the nibblings and grass pluckings and the blood's tide in your own veins; when you can see the loom of the trees and hills in deeper darkness and the stars twirling in their oiled grooves for yourself; when there is one light in one cottage far away, marking a sickness or an early riser upon a mysterious errand; when the horse hoofs with squeaking cart behind plod to an unknown market, dragging their bundled man, in sacks, asleep; when the dogs' chains rattle at the farms, and the vixen yelps once, and the owls have fallen silent: then is a grand time to be alive and vastly conscious, when all else human is unconscious, homebound, bed-sprawled, at the mercy of the midnight mind.
The wind had dropped to rest. The powdery stars expanded and contracted in the serene, making a sight which would have jingled, if it had been a sound. The great tor which they were climbing rose against the sky, a mire of majesty, like a horizon which aspired."
Page 149

"That was it, to mean well! He caught a glimpse of that extraordinary faculty in man, that strange, altruistic, rare and obstinate decency which will make writers or scientists maintain their truths at the risk of death. Eppur si muove, Galileo was to say; it moves all the same. They were to be in a position to burn him if he would go on with it, with his preposterous nonsense about the earth moving round the sun, but he was to continue with the sublime assertion because there was something which he valued more than himself. The Truth. To recognise and to acknowledge What Is."
Page 154

I got T.H. White's The Book of Merlyn in my Christmas box, along with Sophie's World and six present-books. It was White's intended ending for the Once and Future King series, and his intent should not be ignored in this case. The book includes many aspects that were later edited back into the first four books to soften its absence, but it is important to read in its own right despite this. White does most everything he did in the first four books, but better: more beautifully, with a deeper sense of melancholy and resignation, a more thorough look at his problem in general (war and the future of man), and a more centered and charming portrait of the various animal characters (The Committee). (less)

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Feb 04, 2010 Cara rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, arthurian

Although I'm glad I read this posthumously published final book in T.H. White's extraordinary Arthurian cycles, I'm relieved that, due to wartime paper shortages, The Candle in the Wind ends the Once and Future King. The questions raised by White about the nature of humanity are interesting, but the conclusions appear simplistic. What White railed about in the Book of Merlyn is captured in other way throughout the preceding four books, but in ways that are more subtle and, therefore, more though...more

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Aug 26, 2012 Nikki rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: classics, based-on-myth-saga-etc, children-s-and-ya, fantasy, dissertation

The Book of Merlyn is a bit odd to read, particularly in the omnibus edition, because T.H. White cannibalised it for the version of the novels which were published together -- if I'm remembering the publishing history right, anyway. It's also not really much of a story: just an old Arthur reunited with Merlyn and the animals of his education, trying to puzzle out where things went wrong. It's all very political, with references to socialism, communism, capitalism, Karl Marx, anarchism, etc, and...more

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Mar 27, 2012 Ashley.C rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: arthur, english, fairytale, moral, magic

The book of Merlyn was the true final chapter of the once and future king. It told a story about King Arthur and his educator Merlyn, and they met the animals in their education trips, had some more education trips, and then talked about human and war. The two education trips appeared in the sword in the stone, so the book wasn’t very long. The magician Merlyn gave King Arthur a huge lesson about people and war and a lot of other things. It was a philosophical and moral book. But the book was no...more The book of Merlyn was the true final chapter of the once and future king. It told a story about King Arthur and his educator Merlyn, and they met the animals in their education trips, had some more education trips, and then talked about human and war. The two education trips appeared in the sword in the stone, so the book wasn’t very long. The magician Merlyn gave King Arthur a huge lesson about people and war and a lot of other things. It was a philosophical and moral book. But the book was not as good as the other books. The candle in the wind was very depressing because there was no Merlyn, but in this book it was all about stories, conversations about wars, without a lot of events. It’s all conversations between Merlyn, Arthur, and the animals. It drove me crazy. And I don’t really like the ending. I think the ending of the candle in the wind will be the best ending for the once and future king. One of the reasons was that I just don’t want to see Arthur die…!

But I still kind of liked the parts when Merlyn acted hilarious, like when he was bringing Arthur to the animals, Arthur smelled his hat and decided that it wasn’t a dream, because the hat smells weird. But it’s still a little disappointing because I was expecting Merlyn to come out in the candle in the wind when Arthur asked,” Merlyn?” but when he came out in this book it wasn’t like what I expected. I didn’t thought it would be another animal education thingy. I just thought they would talk about the days before and then Merlyn will give Arthur some philosophical words and Arthur rests and the end.

There are also some great quotes in this book, such as “It is a pity that there are no big creatures to prey on humanity. If there were enough dragons and rocks, perhaps mankind would turn its might against them. Unfortunately man is preyed upon by microbes, which are too small to be appreciated.” True, men were both wise and stupid. They fight against themselves just like the ants.

Maybe it’s because I didn’t understand it very well, and that’s why I didn’t like it as I liked the other four books. Another reason may be because there only appeared Arthur, merlyn and the animals in this book. In the end it told everyone the endings of Guinevere and Lancelot, but they didn’t join in the book that much, and then it seems a bit boring, even though I don’t like Guinevere. Also, a lot of funny people disappeared, not in this book, but in the other books, which made this one sound even more depressing, like king Pellinore. The ending was not that sad, but not that brilliant, like the ending of the candle in the wind, and the ill-made knight. Also the ending of the sword in the stone was pretty good, too. After reading it because it’s school assigned for two weeks or something, when I finished the ending, I suddenly found that it wasn’t that bad-it was excellent!
(less)

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Jul 09, 2011 Wes Moerbe rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

T.H. White's final book in the Once and Future King series does round off his work. But if you hope for the humor and good cheer of the earlier chapters in the Once and Future King you will be disappointed.
Arthur is old and near death when we meet him in The Book of Merlyn. He has given the best years of his life to service, to righting injustice, and improving the human condition. White does allow him a brief sojourn to a happier time, like when he was a boy. But we know that Arthur must ret...more

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Jan 02, 2013 Grady Owens rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

A wonderful ending to a fantastic story. When T.H. White first wrote his rendition of the story of King Arthur, The Once and Future King, this book was slated to be the final chapter; however, due to paper rations at the time it was published, the publisher convinced White to leave this part out of the original. When coupled with the rest of the story, it tells an incredibly important piece of the tale, pieces of which were borrowed to fill in parts of the Sword and the Stone to later become the...more

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Mar 01, 2010 astried rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2010

It was so chock-full with politic I almost couldn't read it. The main thing that Merlyn believed due to human physiology the only political form that suits it is the one that relies on individualism, just like communism suits ant the best. Merlyn and his council of animal was so righteous about it, ramming their opinion down in Arthur's throat. Poor tired King Arthur who managed to summon back his love for England at that time he became the real king for me.

So I couldn't really enjoy reading it...more

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May 15, 2013 Stacey rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

As someone who is a huge King Arthur fan, I found this book somewhat disappointing. I had read The Once and Future King and picked up this book expecting the final chapter of the King Arthur story. While I was familiar with White's style of interjecting political ideology into his books, I was not expecting this book to be entirely political and philosophical theory. The first half of the book was very difficult to follow. Once Arthur was with the geese, White's ideas became more clear and he...more

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Apr 07, 2013 Aryn rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I can see why this book was not published. It is not that the ideas are not interesting or that there is not something to be said here. It simply smacks of something that is unfinished, unpolished, and not very interesting to read. It's the kind of thing a person jots down in private when he/she's got an itch to scratch but hasn't quite figured out how to express it.

It is clear to me that it is not a finished work, not because of how it ends, but because of the sloppy rhythm of it. It is an edu...more

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Apr 19, 2012 Jamie Bradway rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I half-wish I'd read this as a teenager. The final book of the series that became The Once and Future King is a crummy finale to a well-told tale, but like the other volumes it asks great questions. Written at the end of Britain's WWII experience, it's naturally bogged down with questions of war, human nature and morality, and political economy. It's tremendously ponderous.

The problem is that Arthur, Merlyn, and Committee also provide answers. Oh, and that it fails to challenge the reader to thi...more

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Jan 11, 2012 Hao rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Having not read Once and Future King in a long time, I don't know if this follows the theme White set out in the previous 4 chapters. This was definitely more of an anti-war book, sort of an appeal to the ferocity and hubris of humans, but with exploring the geese and ants, perhaps that is what we are meant to be. I appreciate the idea that although capitalism is not 'natural', it is something unique to humans that our cerebrums allow us to pursue, so for humans, it is perfectly natural, even if...more

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Jan 31, 2013 John rated it 3 of 5 stars

This book was intended to be the last book in the "Once and Future King" series. It ended up, however, being absorbed within the body of the other books though, primarily Sword in the Stone. As such, I am unsure how to really rate this one. It contained one of my favorite animal stories from Sword in the Stone (the ants) but it also contained the one that I found least interesting (the geese). Together, when told with the Sword in the Stone, those two really set the stage for what transpired thr...more

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Aug 15, 2012 Amy rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

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...more 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.(less)

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Jan 02, 2013 Denise rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy

I read this book as the conclusion to White's The Once and Future King. It was originally intended to be the fifth and final book or section of that work, but was not published until after White's death. The publisher had not liked its political tone as WWII was beginning. This edition has a very good introduction that goes over the writing and publication history of the entire series.

This book takes place mostly on the last night of Arthur's life, where the last book of The Once and Future King...more

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Oct 17, 2011 K. rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: utopian society seekers, arthurian lore lovers

Shelves: fairy-tale-and-fantasy

I only have about 25 pages of this left, and yet I've had those 25 pages left for about a month. It just didn't grab me as much as "The Once & Future King." Deciding to push through with all of White's cynical, and somewhat flawed philosophy that he puts in the character's mouths gets tedious. I would like to finish it, but I keep forgetting...
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Once I wrapped my mind around the fact that this is more a philosophical treatise than a story, or rather, a treatise with only small shreds of sto...more I only have about 25 pages of this left, and yet I've had those 25 pages left for about a month. It just didn't grab me as much as "The Once & Future King." Deciding to push through with all of White's cynical, and somewhat flawed philosophy that he puts in the character's mouths gets tedious. I would like to finish it, but I keep forgetting...
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Once I wrapped my mind around the fact that this is more a philosophical treatise than a story, or rather, a treatise with only small shreds of story thrown in here and there, I was more reconciled to considering the thoughts therein.

I have probably 35 sticky tabs stuck in it, White really did have some interesting things to say. He runs on the vein of "man as miserable beast with no redeeming qualities" for so long that I wondered if that was where he would end...if he really meant/believed that. While I think that he did believe that, somewhat, he couldn't entirely kill off all his belief in the human race & that we are not all monsters.

I think White was a little too in love with animals and attributed a few too many noble characteristics to them where perhaps they weren't entirely deserved, but the reasons were interesting to think about.

It would be a fun book to pick apart and either prove/disprove his theories (according to one's own beliefs, anyways). Maybe someday.

All in all, interesting but somewhat tedious. Don't know if I'll ever revisit it, unless one of the kids needs/wants a discussion buddy.

In the end, White has this little--what do you call it? At any rate, I like it:

In order to propagate virtue to the world, one must first rule
one's country.
In order to rule one's country, one must first rule one's
family.
In order to rule one's family, one must first regulate one's
body in moral training.
In order to regulate one's body, one must first regulate one's
mind.
In order to regulate the mind, one must first be sincere in
one's intentions.
In order to be sincere in one's intentions, one must first
increase one's knowledge.

(less)

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Oct 08, 2011 Fiver rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Too easily overlooked and very underrated, T.H. White's The Book of Merlyn is the keystone and fitting conclusion to the Once and Future King collection. Published posthumously, The Book of Merlyn serves as the resounding epilogue to first four books: the Round Table is no more, the kingdom is well-nigh collapsed, and the once innocent and naive young Wart is now an aged, broken, decrepid King Arthur, waiting alone in his tent, fully expecting to die in the next morning's battle. To this defeate...more Too easily overlooked and very underrated, T.H. White's The Book of Merlyn is the keystone and fitting conclusion to the Once and Future King collection. Published posthumously, The Book of Merlyn serves as the resounding epilogue to first four books: the Round Table is no more, the kingdom is well-nigh collapsed, and the once innocent and naive young Wart is now an aged, broken, decrepid King Arthur, waiting alone in his tent, fully expecting to die in the next morning's battle. To this defeated figure appears the wizard Merlyn, with the news that there are still one or two points in the education of the king that need to be reviewed.

As is suitable for an epilogue, the Book of Merlyn changes tone considerably from the rest of the series. Most of the book is spent in philosophical ramblings, with Merlyn and his troupe of intellectual animal friends (yes, you read that right) discussing the human condition, the merits of mankind, and the relationship between Might and Right (which has been the guiding theme of the series). Those readers who find themselves bored by all this chatter completely miss the point of the book: now that the epic story of Arthur is nearly finished, it is time to review and reconsider the epic struggle to which he (and all of humankind) has devoted his life.

The Book of Merlyn sums up the grand lessons of the series. Arthur, feeling utterly defeated in his quest to bring peace to humanity, is brought face to face with the best and worst within human capabilities. He must bring himself to find some form of meaning to his life, and readers who have read the first four books of the series cannot help but do the same.

This book is about us: humans. Are we wicked things? Are we no better than the animals? Are we worse? If even the best among us can make horrifying mistakes, should anyone try to do good at all?

All of these questions are addressed in this simple, fictional setting dreamed up by T.H. White, and mystically hidden within what seems like a fictional situation: Has all of Arthur's grand history been a waste?

If Arthur can find an answer to his question, then we can find an answer to ours.
In this book, he succeeds... and so do we.
(less)

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Sep 23, 2010 MB rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: nature, fantasy-urban-fantasy-paranormals

After The Sword in the Stone, this is my favorite in the Once and Future King series. (The impending tragedy of Arthur, Mordred, Guinevere, Lancelot, and Merlin, etc. just takes too much of a toll on me after this point. The other books are an amazing piece of art, and beautiful--but they are tragic. I feel the same way in preferring The Hobbit to the 3 books in The Lord of the Rings.)

Be sure and read Mary's review which references Sylvia Townsend Warners' review. (I think that if the reader und...more

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Dec 13, 2011 Bryan rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Arthurian scholars

Recommended to Bryan by: Mrs. Barker

Shelves: fiction, mythology, mythopoeia

While the prequels to this book are at least engaging on a narrative level, I thought this book was both uninteresting and thematically flawed.

It's not so much of a story, but a collection of philosophy dialogues between Merlin, Arthur, and the many 'wise' animals of Merlin's acquaintance.

Here Merlin tries wholeheartedly again to convince Arthur that intellectual growth is the purpose of man's existence. I simply don't agree with that, as intellect can be used for evil as easily as good.

The fir...more

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May 23, 2012 Erik Graff rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: everyone

Recommended to Erik by: Einar Graff Jr.

Shelves: literature

I originally picked up a paperback edition of this addition to T.H. White's The Once and Future King while in Oslo, Norway during the summer after seminary graduation. I read it, leaving the copy behind for Mother, then found a used hardcover edition when back in Chicago and read it for a second time.

The text of The Book of Merlyn, while set at the occasion of Arthur's dying, is substantially an expansion of the training he previously received from the sorcerer in the art of kingship. Indeed, Me...more

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Dec 28, 2007 Zigforas rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, fiction

A favorite quote:

They discovered that he was furiously angry...

"I would not have minded," he burst out, "if they had been wicked--if they had wanted to be wicked. I would not have minded if they had chosen to be wicked for some reason, or for fun. But they did not know, they had not chosen. They--they--they did not exist!...

"The horrible creatures! It was like talking to minerals which could move, like talking to statues or to machines. If you said something which was not suitable to the mechani...more

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About T.H. White

Born in Bombay to English parents, Terence Hanbury White was educated at Cambridge and taught for some time at Stowe before deciding to write full-time. White moved to Ireland in 1939 as a conscientious objector to WWII, and lived out his years there.

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Books by T.H. White

The Once and Future King (The Once and Future King, #1-4)

The Sword in the Stone (The Once and Future King, #1)

The Ill-Made Knight (The Once and Future King, #3)

The Queen of Air and Darkness (The Once and Future King, #2)

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Quotes from The Book of Merlyn

“We find that at present the human race is divided into one wise man, nine knaves, and ninety fools out of every hundred. That is, by an optimistic observer. The nine knaves assemble themselves under the banner of the most knavish among them, and become 'politicians'; the wise man stands out, because he knows himself to be hopelessly outnumbered, and devotes himself to poetry, mathematics, or philosophy; while the ninety fools plod off under the banners of the nine villains, according to fancy, into the labyrinths of chicanery, malice and warfare. It is pleasant to have command, observes Sancho Panza, even over a flock of sheep, and that is why the politicians raise their banners. It is, moreover, the same thing for the sheep whatever the banner. If it is democracy, then the nine knaves will become members of parliament; if fascism, they will become party leaders; if communism, commissars. Nothing will be different, except the name. The fools will be still fools, the knaves still leaders, the results still exploitation. As for the wise man, his lot will be much the same under any ideology. Under democracy he will be encouraged to starve to death in a garret, under fascism he will be put in a concentration camp, under communism he will be liquidated.” — 45 people liked it

“It is a pity that there are no big creatures to prey on humanity. If there were enough dragons and rocs, perhaps mankind would turn its might against them. Unfortunately man is preyed upon by microbes, which are too small to be appreciated.” — 34 people liked it

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title link	preview: The Book of Merlyn: The Unpublished Conclusion to The Once & Future King
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BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/38198.The_Book_of_Merlyn?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]/assets/nocover/111x148.png[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/38198.The_Book_of_Merlyn?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]The Book of Merlyn: The Unpublished Conclusion to The Once & Future King by T.H. White[/url]

The Book of Merlyn: The Unpublished Conclusion to The Once & Future King (The Once and Future King #5)

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