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<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/43545.The_Once_and_Future_King?utm_medium=api&amp;utm_source=blog_review" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img alt="The Once and Future King" border="0" src="http://s3.amazonaws.com/photo.goodreads.com/books/1170125584m/43545.jpg" /></a> <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/43545.The_Once_and_Future_King?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review">The Once and Future King</a> by <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/426944.T_H_White">T.H. White</a><br/><br/>
  <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/21856271?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review"><h3>My review</h3></a>
  rating: 5 of 5 stars<br/>i read this when i was a little kid, and have kept rereading it for years.  i just love this book.  each section is written in prose that suits the time of life of arthur.  the sword and the stone is filled with fun and magic and little adventures, perfectly suited to the life of the child.  the middle section is a love story with big grand plot twists and that sort of thing, when arthur is a  relatively young man.  the end, as well as the book of merlyn, is the part of the story that is probably the most forgotten, unappreciated bit, as no movies have been made of it, but it is the best for my money.  arthur the old man reflects on the idea of war, and power, and mortality, and i think that this part of the book really hits home that ts white was writing after wwII.  the political ideals that are thinly veiled in the stories early in the book come full circle, and the whole story is very much about society and power, and how to negotiate both.  it's kind of dark at the end, but i appreciate how in many ways the book does not really sell the idea that a perfect society is possible - in fact, quite the opposite mostly.  the characters themselves tear it apart because really, power is an integral part of the world, and characters like lancelot who are born with it are always going to have to make choices as to how they will function in a world of people with less power.  the temptation to abuse it is too great for everyone to bear, really.
  <br/><br/><a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/list/955448?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review">View all my reviews.</a>

Allison's review
rating:

i read this when i was a little kid, and have kept rereading it for years. i just love this book. each section is written in prose that suits the time of life of arthur. the sword and the stone is filled with fun and magic and little adventures, perfectly suited to the life of the child. the middle section is a love story with big grand plot twists and that sort of thing, when arthur is a relatively young man. the end, as well as the book of merlyn, is the part of the story that is probably the most forgotten, unappreciated bit, as no movies have been made of it, but it is the best for my money. arthur the old man reflects on the idea of war, and power, and mortality, and i think that this part of the book really hits home that ts white was writing after wwII. the political ideals that are thinly veiled in the stories early in the book come full circle, and the whole story is very much about society and power, and how to negotiate both. it's kind of dark at the end, but i appr...more

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message 1: by Crispycms

05/22/2008 06:53PM

Funny you should list this book. It is absolutely one of my favorite books of all time. It's been a long time since I've read it, but this makes me want to read it all over again.