The Once and Future King

[Mary Pat]

This thread is to discuss T.H. White‘s book, The Once and Future King.


***Please remember to mark spoilers.***

Participants: Kimberly, Rachel, Newly

[Mary Pat]

Suggested break down of reading so that you can check in and let us know how you're doing. The following breakdown is purely a suggestion and is therefore not set in stone.

Rather than putting dates for each section I've done it so that it takes into account that not everybody will necessarily have the book at the same time.

Week 1: 80
Week 2: 80
Week 3: 80
Week 4: 80
Week 5: 80
Week 6: 80
Week 7: 80
Week 8: 80

[Kimberly]

Can we extend this buddy read to 2 months instead?

[Mary Pat]

Kimberly wrote: "Can we extend this buddy read to 2 months instead?"

Sure! Is Rachel on board with extending it?

[Rachael]

Mary Pat wrote: "Kimberly wrote: "Can we extend this buddy read to 2 months instead?"

Sure! Is Rachel on board with extending it?"

Yes, that will be fine.
EDIT: going to read a couple of other books first to finish a challenge and then I'll start this, maybe in a week or so.

[Newly]

oh my gosh yes! I'm on page 200 and I just haven't picked it back up. I really want to be done by Aug 31 but I'll totally participate in the discussion even after I'm done. if that's okay.

[Kimberly]

I’m about 100 pages in so far and it’s slow-going for me. I just can’t really get into it...

[Mary Pat]

I have made this a two month read on the schedule!

[Rachael]

I've just started this. I am normally a fast reader but I'll try to slow down so that we can be at similar points at about the same time.

[Kimberly]

I’m halfway through Book 2 currently (about page 270ish). It seems to be picking up a bit for me now thankfully. Book 1 was pretty slow and boring to me.

[Marie]

sounds like a great idea

[Rachael]

I've just noticed that my copy has five parts finishing with the Book of Merlyn: The Once and Future King.
I'm only on chapter 3 of the first part at the moment and it is very slow with lots of detail that doesn't seem to have much plot. I hope it improves

[Kimberly]

Interesting...mine only has 4 parts.

[Mary Pat]

Greetings, All! I know it is a little early but I have moved this thread to September as it is a two month read!

[Rachael]

I've just finished The Sword in the Stone. It was very slow and seemed to take ages to get to the actual story. I quite enjoyed reading the last few chapters but it ended so quickly and I was left wanting more.

[Kimberly]

I felt similarly, Rachael. I’m now in the middle of Book 3, The Ill-Made Knight, which is interesting so far but there’s also some craziness going on. I felt like Book 2 could have used a lot more fleshing out about Morgause.

[Rachael]

I've finished Book 2 now. It was marginally better than the first but I agree that it needed a bit more detail.

[Kimberly]

Newly wrote: "oh my gosh yes! I'm on page 200 and I just haven't picked it back up. I really want to be done by Aug 31 but I'll totally participate in the discussion even after I'm done. if that's okay."

Are you still hanging with us, Newly? What are your impressions so far?

[Rachael]

Just completed book 3: the Ill-Made Knight. It was quite interesting, probably my favourite so far but there are issues with it such as long-winded descriptions and some strange things going on.

[Rachael]

Just finished Book 4. It was a little bit dark and intriguing. T H White still likes long winded descriptions though.
About to start the final part in my copy, The Book of Merlyn. There's a publisher's note that the author revised The Sword in the Stone for The Once and Future King and that's mostly what this book 5 is. I'm still going to read it because there might be some differences

[Kimberly]

I’m still slogging through Book 3... Not sure why people enjoy this book so much.

[Rachael]

I don't know why people are so positive about it either. I think it's overrated.
I've finished now. And trust me when I say the Book of Merlyn was unnecessary - hardly any plot, boring and repetitive.
I'm glad I read this but it could have been so much better so 3 stars is all I'm giving as my overall rating. The Ill Made Knight was probably the best while the Book of Merlyn was the worst.

PS. I'm still happy to carry on discussing with you even if I have moved on to other books :)

[Kimberly]

Well I'm glad my book doesn't include The Book of Merlyn then haha! Thanks for discussing with me! I'm hoping to finish The Ill Made Knight within a couple days...

[Kimberly]

Finally finished! Definitely not one of my favorite books I’ve read this year. Parts 2 and 3 were the most enjoyable for me. It’ll probably be awhile before I decide to pick up another Arthur and Merlin book.

[Rachael]

Yay, it's over! I may not have finished if we hadn't done a buddy read and discussed it. Thanks, Kimberly!
Newly, how are you getting on?

[Newly]

I finally finished it a couple weeks ago. I just didn't really like it. the magic leaves early and it just turns sulky. this was such a hard book to finish.

[Rachael]

It's disappointing that we all didn't really like it. Maybe we should have watched the Disney cartoon instead...