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Ted's Reviews > The Once and Future King
The Once and Future King (The Once and Future King, #1-4)
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Ted's review
bookshelves: have, fantasy, classics, read-during-college, lit-british, reviews-liked
Nov 28, 2012
bookshelves: have, fantasy, classics, read-during-college, lit-british, reviews-liked
From Geoffrey of Monmouth (1*) to Thomas Malory (2*) to Alfred Lord Tennyson (3*) to T.H. White (4*) to Lerner & Lowe (5*) ...
1* Historia Regum Britanniae (History of the Kings of Britain), 1130s.
2* La Morte d'Arthur, 1485
3* Idylls of the King, 1859-85
4* The Once and Future King, 1938-41
5* Camelot, 1960 Broadway!! The big time!!!
1) for the association of the musical Camelot with the Kennedy Administration.
2) Here's an extended quote from the first page of the book, to indicate the flavor ... (don't confuse with Harry Potter, this was written in 1938).
On Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays it was Court Hand and Summulae Logicales, while the rest of the week it was the Organon, Repetition and Astrology. The governess was always getting muddled with her astrolabe, and when she got especially muddled she would take it out on the Wart by rapping his knuckles. She did not rap Kay's knuckles, because when Kay grew older he would be Sir Kay, the master of the estate. The Wart was called the Wart because it more or less rhymed with Art, which was short for his real name ...
In the afternoons the programme was: Monday and Friday, tilting and horsemanship; Tuesdays, hawking; Wednesdays, fencing; Thursdays, archery; Saturdays, the theory of chivalry, with the proper measures to be blown on all occasions, terminology of the chase and hunting etiquette.
=========================================
This was one of the best books I read in my early college years.
The overly-"Madison Ave." cover is an advertisement for (and/or playing off the popularity/fame of) the Lerner & Loewe musical Camelot, whose original run on Broadway opened on December 3, 1960 and closed on January 5, 1963 (873 performances). The original cast included the rather duo pictured on the cover - Richard Burton and Julie Andrews.
Somehow I first heard the music from this while on an NSF summer institute at Pan American College in 1961. I associate the music with both that experience, and with the Texas girl I met there that I fell in love with. (view spoiler)
I still have the vinyl record of Camelot. Haven't listened to it for a long time. (view spoiler)
Well ... that's The Once and Future King for me. Rating increased from 4 to a 5 somewhere along the way.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Previous review: Stoner
John Williams
Random review: Light in August
Next review: Complete Works, Shakespeare
Previous library review: Sword of Honor trilogy Waugh
Next library review: To the Lighthouse Woolf
1* Historia Regum Britanniae (History of the Kings of Britain), 1130s.
2* La Morte d'Arthur, 1485
3* Idylls of the King, 1859-85
4* The Once and Future King, 1938-41
5* Camelot, 1960 Broadway!! The big time!!!
1) for the association of the musical Camelot with the Kennedy Administration.
2) Here's an extended quote from the first page of the book, to indicate the flavor ... (don't confuse with Harry Potter, this was written in 1938).
On Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays it was Court Hand and Summulae Logicales, while the rest of the week it was the Organon, Repetition and Astrology. The governess was always getting muddled with her astrolabe, and when she got especially muddled she would take it out on the Wart by rapping his knuckles. She did not rap Kay's knuckles, because when Kay grew older he would be Sir Kay, the master of the estate. The Wart was called the Wart because it more or less rhymed with Art, which was short for his real name ...
In the afternoons the programme was: Monday and Friday, tilting and horsemanship; Tuesdays, hawking; Wednesdays, fencing; Thursdays, archery; Saturdays, the theory of chivalry, with the proper measures to be blown on all occasions, terminology of the chase and hunting etiquette.
=========================================
This was one of the best books I read in my early college years.
The overly-"Madison Ave." cover is an advertisement for (and/or playing off the popularity/fame of) the Lerner & Loewe musical Camelot, whose original run on Broadway opened on December 3, 1960 and closed on January 5, 1963 (873 performances). The original cast included the rather duo pictured on the cover - Richard Burton and Julie Andrews.
Somehow I first heard the music from this while on an NSF summer institute at Pan American College in 1961. I associate the music with both that experience, and with the Texas girl I met there that I fell in love with. (view spoiler)
I still have the vinyl record of Camelot. Haven't listened to it for a long time. (view spoiler)
Well ... that's The Once and Future King for me. Rating increased from 4 to a 5 somewhere along the way.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Previous review: Stoner
John Williams
Random review: Light in August
Next review: Complete Works, Shakespeare
Previous library review: Sword of Honor trilogy Waugh
Next library review: To the Lighthouse Woolf
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Reading Progress
Finished Reading
November 28, 2012
– Shelved
August 25, 2013
– Shelved as:
have
January 15, 2014
– Shelved as:
fantasy
January 15, 2014
– Shelved as:
classics
January 15, 2014
– Shelved as:
read-during-college
January 15, 2014
– Shelved as:
lit-british
December 30, 2016
– Shelved as:
reviews-liked
Comments Showing 1-15 of 15 (15 new)
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by
Sue
(new)
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rated it 4 stars
Jan 15, 2014 04:39PM
Definitely OK. It's your review and your experience after all. All I recall is that I read it in the late 60s or early 70s. But I don't believe I've added it here. Perhaps it's time for me too.
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Surprisingly, I did add it at some point
I find the cover very disconcerting! I think cheesy is the word I am looking for.I recognise the title, but naught else about the book. I shall do some investigating.
Caroline wrote: "I find the cover very disconcerting! I think cheesy is the word I am looking for.I recognise the title, but naught else about the book. I shall do some investigating."
Is it the look that Burton is giving her?
Partly that, partly her look of um....essential Julie Andrews and noble hope? Any minute now she is going to break into song with something uplifting like "the hills are alive". I also find the grainy black and white against the glaring red rather unnerving. It has the look of a tuppeny thriller. I don't trust it. I don't want to read it.
Well, you can't tell this book by its cover.
Caroline wrote: ":-)"It's kind of a hard book to imagine without reading something about it. A retelling of the Arthurian legends, but with a very light, magical touch. Usually classified as "fantasy" I think.
Wiki says that Michael Moorcock, Gregory Maguire and Gerald Morris have acknowledged being influenced by White. It also has this interesting line:
J. K. Rowling has said that T. H. White's writing strongly influenced the Harry Potter books; several critics have compared Rowling's character Albus Dumbledore to White's absent-minded Merlyn, and Rowling herself has described White's Wart as "Harry's spiritual ancestor." Author Neil Gaiman was asked about the similarities between Harry Potter and Gaiman's character Timothy Hunter, and he stated that he did not think Rowling had based her character on Hunter. "I said to [the reporter] that I thought we were both just stealing from T. H. White: very straightforward."
Hummm...fantasy is one of my least favourite genres (I've never been able to read a Harry Potter book). After reading your introduction I went on to read some of the other reviews. I just don't think this is going to be my cup of tea......
Caroline wrote: "Hummm...fantasy is one of my least favourite genres (I've never been able to read a Harry Potter book). After reading your introduction I went on to read some of the other reviews. I just don't..."Caroline. It isn't my cup of tea either. At all. I mean I'm such a damn snob to people who go to festivals and own swords and read about draegons and the such. But this book is WAY more. IT consumes the genre, pokes it, plays with everything and moved me to tears several times.
If you avoid this book b/c of the fantasy tag, then you need to avoid Macbeth, King Lear, etc., too.
I haven't read the whole series, just Sword in the Stone several months ago. To apprehensive readers look for an unabridged edition. I was pleasantly surprised. My review is here /review/show... and may be helpful. This even spurred me on to read the Goshawk, a New York Review Book edition about White's all-consuming experience learning falconry. A very interesting little treatise. /review/show...
Nice review!I used to have a recording of Camelot, too. I can still recall many of the songs!
Darwin8u wrote: "Caroline wrote: "Hummm...fantasy is one of my least favourite genres (I've never been able to read a Harry Potter book). After reading your introduction I went on to read some of the other review..."Okay, you have prodded me out of my prejudice. I shall add it to my t-r lists!
I have my record of Camelot around here somewhere. Now that I just read some reviews here and wrote my own review finally, I just want to dig it out and start singing. (Um, yes, I still have a turntable!)
I should re-read this someday.
