Job & Edu

The Once and Future King

From Ace Trade

Author : Terence Hanbury White
Binding : Paperback
DeweyDecimalNumber : 823.912
EAN : 9780441003839
ISBN : 0441003834
Label : Ace Trade
Manufacturer : Ace Trade
NumberOfPages : 688
ProductTypeName : ABIS_BOOK
PublicationDate : 1996-10-01
Publisher : Ace Trade
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Customer Reviews

Rating:
Summary: Tai's QuickViews: Five Stars
Comment: Read this book if only to learn of Myrlyn's views on war and to discover Authur's journey for the questing beast.
Rating:
Summary: Just a wonderful book
Comment: This book is just wonderful. Funny, sad, literate, everything you could want in a 20th century novel.


Rating:
Summary: Great book
Comment: Easily the best modern novel written about the Middle Ages. A fantastic story full of detail and beauty.
Rating:
Summary: Parents read this! Especially homeschoolers!
Comment: My 13 year old loved this book. However when he got 3/4 through, he handed it back and said he wouldn't read a page more. He showed me when in the book things got, shall we say, PG-13. He enjoyed the book for its depth and the battles and all things boys love to read about. However, when things got really steamy and adulterous between Lancelot and Guinevere, and then Lancelot gets another young woman pregnant through a trap and one-night-stand, my son got very uncomfortable. It shows Lancelot trying to overcome temptation and failing, then turning to religion, and the evil of a woman scorned. My son said he would like to read it again at 17 or 18 or older. I guess what I am recommending to people who buy this book for their kids, really know the maturity level of your child. I enjoyed it for myself (though I didn't finish), but I am excluding it from my curriculum until my sons are much older and mature.
Rating:
Summary: The story of King Arthur with his flaws left intact
Comment: The Once and Future King is a great retelling of the King Arthur story. It starts out during his childhood where he meets up with the wizard Merlin. He goes through adventures where Merlin turns him into different animals to see their way of life. He pulls out the sword in the stone and becomes king of England. After he upholds justice in his lands. Unfortunately, his wife Guenevere, falls in love with Lancelot, his favorite knight, and this causes problems.

The book does a great job of retelling the King Arthur story for a twentieth century audience. It also reveals the medieval customs to be silly, such as the custom of knights jousting each other when they encounter one another on the road. The book also reveals Arthur's flaws as a king and doesn't whitewash him.

All in all, this book makes for an enjoyable read that informs the reader of what was wonderful about medieval times but at the same time doesn't whitewash the culture of that era.