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daja57's review against another edition
3.0
Wart is a fatherless lad who lives with foster-father Sir Ector and foster-brother Kay in a castle near the Forest Sauvage; Merlin comes to tutor him. His lessons include turning into a fish and a hawk and a snake and a badger; there are some adventures, one involving a witch and another involving Robin Hood and the Anthropophagi. There are other adventures, in which Wart is turned into an ant and a goose, which were not included in the original but were later added when the single book was turned into a tetralogy called The Once and Future King.
This is a traditional boy's adventure story set in a nostalgic world that mixes Merrie England and the Age of Chivalry with the customs and manners of early twentieth century aristocrats of the hunting, shooting, fishing country set. It's full of anachronisms, which emphasise its status as fantasy, whilst being underpinned by what it presumably immense knowledge and understanding of the mediaeval world (there are a lot of outdated words and some didacticism) which seems designed to add verisimilitude.
It is told in 'traditional' style as a third person omniscient past tense narrative; there are moments of authorial intrusion when White becomes didactic.
The message, if there is one, seems to be that we should respect nature while at the same time hunting and eating it. Providing nature doesn't eat you! There is a rather distasteful war against the 'Anthropophagi' who are deformed creatures (straight out of the pages of the Travels of Sir John Mandeville) who are cannibals and seek to eat Dog Boy and Wat; after these monsters have been slaughtered (one by Wart), Kay asks to take home the head of one of them and it becomes a trophy in the castle: this whole episode reads a little like the triumphalism of a colonial war against dehumanised 'savages'. White wrote TSitS in 1938, having retreated from teaching at Stowe to living in a cottage in the woods (perhaps he thought he was Merlin!). Some of the later books in the tetralogy express White's distaste for the Nazi regime and there have been suggestions that White was a pacifist but the war against the Anthropophagi and the hunting episodes don't bear this out. What seems not in doubt is that White was a social conservative who was very much in favour of maintaining the traditional class structures which kept the English aristocracy in power.
This is a traditional boy's adventure story set in a nostalgic world that mixes Merrie England and the Age of Chivalry with the customs and manners of early twentieth century aristocrats of the hunting, shooting, fishing country set. It's full of anachronisms, which emphasise its status as fantasy, whilst being underpinned by what it presumably immense knowledge and understanding of the mediaeval world (there are a lot of outdated words and some didacticism) which seems designed to add verisimilitude.
It is told in 'traditional' style as a third person omniscient past tense narrative; there are moments of authorial intrusion when White becomes didactic.
The message, if there is one, seems to be that we should respect nature while at the same time hunting and eating it. Providing nature doesn't eat you! There is a rather distasteful war against the 'Anthropophagi' who are deformed creatures (straight out of the pages of the Travels of Sir John Mandeville) who are cannibals and seek to eat Dog Boy and Wat; after these monsters have been slaughtered (one by Wart), Kay asks to take home the head of one of them and it becomes a trophy in the castle: this whole episode reads a little like the triumphalism of a colonial war against dehumanised 'savages'. White wrote TSitS in 1938, having retreated from teaching at Stowe to living in a cottage in the woods (perhaps he thought he was Merlin!). Some of the later books in the tetralogy express White's distaste for the Nazi regime and there have been suggestions that White was a pacifist but the war against the Anthropophagi and the hunting episodes don't bear this out. What seems not in doubt is that White was a social conservative who was very much in favour of maintaining the traditional class structures which kept the English aristocracy in power.
jennycx's review against another edition
3.0
2.5⭐️ rounded up to 3 ~ I’ve always been a fan of the BBC Merlin series and after my 4th rewatch of the show I wanted to fill the void and read more into Arthurian legend. This for me didn’t quite hit the spot. It was recommended as the best book series to read on the Arthurian legend but I found it just a tad too bonkers and wacky for me to enjoy. The ending which included the sword and the stone was what saved it for me otherwise I was going to give it 2⭐️
I’m going to continue with the series for now as I have read the rest is less wacky and covers more of Arthur as King rather than as the child squire ‘Wart’. Fingers crossed it lives up to its reputation!
I’m going to continue with the series for now as I have read the rest is less wacky and covers more of Arthur as King rather than as the child squire ‘Wart’. Fingers crossed it lives up to its reputation!
gooddogvegas's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
lilyaulait's review against another edition
5.0
i loved it! it was hilarious, and meaningful, and i hope king pellinore and sir grummore get back together.
storyjuiceman's review
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
jade's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
funny
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racial slurs
lyssa_books's review against another edition
adventurous
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
fast-paced
3.5