The Once and Future King by T.H. White (pub 1958, written 1938-1958)

I didn't read this as a child which is when it works best, I think. It's like not reading Catcher in high school--the book just doesn't resonate the same when you're older. I adored The Sword in the Stone film as a child and knew 90% of the Arthur mythology, having read Idylls of the King, a good bit of the rest of the Romantic/Victorian obsession with the myth, Chaucer's Tristram and Isolde, etc not to mention the Irish mythology White tosses in for good measure. The point of all that to say, I knew the story.

The book was enjoyable. I did not like the first book, "The Sword in the Stone," just because I knew the movie and thought the movie did a better job. But, I could see the direct source material for the movie and what the film left out--they chose wisely.

The next three books I enjoyed much more. Written for adults rather than children, the plot and language is more consistent and exciting. And I do enjoy a good Camelot story. So overall, I liked the book.

What I did not enjoy is the insertion of rambling political treatises. I got the subtext from the plot, I didn't need an in-my-face repetition of his political beliefs. I didn't disagree with what he was saying, I just didn't need to read it twelve times, especially not in the middle of some interesting plot development. AND what aggravated me the most about the book is the end. I know I have trouble with endings. I don't like at least 50% of them. But I really do not like that the book cuts what may be the most suspenseful climax of the book right before it reaches it's peak. Just stops it. No more of that, now we're just going to have some more talking about politics and rehashing of what the past 600+ pages have been about. I got the political part and I even know what happens next but I wanted the book to show me those things instead of cutting them off and making me wish I had my copy of Idylls here.

Overall, a good book. An interesting read and a good retelling of the Camelot mythology. But, because I didn't read it twenty years ago, it won't be one of my favorites.