The sword in the stone

256 pages

English language

Published Feb. 26, 1993 by Philomel Books.

ISBN:
978-0-399-22502-4
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OCLC Number:
26363065

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4 stars (18 reviews)

A retelling of the Arthurian legend.

37 editions

Review of 'The Sword in the Stone (Collins Modern Classics)' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

Gorgeous prose from White, and with a shining review from Le Guin it didn't come as a surprise. There's quite a bit of coarse language used that would not fly today--the n-word is used once. A product of the time in which it was written, certainly, but if you can get past some of the language it is a very pleasant read, and well-paced.

Review of 'The sword in the stone' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

J’avais entendu parler de cette série de romans du britannique T. H. White réinterprétant le mythe du roi Arthur dans un excellent MOOC sur la fantasy, puis plus récemment dans un livre passionnant de William Blanc sur le mythe d’Arthur et ses incarnations contemporaines.

The Sword in the Stone est le premier volume de ce cycle intitulé The Once and Future King et relate la jeunesse d’un garçon surnommé Wart, et son éducation par un drôle de tuteur, le magicien Merlyn. Je ne pense pas révéler de grand secret en dévoilant que Wart est le surnom du jeune Arthur Pendragon, le futur roi mythique d’Angleterre.


The extraordinary story of a boy called Wart – ignored by everyone except his tutor, Merlyn – who goes on to become King Arthur. When Merlyn the magician comes to tutor Sir Ector’s sons Kay and the Wart, schoolwork suddenly becomes much more fun. After …

Review of 'The Sword in the Stone (Collins Modern Classics)' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

I read these as a single volume, The Once and Future King, but had to break them up into their original publications to rate them. I found the quality across the five books to be too variable to just slap a three or four stars on the whole.

That said, I don't feel like writing a review of each. As a collection, they go something like "good, really good, really good, really good, meh".

White is capable of writing very beautiful scenes, very funny scenarios, very moving romances, and very thought-provoking chapters. He tweaks (considerably) the traditional tale to make it (more and differently) relevant to the age (circa WWII) and poses some philosophical questions that would likely drive a chatty teenager into several minutes of quiet contemplation. In fact, I wish I'd read this 25 years ago when I could have fixated more on the questions posed than the …

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Subjects

  • Arthur, King -- Fiction.
  • Arthur, King.
  • Knights and knighthood -- Fiction.
  • Arthurian romances -- Adaptations.
  • Kings and rulers -- Fiction.
  • Britons -- Fiction.
  • Knights and knighthood -- Folklore.
  • Folklore -- England.