The Once and Future King
by T. H. White · first published 1939
50% recommend46% neutral4% critical
Why HN recommends it
Mid-century Arthurian retelling that captures imagination and emotion; praised for Merlyn's animal-metaphor teaching, its take on power, and a poignant Lancelot story. Suits fantasy readers who want depth.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
T. H. White's modern classic about King Arthur. This particular edition may have been published in Russia, but it is in fact written in English. I just finished reading this edition on the Open Library. I wonder why it is described as being written in Russian?
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The Once and Future King by T H White is likely my favorite fictional book. A modern (1940s) retelling of Arthurian legend, it really struck me in how it was able to captivate my imagination and my emotions. In that story I…
on “Ask HN: Which non-technology book has influenced you the most and why?” ↗A few: "The Once and Future King", T.H. White -- best novelization of the problem of power "Don Quixote", Miguel de Cervantes -- why stories matter "Essence of Decision", Graham Allison -- how views of a historic episode vary with…
on “Ask HN: Life Changing Books?” ↗Tied between "The Once and Future King" by T. H. White and "The Baroque Cycle" (yes, all three volumes) by Neal Stephenson.
on “Ask HN: Best book you read in 2011” ↗Robert Shea & Robert Anton Wilson, Illuminatus! Carl Sagan, The Demon-Haunted World. Daniel Dennett, Consciousness Explained. T.H. White, The Once and Future King. George Orwell, Homage to Catalonia.
on “Ask HN: What are the books that changed the perspective of your life?” ↗…said something else. 'I used to read,' he said, unexpectedly, and with that his face changed, and his voice too: his deadpan Yeager drawl slipped, was replaced with a shy, childlike enthusiasm. 'The Once and Future King. By T.H.White,' he said. 'Have you heard of him? He's an English writer. It's a great book. I used to take that up, read it on the way out and on the way back.' [pp31-2]
on “Northern Lights as seen from inside a U2 spy plane” ↗The Once and Future King - TH White In particular, his telling of the story of Lancelot
on “Ask HN: Great fiction books that have had a positive impact on your life?” ↗The Once and Future King, by T.H. White. The Sword in the Stone is probably my favorite Disney movie so I was delighted to discover the movie was based on a book which was even better.
on “Ask HN: What is the best thing you read in 2022?” ↗…want to go back. But a recognition of what (in his mind) was lost. Good riddance, as far as I’m concerned! That sense of loss IMHO is much better captured by T. H. White’s roughly contemporaneous “Once and Future King”, a much more sophisticated, but less filmable, book.
on “The Moral Economy of the Shire” ↗As far as enjoying it at the time I was reading it? The Once and Future King. I was on summer vacation while camping and fishing and I read the entire book in a couple of days in the evenings. Maybe it was the lack of distraction, but the Arthurian legend of that book has influenced…
on “Ask HN: What's the "best" book you've ever read?” ↗The Once and Future King by T.H. White. Fantasy fiction.
on “Ask HN: What's the "best" book you've ever read?” ↗…come along and shoot holes in your argument with a sentence or two, maybe you could consider that as evidence that your argument may not ever hold water. There's a great passage, I think it's TH White's Once and Future King, where Lancelot has a dream where he sees two armies of knights, white and black fighting. The white side is loosing, so he takes their side. And gets slaughtered. On waking, he is told: know what you're…
on “Crypto breakthrough shows Flame was designed by world-class scientists” ↗"The Once and Future King" is a fantastic book. That a U2 pilot would read it during missions makes it even more fantastical.
on “On reading 'The Once and Future King' while flying a U-2 spy plane at 80k feet” ↗I really liked Merlyn in "The Once and Future King". I feel like the animal metaphors worked as a good teaching tool, and I feel like he sort of worked to push the books theming and philosophy forward.
on “Merlin the magician: from devil’s son to King Arthur’s trusted advisor” ↗The last time I saw that statement was in T.H. White's Once and Future King, talking about Medieval battles and governance....
on “Bloomberg bankrolls a social-media army” ↗…"Saxon" invasion largely carried out by Angles). The country he lived in was probably called something like Britain, though may have simply been closer to Cymru. But I was largely paraphrasing T.H. White's Once And Future King, which in turn cribs the La Morte d'Arthur, which forms the basis for the "modern" Arthurian legend, and recasts it in an idealized England.
on “XMPP Myths” ↗