To say I approached The Once and Future King last month with some trepidation is an understatement. I know I reread the book once during college or grad school, but that was over thirty years ago and my memories are dim. More than any other Arthurian book or movie, White’s book forms my image of Arthur’s doomed noble reign. I absolutely loved the book and used it as the basis for my AP English exam essay instead of any of the books I’d read in class (I aced the test). The story of Arthur’s education and effort to create a better world and his ultimate failure and downfall broke my heart. The tale of Arthur Pendragon, by turns both comic and tragic, told in a thoroughly anachronistic and post-modern way, reached me as few other books had. White’s The Once and Future King when I was seventeen, fresh from seeing the movie Camelot (1967) for the first time (the musical Camelot, by Lerner and Lowe was based on parts of White’s novel). I think they should be done because you ought to do them. I don’t think things ought to be done because you are able to do them. I have been thinking,” said Arthur, “about Might and Right.
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