"'But wearing now, of course, you fool. I don't want a hat I was wearing in 1890. Have you no sense of time at all?'"
T.H. White is an author often described as "troubled." Though well known for the books which comprise his The Once and Future King series, he had trouble forming intimate relationships, and some of his remarks regarding children led others to question his sexual proclivities. He was for the most part a man at home in the past, and a man uncomfortable with other people.
The Sword in the Stone exists in two versions. The earlier version was aimed more at children, and perhaps (I haven't read it) resembled J.R.R. Tolkein's The Hobbit. The later version is slightly more serious, and is the first book in The Once and Future King series.
In The Sword in the Stone, White's first attempt at retelling the King Arthur myth, a young Arthur ("Wart") is introduced to the wizard Merlin, his new tutor. Merlin in this instance is a man living backward in time, who remembers what will happen but can only guess at what has already transpired. If that description gives you a headache don't worry. It's never explored in any detail in the book.
Instead, The Sword in the Stone offers a whimsical look at a young boy discovering his destiny. Between happening upon Merlin and discovering the titular sword, he embarks, with Merlin's help, on a series of transformations. He becomes a fish, a bird and an ant, and he also joins Robin Hood on forays into the "Forest Sauvage."
I liked this book, but I had to skip over the various songs/poems which are peppered throughout the story. They just weren't doing anything for me. The rest of it is an easy read, even if it probably won't come across as amusing or clever to most modern readers. It's cute for sure, but even compared to "lesser" writers like C.S. Lewis it has little to offer fans of The Hobbit or The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.
But maybe I'm dismissing it too early. There are, after all, three more books in the series. Maybe it gets better, and maybe the frivolous aspects of it aren't so frivolous in retrospect. Perhaps when I, like Merlin, am looking back at the future of this series from the past I'll have a more favorable opinion.
Related Entries:
沒有留言:
張貼留言