I dare say, what, what? Sword in the Stone was a jolly good read, what? From the moment I started reading I knew I would be more entertained with this quick little book than with the other LOOOOOOONNNNNNNNGGGGGGGG boring books before it. Hehe. I concur with my long standing, jolly good and jolly ho friend Devon Trux that the book was not blowing my hair back.
I’ll tell you what…what. :-) I think it’s a great book to read to a young boy at bedtime. Since I don’t have a son to read to at bedtime I will probably keep this book on my shelf for that day because it was a very imaginative and intriguing book. With giants, witches and talking animals it’s sure to be more entertaining to young kids. I can see why this book ended up in the 501 Must Read Books children’s fiction section.
Now…..about the sword pulling part. HELLO! It was a couple of pages and totally not what I was hoping for! I wanted more about the knight’s games, London, the mysterious sword and all the little bits in between. I was slightly disappointed.
Out of the whole book my favorite part was Merlyn’s first spell to turn Wart into a fish. I texted Devon with a quote of my own. “did uoy dnatsrednu snylrem lleps? ti saw os looc”. Although throughout the rest of the book his spells didn’t follow the same format so it disappointed me a little. I liked the challenge. :-)
So kind readers, what. ‘Tis time to bid the farewell, what what, until the next literary discovery and our opinions on its profound excellence or total interference with the countdown of minutes we have on this bit of earth, what. Cheerio, tallyho, pish-posh and I dare say ole chaps….what, what.
~ Dutchess Kelly
501 Must-Read Books...An attempt to read some of the greatest books written.
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
An Easy Read...Finally!
Having wrestled with the first two books we read, T.H. White's The Sword in the Stone was a breeze! I love period pieces so it was fun to jump back in time to the days of armed knights, castles and jousting. This, coupled with witches, wizards, monsters and talking animals, made for an easy read about young Wart (which rhymes with "Art," the shortened version of Arthur) and the time leading to his becoming King Arthur.
The Wart had an interesting education as a boy. (And yes, I often had to say Wart out loud to not pronounce it like wart, the blister!) His teacher, Merlyn, turned him into various animals so that he might learn about life from different perspectives, sent him on adventures with Robin Wood (not Hood) and took him to see jousting knights.
I must admit that while the book was fun, it wasn't my favorite. I can't really explain why...it's just that I only liked it as opposed to loving it. In addition, I kept waiting for the big scene where he pulls the sword out of the stone, but it was just a quick moment in the last few pages of the book. I am fine with the fact that the book was about Arthur's childhood, not his time as king, but I was hoping for a little more excitement when it came to that part, seeing as the book is called The Sword in the Stone! However, upon further research, I have learned that White wrote several sequels to this book so perhaps I will pick up one or all of them at some point to *hopefully* get more of that part of the story. In the end, Merlyn and the Wart entertained me for about two weeks--which was all it took to read this book.
One last point - I do not remember Disney's 1963 movie at all so as I read the book, the story was was entirely new to me. This was nice, although Kelly and I took to saying "What? What, what?" to each other for a while in the voice of King Pellinore that she remembers from the film. :)
Devon
The Wart had an interesting education as a boy. (And yes, I often had to say Wart out loud to not pronounce it like wart, the blister!) His teacher, Merlyn, turned him into various animals so that he might learn about life from different perspectives, sent him on adventures with Robin Wood (not Hood) and took him to see jousting knights.
I must admit that while the book was fun, it wasn't my favorite. I can't really explain why...it's just that I only liked it as opposed to loving it. In addition, I kept waiting for the big scene where he pulls the sword out of the stone, but it was just a quick moment in the last few pages of the book. I am fine with the fact that the book was about Arthur's childhood, not his time as king, but I was hoping for a little more excitement when it came to that part, seeing as the book is called The Sword in the Stone! However, upon further research, I have learned that White wrote several sequels to this book so perhaps I will pick up one or all of them at some point to *hopefully* get more of that part of the story. In the end, Merlyn and the Wart entertained me for about two weeks--which was all it took to read this book.
One last point - I do not remember Disney's 1963 movie at all so as I read the book, the story was was entirely new to me. This was nice, although Kelly and I took to saying "What? What, what?" to each other for a while in the voice of King Pellinore that she remembers from the film. :)
Devon
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