T.H. White on Learning
“Learn why the world wags and what wags it. That is the only thing which the mind can never exhaust, never alienate, never be tortured by, never fear or distrust, and never dream of regretting. Learning is the only thing for you. Look what a lot of things there are to learn.”
— T.H. White, The Once and Future King
I found The Once and Future King by T. H. White at a garage sale when I was a senior in high school. It was foundational for me. It shaped me as a reader. Of all the Arthurian stories I’ve experienced, it remains my favorite. I’m sure it always will.
I think I’m drawn most to the idea of a person becoming more than they were. Maybe even, maybe, than they are supposed to be. I love an epic story. T. H. White’s hits all of my buttons. True love, high drama, adventure, incredible characters.
The Once and Future King is actually a compilation of four novels, three of which were published separately between the 1930s and the 1950s, and the last which has only been published with the others as part of The Once and Future King.
In 1977 a final book in the series, The Book of Merlyn, was published posthumously.
Imagine telling the same story for forty years. The same story that’s actually been told for 600 years. Incredible, really.
