At long last, we return to the series on Brian Sibley’s adaptation of T.H. White’s The Once and Future King for BBC Radio 4. Deadlines, Christmas, and deadlines compressed by Christmas conspired against me to write this on a timelier basis, and by this point I suspect that most listener’s attentions have turned to BBCContinue reading “The Once and Future King: The Candle in the Wind”
Category Archives: Reading
The Once and Future King: The Lengthening Shadow
Enter Mordred. For the first four hours of Brian Sibley’s adaptation of T.H. White’s The Once and Future King, Mordred, Arthur’s bastard and incestuous son, has loomed over the proceedings as, on the night before the battle of Camlann, Arthur reminisces with Merlyn about his reign. He has always been an off-stage presence while ArthurContinue reading “The Once and Future King: The Lengthening Shadow”
The Once and Future King: The Ill-Made Knight
ARTHUR So… you’re saying you can’t escape what’s going to happen to you when you meet Nimue. MERLYN There’s a thing about time and space which the philosopher Einstein is going to find out about. Some people call it destiny. ARTHUR Then if everything that happens is preordained, what is the point in trying toContinue reading “The Once and Future King: The Ill-Made Knight”
Marion Zimmer Bradley’s Arwen Stories
With the final Hobbit film in theaters in a week, it’s natural for one’s thoughts to turn to Middle-earth. A few weeks ago I watched the first two Hobbit films back-to-back. A few weeks before that I watched the Rankin-Bass Return of the King. And something else, too. I read Marion Zimmer Bradley’s Arwen stories,Continue reading “Marion Zimmer Bradley’s Arwen Stories”
Mrs. Raffles
John Kendrick Bangs was an American satirist in the Gilded Age and a contemporary of Mark Twain. He’s largely unknown today, and I wouldn’t know of him were it not for his Sherlock Holmes writings. He wrote several comic novels; one of them, A Houseboat on the Styx, features Sherlock Holmes in the afterlife afterContinue reading “Mrs. Raffles”
The Once and Future King: The Queen of Air and Darkness
While listening to “The Queen of Air and Darkness,” the third episode of Brian Sibley’s adaptation of T.H. White’s The Once and Future King for BBC Radio 4 for a third time, something I had overlooked or had passed over me came to the fore and I had an unexpected insight. Am I an atheistContinue reading “The Once and Future King: The Queen of Air and Darkness”
The Once and Future King: The Sword in the Stone
“I realize it’s hard to believe, but the great dream you and Lancelot once shared won’t ever die. One day, like the phoenix, it will rise again.” — Merlyn A little more than a week ago I wrote about the first episode of Brian Sibley’s adapation of T.H. White’s The Once andContinue reading “The Once and Future King: The Sword in the Stone”
The Once and Future King: The Coming of Merlyn
Last weekend, BBC Radio 4 began a six-part adaptation of T.H. White’s The Once and Future King, his famous Arthurian novel quartet. A few years ago, I wrote about Disney’s adaptation of The Sword in the Stone, a film I loved as a child and wasn’t quite as enchanted by as an adult. The newContinue reading “The Once and Future King: The Coming of Merlyn”
An Influential Author and Favorite Works
I was tagged by a friend with this on Facebook: “Who is your favorite writer of all time? And what are your top five favorite works by that writer?” I have struggled with this, because there are writers I could name who I really, really love — only I’ve read what amounts to a fractionContinue reading “An Influential Author and Favorite Works”
Batter Up, Charlie Brown
Batter Up, Charlie Brown! Fantagraphics Books Written and Illustrated by Charles Schulz These are truly great days to be a Peanuts fan — Fantagraphics Books is nearing the end of their reprint the entirety of Peanuts and they’ve launched a full-color Sundays reprint series, Andrews McMeel has started a line of themed Peanuts collections forContinue reading “Batter Up, Charlie Brown”