This is the most original story (that I know) of Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, from which so many stories and revisions have sprung. It is presented here in an abridged version. If the choice is to read the abridged version or not to experience Malory at all, then this version is recommended. There are many stories within this book and a great deal of humor in it is well, if one can get past the buffets on the head. It is amusing that Launcelot continually represents his love with Guenever as pure, though it is clear to everybody that it is not pure. This should not be that strange as Arthur apparently has a few children who were not the progeny of his wife. This seems to be a common practice among the knights and it is really fairly normal for a maiden to become a paramour to a worthy knight. It was satisfying to read the story of Arthur (and others) from beginning to end.

This book asks a fundamental question that remains relevant: What happens when one's world is destroyed? What could possibly replace what was before? Malory attends to the individual characters who experience this question while more modern versions of Arthurian Legend tend to stop the story earlier. The characters here generally seem to embrace a more hermit-like existence, which for some of them means joining isolated religious groups. In our modern world we could make the same choice and become hermits, except that is a lifestyle that for most of us is no longer economically feasible. The world does still fall apart from time to time, and our modern answers are not necessarily any better than Malory's. ( )