Customer Reviews

THE WELL AT THE WORLD'S END VOLUME I

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3 star:		(1)
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William Morris may have been the last Renaissance Man. Artist, philosopher, politician, utopian and, as this marvelous book demonstrates, epic romanticist. The Well at the World's End was very nearly the first of its kind, an epic romance filled with magic, intrigue, guile, love, sex and long journeys to strange places. Plainly, these are the elements of three-quarters of modern fantasy. But Morris did it first, and he did it very, very well (sorry).

Ralph of Upmeads is the youngest son of a king. The king of a very small, but very real kingdom. He runs away, but as he runs away his godmother gives him a simple necklace with a bead on it. And, all unknowingly, his path is then destined to the Well at the World's End. Along the way he has adventures that have since been copied or simply stolen by Robert Jordan, Terry Goodkind, Mercedes Lackey and most everyone else. But Morris did it first.

Joseph Campbell, who wrote about and understood heroic fantasy very well, to my knowledge never mentioned Morris, but he would recognize Ralph of Upmeads at once. Ralph overcomes tragedy ("He must needs bend the bow") and the loss of his first true love, to triumph in the spirit, in love, and in military heroics.

Morris affects a kind of Old English language style, very archaic even when he wrote it, but after a few pages it becomes part of the tone of the story and lends greatly to the atmosphere that Morris was trying to create. There are truly harrowing scenes in this book, but Morris's writing carries them off very well and, perhaps, even more effectively because of the language he uses.

The inventiveness is wonderful - superior to the majority of what you can find today - and the plotting is intricate without being confusing. Some of the characters are archetypes, but others are simply delightful. Bull Nosy and Ursula, in particular, are memorable and exceptionally well developed. And the protagonist, Ralph, a lad that all women must look upon with love, is one of the great characters in fantasy.

This book and one or two others Morris wrote have had an indelible and profound impact on the fantasy genre. If you want to escape the formulaic fantasy writing the fills the shelves today, join Ralph on his quest for the Well at the World's End. Drink, with Ralph, from one of the seminal books in Anglo-American literature.

Don't let the dismal fact that this book is twenty-zillionth on the bestseller list discourageth you.... it is well worth orderething.

I first came to this book through the published endorsement (hence, not personal) of the great C.S. Lewis, who made his first reading of the Well in November of 1914. He read it many times thereafter.

In my ONE reading of the two volumes, I can attest to the fact that this is a beautiful story, a rich fantasy, a vibrant fairy-tale with no fairies. Among other things... a love story. Strictly speaking, as regards genre, it is a "romance". The chivalric, bardic story of Ralph of Upmeads, the least likely of the King's four sons, who devotes his life to the quest of the Well at The World's End... a fabled well which promises to reward its discoverer with perpetual youth.

If you are in love with Tolkien's The Lord of The Rings (and who isn't) you should definitely consider having an affair with The Well At The World's End. Let me defuse the daunting issue of Morris's use of archaic language. Be ye warned, in every sentence you will constantly encounter words such as forsooth, hitherward, quoth, whither, rideth, erstwhile, deem, draweth, betwixt, and I wot not else. At first I thought this would be really intolerable. But I quickly adapted to it, and even found it kind of "not vile".

Remember... Volume 2 is essential. It's NOT a sequel, it's a conclusion. Get both volumes, and escape the world of car horns and remote control for a bit.

I applaud this new re-issue of what is definitely a fantasy classic. Previously, one had to search a hundred used-book stores to find it. Now it's a click away.

And as regards it's place on the bestseller list? I am reminded of the wise words of the great Henrik Ibsen, who once suggested that "the solid majority is always wrong."

I first ran into this book by accident in 1975 - it still remains one of my absolute favorites and I encourage anyone interested even remotely in fantasy or heroic romanticism to read it.

However, some caveats should be observed. The ORIGINAL story was published by Kelmscott Press which used "gothic" fonts and unconventional design. Ballentine used this as the source for the 1970 edition and a lot of textual errors crept in - not all of which have been corrected in this new version. (For example "A garth of pound" should read "A garth OR pound.")

But this does not excuse the omission of several paragraphs which are dropped from the bottom of page 308. It looks almost as though a whole page is missing.

I still highly recommend this book regardless. But if a better edition makes its way into the market I would buy that one instead.

You've got to wonder why people fall all over themselves in slavish imitation of Lovecraft and his "mythos" and yet nobody seems to have planned any literary adventures in William Morris' world of Upmeads. I've been interested in fantasy literature and its history for a while, and a week ago I finally sat down and read this book. I was expecting it to be better than Lord of the Rings, and it was. I've always preferred Lewis' Narnia to Tolkien's Middle-Earth, and Morris gives me another alternative (albeit the alternative that actually spawned both Narnia AND Middle Earth). Ralph and Ursula make one of the most affectionate, lovable couples to be found in fantasy literature, the physical descriptions of landscapes and clothing and people are all the more gorgeous for their archaic nature, and you even get as an occasional bonus William Morris inserting his pre-Fabian socialist ideas into people's mouths. If people are going to write imitative fantasy novels, they should start with THIS, and not Tolkien or Lovecraft.

I've been interested in the history of fantasy for a while, and I was definately intrigued when I happened upon this title. I immediately ordered it and read it. The Well at the World's End is marvelous. Every once in a while I start wanting to read a romance, and this is a good romance. The story is pretty original and was very different for its time. The story follows Ralph as he searches for the WELL AT THE WORLD'S END. He has enemies and intrigued galor to fight through. Along the way, there is also a love story, too.

The Well at the World's End is a good read even for modern readers. It is an excellent example of "romance." It is also good just as a curiosity read. Fans of Tolkien, Lewis, and Eliot should visit William Morris's writings. Personally, my favorite thing about the book was the archaic prose. For the first twenty pages I thought it would be bothersome. After that, I was used to it and the book flowed nicely. It is sad that few people read William Morris today.

I read this book in 1976 and have been looking for a copy of it ever since. It made me appreciate the beauty in a fantasy world that really was like real life in a dream state. Please bring this back!!! I have read all the other adult fantasy ie The Last Unicorn, The Hobbit and other books, but The Well at the Worlds End is THE best.

This is a classic story, which ranks with 'Lilith' and other great fantasy stories. I loved the old English text, and found myself speaking it after reading the story. This is an excellent addition to your library. Don't miss it.

Morris' calm mastery of invention is like a slow intoxication, lifting you up one deceptively simple phrase at a time (the Medievel archaisms become second-nature in no time), until you are passed through his stained glass window of clear prose and a fresh new world is revealed, full of bloodshed and beauty. One comes to realize this book was not meant as mere allegory or escapist adventure, but as a True Quest, with nuggets of eternity scattered throughout, and a great Sunrise welling up in the near distance.

This is the tale of Ralph of Upmeads, the son of a king from a tiny kingdom, who flees his home in search of adventure, but keeps encountering hints and portents that he must seek the legendary Well at the World's End.

I'm in the minority here in not being wild about this book. There are many, of course, who will be unable to finish the book because of its quasi-archaic language, but it was not so with me. For me, the language was one of the book's unique charms.

If you are planning on giving William Morris' fantasy novels a try, I would not start here. He wrote three others: Wood Beyond the World, Water of the Wondrous Isles, and The Sundering Flood, all of which are significantly shorter. Moreover, you may find that Morris' sprawling, meandering, disconnected plots hold together better if not dragged out over such extended length. The tale has its good points and surprises but none which seemed to justify its 1200-plus pages. Resolutions are often unsatisfying -- can someone please explain the significance of Ralph's repeated encounters with the mysterious knight?

I could barely stand Ralph. The novel seemed far too focussed on the glorification of Ralph, this wondrous youth with whom all women are in love. I would have preferred the fantasy to be a bit more outward-focussed -- on world that Ralph explores. In all Ralph's adventures, he hardly meets anything more wonderful than himself.

I have since read "The Water of the Wondrous Isles", which I enjoyed rather more than this. It packs more wonders and fairy-tale elements into a smaller space, and its shorter length better suits its meandering plot. It is also, perhaps, unduly enamored of its heroine; but in my case, if I am required to be in love with the protagonist, it helps if she's a girl.

I, like many others, came to read this through the influence of C. S. Lewis. Lewis said, and rightly so, that no book could match the titles which William Morris gave to his books, but that he came closer than anyone else could have. This and The Wood Beyond the World are both spectacular, and I look forward to reading his other literature when I get the chance.

This particular book weaves the story of Ralph of Upmeads, the youngest son of the king of a small nation, who runs away from home to seek adventure. He hears of the fabled Well at the World's End, and decides to seek this Well. On the way he encounters numerous smaller adventures, built into what became the first truly epic fantasy book. Morris was the first to ever create a new world as his setting. Sure, there had been fictional books written before his, but he was the first to leave behind conventional countries and lands as his setting and create new lands and new countries in which to place his story. Tolkien, Lewis, etc. all simply went farther down the path that Morris had begun to blaze before them.

As far as the actual writing goes, I find it superb (for the most part). Many dislike his archaic English, but I very much enjoy it. I actually prefer to read books written like that, as I find that it adds greatly to the general feel of the story. The archaic English makes it really feel old, as if it really did take place ages ago. Morris does not use it quite so skillfully as someone like Howard Pyle, but it is very good, and does not fall flat like it tends to do when many less skilled modern authors try to use it. The only part of his writing style that I disliked is his odd manor of switching back and forth between past and present language. For example, he will be going along writing things like "Ralph looked around and knew not where he was" and then suddenly go a few pages writing things like "Ralph looks around and knows not where he is" for no reason at all. It simply makes no sense to me, and I found it rather annoying. This happened in only a few places, so it is not a major issue or anything. For the most part, Morris' writing is superb.

In all, I highly recommend reading this, as it is one of the most important fictional books ever written. Make sure you get Volume 1 and 2, as it was originally one volume but simply had to be split up when they re-printed it so as not to be so bulky. It is long, but well worth the time. If you like it, I recommend checking out The Wood Beyond the World, as well as Howard Pyle's material.

Overall grade: A+