Re: Books!

by Lancebloke Thu Jan 07, 2021 12:33 pm

It's not just you, my other half always has a sniff of new books when she or I gets one!

I will get to reading them once our house work is all done, hopefully in a few more weeks. Far too much brick and plasterboard dust around right now!

by Lancebloke Wed Jan 13, 2021 11:32 am

Goblet of Fire has arrived. Prisoner of Azkahban should be here today too but not here yet!

Edit - sorry for the aspect... not sure why it uploaded that way round.

by Mrs Figg Wed Jan 13, 2021 12:47 pm

looks beautiful artwork Very Happy

by Lancebloke Wed Jan 13, 2021 1:19 pm

They are stunning books... definitely rival my copy of LotR. Only annoying thing is having to wait for the next three to be published over the next few years!

by Mrs Figg Wed Jan 13, 2021 2:14 pm

Have you started reading them yet?

by Lancebloke Wed Jan 13, 2021 4:20 pm

Not yet. I am storing them while we have some work on our house finished.... it is very messy, brick and plaster dust everywhere!

by Lancebloke Thu May 06, 2021 6:32 am

Does anyone else find Beren and Luthien a really hard read?

by halfwise Thu May 06, 2021 7:10 am

I take it you're referring to the extended cut, not the Silmarillion studio cut.

I don't have it, but judging from comparing the versions of Turin in The Sil versus Unfinished Tales I would say the trimmed down versions work better. Since he's not using the mass appeal style of The Hobbit or LotR, the mythic approach can weigh things down. Quick sketches work better for mythology. In LotR Tolkien reserved the high language style for compressed narrative, and his instincts were good.

by Mrs Figg Thu May 06, 2021 7:44 am

I find the whole Silmarillion a hard read. I find the language a bit turgid. I know that is not a good look on a Tolkien forum. Embarassed

by halfwise Thu May 06, 2021 8:55 am

Which is why you want the short version of any story. I agree that many of the stories in Silmarillion can drag, and it can only get worse when lengthened into book form. That's why I have little interest in buying Children of Hurin or Beren and Luthian.

To me Tolkien's most enjoyable works outside those published in his lifetime were essays written to complement and fill out the background of Lord of the Rings. Never tire of Unfinished Tales. Love the Pukel men and Palantiri. :carrot:

by Pettytyrant101 Thu May 06, 2021 9:00 am

by Mrs Figg Thu May 06, 2021 9:17 am

I must be a Hobbit at heart, I like a good old comfortable yarn by the fireside, not that highfalutin stuff.

and certainly not a Took, who seemed fond of highfalutin on occasions.

by halfwise Thu May 06, 2021 9:22 am

Do you have Unfinished Tales, Figgs? Some of it is faluting, but half of it was written to supplement LotR and is just fun.

by Mrs Figg Thu May 06, 2021 11:51 am

no I don't have that, but I will get it now you mention it. My Tolkien street-cred is diminishing by the minute. Embarassed

by Lancebloke Thu May 06, 2021 12:32 pm

I have the Children of Hurin and it works fine once you get through working out what is going on.

I was going to get the Fall of Gondolin when it is out.

Beren and Luthien has a massive preamble about what Tolkien called certain people and races early on... Gnomes, fairies, Noldori. That together with the really old style language just makes it a really hard read.

by halfwise Thu May 06, 2021 1:11 pm

Actually that preamble sounds interesting. I take it was written by Christopher rather than JRR?

by Lancebloke Thu May 06, 2021 2:01 pm

Yes. B&L seems to have been one of the earliest writings and there are lots of alternations and drafts etc. When I say preamble I mean 20 pages of it!

by Pettytyrant101 Fri May 07, 2021 5:57 am

{{ I enjoyed the long form poem version of Luthien and Beren thats one of the History of ME books. Though it does have that thing with Tolkien where you feel a bit like your peeking behind the curtain, as he reused bits of the poem in other contexts in LotR's (most notably Gimli's song about the glory days of Moria which has whole verses with only minor changes) on the presumption no one was ever going to read his earlier longer poem on Luthien and Beren so he may as well resuse some of the existing material. }}