Showing posts with label Books. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Books. Show all posts
Wednesday, December 26, 2007
The History of the Hobbit
For Christmas my husband gave me John Rateliff's The History of the Hobbit (a box set which includes Vol. 1 Mr. Baggins, Vol. 2 Return to Bag End, and The Hobbit with a forward by Christopher Tolkien). I hope to read part of it during the holiday break but have been pretty busy lately due to my uncle's health problems. (You can read more on my Citadel of Stars blog if you are interested.) It looks like Rateliff's books are similar to Christopher Tolkien's History of Middle-earth, so I know they will have lots of interesting information -- and Jason Fisher gave them a great review in Mythlore.
Saturday, October 13, 2007
Middle-earth meets Marquette
The article below is The Marquette Tribune, Oct. 9, 2007. They get bonus points for using the word "alumnus's" correctly but demerits for spelling Tolkien two different ways in the first sentence. I love the quote from the student who wanted to hear John speak in Elvish. LOL!
Middle Earth meets Marquette: Tolkien historian lectures on campus
By Jaena Wenninghoff
Middle Earth came to Raynor Library Thursday with a lecture on J.R.R. Tolkien by Tolkein historian John D. Rateliff.
The Marquette alumnus's two-volume book, "The History of the Hobbit: Mr. Baggins and the Return to Bag End," was published last month. He said his work was aided by many of the original Tolkien manuscripts housed in the library.
"We are living in the golden age of Tolkien studies," Rateliff said, citing the vast number of books and magazines dedicated to the author's work.
Tolkien's popularity, Rateliff said, comes from his ability to engage readers.
"The style in which he chose to write … is deliberately done to spark reader participation," he said.
According to Rateliff, this participation is the result of Tolkien's ability to incorporate detail. The amount of detail he included was enough to set the foundation of the story but left much to the imagination of the reader. Rateliff said "too much detail limits applicability" and that Tolkien used the right amount.
Another thing that impacted the popularity of Tolkien's works was his ability to write as a memory as opposed to a series of events as they took place, Rateliff said. He said Tolkien wrote about "several sharp vivid scenes" just like memories to which the reader can relate.
While Tolkien's first published book, "The Hobbit," was created for his own enjoyment, according to Rateliff, Tolkien wrote "The Lord of the Rings" at his publisher's request.
"When 'The Hobbit' was published, they immediately asked him what else he had," Rateliff said.
"The Hobbit" was written 17 years prior to "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy. Rateliff said Tolkien originally wrote "The Hobbit" as a stand-alone story but said it was later revised to better accommodate the sequels.
Rateliff concluded his lecture saying, "What we carry away from a book Tolkien wrote is the delight in the world he created."
Attendees of the lecture said they were intrigued by the in-depth look into Tolkien literature.
"I thought the lecture was interesting," said Logan Berens, a sophomore in the College of Engineering. "He had a lot of solid details he was able to explain thoroughly."
Sarah McElroy, a sophomore in the College of Arts & Sciences agreed.
"He discussed several things I never knew about Tolkien," she said. "I just wish he would have said something in Elvish."
Middle Earth meets Marquette: Tolkien historian lectures on campus
By Jaena Wenninghoff
The Marquette alumnus's two-volume book, "The History of the Hobbit: Mr. Baggins and the Return to Bag End," was published last month. He said his work was aided by many of the original Tolkien manuscripts housed in the library.
"We are living in the golden age of Tolkien studies," Rateliff said, citing the vast number of books and magazines dedicated to the author's work.
Tolkien's popularity, Rateliff said, comes from his ability to engage readers.
"The style in which he chose to write … is deliberately done to spark reader participation," he said.
According to Rateliff, this participation is the result of Tolkien's ability to incorporate detail. The amount of detail he included was enough to set the foundation of the story but left much to the imagination of the reader. Rateliff said "too much detail limits applicability" and that Tolkien used the right amount.
Another thing that impacted the popularity of Tolkien's works was his ability to write as a memory as opposed to a series of events as they took place, Rateliff said. He said Tolkien wrote about "several sharp vivid scenes" just like memories to which the reader can relate.
While Tolkien's first published book, "The Hobbit," was created for his own enjoyment, according to Rateliff, Tolkien wrote "The Lord of the Rings" at his publisher's request.
"When 'The Hobbit' was published, they immediately asked him what else he had," Rateliff said.
"The Hobbit" was written 17 years prior to "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy. Rateliff said Tolkien originally wrote "The Hobbit" as a stand-alone story but said it was later revised to better accommodate the sequels.
Rateliff concluded his lecture saying, "What we carry away from a book Tolkien wrote is the delight in the world he created."
Attendees of the lecture said they were intrigued by the in-depth look into Tolkien literature.
"I thought the lecture was interesting," said Logan Berens, a sophomore in the College of Engineering. "He had a lot of solid details he was able to explain thoroughly."
Sarah McElroy, a sophomore in the College of Arts & Sciences agreed.
"He discussed several things I never knew about Tolkien," she said. "I just wish he would have said something in Elvish."
Monday, September 24, 2007
Coming Soon: The History of the Hobbit
My friend Jason Fisher is reviewing John Rateliff's The History of the Hobbit weeks before the rest of us US readers even get to buy it! The books look wonderful and Jason's reviews are always outstanding and I'm looking forward to reading this one, as well as Rateliff's books.
Wednesday, May 02, 2007
A Very Tolkien Birthday
This year I couldn't decide what I wanted for my big birthday present. I finally decided on the J.R.R. Tolkien Companion and Guide (Two Volume Box Set) by Wayne G. Hammond and Christina Scull for a combined anniversary and birthday present. It looks great!
Vol. 1 is The Reader's Guide (not to be confused with The Lord of the Rings: A Reader's Companion by the same authors) which includes "comprehensive alphabetical entries on a wide range of topics, including a who's who of important persons, a guide to places and institutions, details concerning Tolkien's source material, information about the political and social upheavals through which the author lived, the importance of his social circle, his service as an infantryman in World War I -- even information on the critical reaction to his work and the 'Tolkien cult.'"
Vol. 2 is The Chronology. It "details the parallel evolutions of Tolkien's works and his academic and personal life in minute detail. Spanning the entirety of his long life including nearly sixty years of active labor on his Middle-earth creations, and drawing on such contemporary sources as school records, war service files, biographies, correspondence, the letters of his close friend C. S. Lewis, and the diaries of W. H. Lewis, this book will be an invaluable resource for those who wish to gain a complete understanding of Tolkien's status as a giant of twentieth-century literature."
I'm also really interested in the J.R.R. Tolkien Encyclopedia: Scholarship and Critical Assessment edited by Michael Drout but don't want to spend $200, especially since Drout and the contributors are not happy with Routledge. Apparently Routledge did not incorporate the final round of editing, much to everyone's frustration. Even so, it looks like an outstanding resource, but I think I'll let my university library pay for this one! For more on the Encyclopedia read Drout's story of its imperfections, visit Squiretalk or Squire's Reader's Diary.
I'm looking forward to my summer vacation so I can enjoy my new books!
Vol. 1 is The Reader's Guide (not to be confused with The Lord of the Rings: A Reader's Companion by the same authors) which includes "comprehensive alphabetical entries on a wide range of topics, including a who's who of important persons, a guide to places and institutions, details concerning Tolkien's source material, information about the political and social upheavals through which the author lived, the importance of his social circle, his service as an infantryman in World War I -- even information on the critical reaction to his work and the 'Tolkien cult.'"
Vol. 2 is The Chronology. It "details the parallel evolutions of Tolkien's works and his academic and personal life in minute detail. Spanning the entirety of his long life including nearly sixty years of active labor on his Middle-earth creations, and drawing on such contemporary sources as school records, war service files, biographies, correspondence, the letters of his close friend C. S. Lewis, and the diaries of W. H. Lewis, this book will be an invaluable resource for those who wish to gain a complete understanding of Tolkien's status as a giant of twentieth-century literature."
I'm also really interested in the J.R.R. Tolkien Encyclopedia: Scholarship and Critical Assessment edited by Michael Drout but don't want to spend $200, especially since Drout and the contributors are not happy with Routledge. Apparently Routledge did not incorporate the final round of editing, much to everyone's frustration. Even so, it looks like an outstanding resource, but I think I'll let my university library pay for this one! For more on the Encyclopedia read Drout's story of its imperfections, visit Squiretalk or Squire's Reader's Diary.
I'm looking forward to my summer vacation so I can enjoy my new books!
Monday, December 25, 2006
A Very Tolkien Christmas
Ná merye i turuhalmeri! (Merry Christmas!)
I am very pleased with my two LotR-related Christmas gifts: A Gateway To Sindarin: A Grammar of an Elvish Language from J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings by David Salo and The Lord of the Rings: A Reader's Companion by Wayne G. Hammond and Christina Scull.
A Gateway To Sindarin: A Grammar of an Elvish Language from J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings is by David Salo, one of the language consultant for Jackson's films and moderator of Elfling (the Elvish Linguistics mailing list, dedicated to the study of Tolkien's languages). I am thrilled with this book because it puts everything I want to know about Sindarin in one place. (I don't yet own all of the HoMe books, so this is really handy.) In addition to all the linguistic history and analysis, which are sometimes over my head, the book has lots of practical info: pronunciation, syntax, extant texts, a glossary, a list of Sindarin names, etc. It's expensive but a valuable source to scholars who want to better understand this language which influence so many words in LotR.
The Lord of the Rings: A Reader's Companion won the Mythopoeic Scholarship Award in Inklings Studies for 2006 and I've been dying to read it ever since! The authors claim their goal was to keep this book shorter than LotR and the manage to do so, but just barely. I haven't read much yet, but it looks very informative. The first thing I did was look up passages that relate to my paper on Frodo's Elvish air but they didn't mention any of the things I noticed. As all scholars know, it's simultaneously thrilling and terrifying to discover that no one has published anything on your topic! Even so, this book looks like a great resource!
I'm just disappointed that the new semester starts Jan. 8, giving much less time off than I'd like to spend with my new books!
I am very pleased with my two LotR-related Christmas gifts: A Gateway To Sindarin: A Grammar of an Elvish Language from J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings by David Salo and The Lord of the Rings: A Reader's Companion by Wayne G. Hammond and Christina Scull.
A Gateway To Sindarin: A Grammar of an Elvish Language from J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings is by David Salo, one of the language consultant for Jackson's films and moderator of Elfling (the Elvish Linguistics mailing list, dedicated to the study of Tolkien's languages). I am thrilled with this book because it puts everything I want to know about Sindarin in one place. (I don't yet own all of the HoMe books, so this is really handy.) In addition to all the linguistic history and analysis, which are sometimes over my head, the book has lots of practical info: pronunciation, syntax, extant texts, a glossary, a list of Sindarin names, etc. It's expensive but a valuable source to scholars who want to better understand this language which influence so many words in LotR.
The Lord of the Rings: A Reader's Companion won the Mythopoeic Scholarship Award in Inklings Studies for 2006 and I've been dying to read it ever since! The authors claim their goal was to keep this book shorter than LotR and the manage to do so, but just barely. I haven't read much yet, but it looks very informative. The first thing I did was look up passages that relate to my paper on Frodo's Elvish air but they didn't mention any of the things I noticed. As all scholars know, it's simultaneously thrilling and terrifying to discover that no one has published anything on your topic! Even so, this book looks like a great resource!
I'm just disappointed that the new semester starts Jan. 8, giving much less time off than I'd like to spend with my new books!
Tuesday, September 26, 2006
Pre-Order The Children of Hurin
Tolkien News and the Tolkien Library have more info about The Children of Hurin and you can pre-order it on Amazon (UK only, so far). No news on when you can pre-order it on US Amazon.
Thursday, September 21, 2006
The Children of Hurin
More news on Children of Hurin from the Mythsoc Yahoo Group:
Tolkien News has announced that the Tolkien Estate has launched it own official website. Although the site is still under construction it does confirm the 2007 publication date for The Children of Hurin. It will contain artwork by Alan Lee, and a map and editorial notes by Christopher Tolkien.
Tolkien News has announced that the Tolkien Estate has launched it own official website. Although the site is still under construction it does confirm the 2007 publication date for The Children of Hurin. It will contain artwork by Alan Lee, and a map and editorial notes by Christopher Tolkien.
Wednesday, September 20, 2006
(Another) Unfinished Tolkien Work to Be Published
I found this on the Mythopoeic Society Yahoo! Group today:
Michael Drout discusses The Children of Hurin on his blog, Wormtalk and Slugspeak. He says it will have a new map and artwork by Alan Lee.
This AP article has also led to a debate about how many copies of LotR have really been sold. 50 million does seem low.
I must say, I am impressed. Christopher must be in his 80s now and has already published 12 volumes of his father's unpublished drafts with Christopher's commentary and explanation. I figured he deserved to rest after all that, and yet he has another book for us. Thank you, Christopher!
Unfinished Tolkien Work to Be Published
The Associated Press
Monday, September 18, 2006; 12:17 PM
NEW YORK -- An unfinished tale by J.R.R. Tolkien has been edited by his son into a completed work and will be released next spring, the U.S. and British publishers announced Monday.
Christopher Tolkien has spent the past 30 years working on "The Children of Hurin," an epic tale his father began in 1918 and later abandoned. Excerpts of The Children of Hurin, which includes the elves and dwarves of Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings and other works, have been published before.
"It has seemed to me for a long time that there was a good case for presenting my father's long version of the legend of the 'Children of Hurin' as an independent work, between its own covers," Christopher Tolkien said in a statement.
The new book will be published by Houghton Mifflin in the United States and HarperCollins in England.
J.R.R. Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings Trilogy" has sold more than 50 million copies and was also adapted into a blockbuster, Academy Award-winning trio of films. A stage version is scheduled to open next year.
Michael Drout discusses The Children of Hurin on his blog, Wormtalk and Slugspeak. He says it will have a new map and artwork by Alan Lee.
This AP article has also led to a debate about how many copies of LotR have really been sold. 50 million does seem low.
I must say, I am impressed. Christopher must be in his 80s now and has already published 12 volumes of his father's unpublished drafts with Christopher's commentary and explanation. I figured he deserved to rest after all that, and yet he has another book for us. Thank you, Christopher!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
