honestpuck writes
"I find it surprising that with the current popularity of the The Lord
of The Rings movies and subsequent rise in sales of the trilogy and
The Hobbit that so few bookshops stock more of the Professor's other
works. Fortunately this volume makes it easier. It puts four of his works in one, Farmer Giles of Ham, The Adventures of Tom
Bombadil Leaf By Niggle and Smith of Wootton Major." The first and fourth of these I've read elsewhere (and enjoyed), so I'm glad to learn of the other two. Read on for honestpuck's capsule description of each.
Tales From The Perilous Realm
author
J.R.R. Tolkein
pages
192
publisher
Harper Collins
rating
9
reviewer
Tony Williams
ISBN
0261103431
summary
Excellent short stories and poetry from a master story-tellet
Farmer Giles of Ham
This is a marvelous tale of a reluctant, and accidental, hero and a dragon who doesn't quite live up to the stereotype. The style is a little old fashioned, making it seem more like the fairy tales of your childhood than even The Hobbit, with a dry sense of humour. That said, it also seems to be the hardest for a child to enjoy (my sample size is only two, however), though personally I liked it when I first read it and enjoy it still.. It is the longest of the four works and by far the earliest written and published, 1949.
The Adventures of Tom Bombadil
The Adventures is a collection of 16 assorted poems, most are either partially quoted or referred to in The Lord Of The Rings. The poems are a mixed bag, ranging from the short and amusing "Oliphaunt" through to the more adult and wistful "The Last Ship" that closes the collection. All are enjoyable for the adult reader, some enjoyable for children.
Iâ(TM)ve never really liked Tolkienâ(TM)s verse when he tries to be serious, in this collection I only really like "Oliphaunt."
Leaf By Niggle
The shortest of the three stories, in this one Niggle, whose dreams far
outweigh his talent, sets out to paint the perfect tree and is caught up
in his own variation of the Pygmalion myth (though it is a tree that comes to life.) It is a marvelously written tale that unfolds
beautifully.
Smith of Wootton Major
My favourite of them all, a tale in which Smith voyages to the land of the faeries via a magical cake. Another story that revolves around the
dreams and fantasies in a life. This one is a perfect fairy tale and perfect for reading aloud to a small person, full of magic and charm and
whimsy it brings to mind everything I loved about The Hobbit.
Conclusion
While the three tales and 16 poems all have their differences there is
certainly a distinctive style across them all. Just a little
old-fashioned, a little formal - in fact almost exactly how you'd expect
an Oxford Professor to write fiction. This volume is worth reading, and
an enjoyable read but does not quite have the magnificence of language
in The Lord of The Rings nor the wonderful light touch of well-crafted
children's tale in The Hobbit. They are good short pieces, that sort of excellence is hard to craft into such short works.
Anyone who enjoyed The Hobbit will find this a wonderful volume. Tolkein
always talked of writing both The Hobbit and The Lord of The Rings as a
way of creating truly English myth and fairy tales (he felt that Arthur
was too much a tale borrowed from the French). While both of those 'grew
in the telling,' this small volume gives us three marvelous (and English
in feel) fairy tales and some good poetry. A must for all Tolkein fans.
Tales from the Perilous Realm is harder to find than Tolkein's better-known works, but is available from online merchants including
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Did anyone else read this as just a very long title? Goes to show that commas still have importance in the English language.
One of my favorite childhood memories is my dad reading The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings out loud to me and my younger brother. I'm glad other people are doing that with their kids also, and it's cool that there are more Tolkein stories to delve into. :)
That's debatable, to be sure. The Silmarillion is a fine tale of good intentions gone awry and the ends failing to justify the means (strangely apropos, these days). It tends to be quite dense, featuring huge chunks of explanatory text rather than the more reader-friendly descriptive text. But, when one looks at the tale(s) and themes as a whole (especially after a second reading, or third), it's clear Tolkien knew what he was doing in terms of storytelling.
Of course, it could've been better had he buckled-down and finished it properly. But I've come to appreciate the work itself more with each reading.
Ita erat quando hic adveni.
When I read this odd section of the book I always find Tom to be a rather creepy character. He seems to eminate power and is able to see into the future, yet he chooses to pacify his enemies though the most gentle of means (by singing!). As mysteriously as he appears, he is quickly forgotten and plays no other important part in the book. He is somehow 'above' the petty, earthly issues of the dark lord and the one ring and sees no reason to alter the forseen course that history will take. I suppose like so many other characters in LotR, Tom is an idealized figure, whose actions are constrained by the nature of his being. Otherwise, why would he not just prance down to Mordor and sing a little toon for Sauron? :D
One wonders what Lucas would have done with Tom... CGI extravaganza showdown with Sauron!
Bullet time anyone??? :::shudder:::
Some years ago, I received this book as a gift from my girlfriend.
I can neither argue the claim, that the language is simpler, nor can I claim, that I find the stories as full as the more well-known works.
What _did_ catch me, though, was the direct narration of the stories. The poems about the venerable mr. Bombadil is a different story, as they refer to the universe of LotR, but the other stories seem, at least to me, to tell stories of important weight as to ethics and morale, and yet not tranfer the entire story to a universe of his own design, but to merely use the common notion of a parallel world of fairies, formalised by him as the world of Faerie, but known to most people already.
To me, that is what separates those stories from his more well known works, but I dare the proposition, that it makes those stories more relevant, as they are so much easier to relate to!
"The number you have dialed is imaginary. Please rotate your phone 90 degrees and try again."
To review Leaf by Niggle becomes a lot easier when you remember that Tolkien was a devout Catholic and a confirmed Englishman. From Niggle it also becomes clear that he was a man who loved his hobby of writing Middle Earth stories but still felt obliged to be a good host -- while himself occasionally enjoying reciprocating the demand! -- and a good neighbour. It also becomes clear that he sometimes wondered if there was any long term value in either his work (the arcane study of English language and literature) or his hobby (Et EÃrello Endorenna Ãtulien!).
The Journey is Niggle's impending death. Parish is his most immediate opportunity to practice Christian charity and neighbourliness. Packing for the journey is the practice of spiritual disciplines.
One could go on but ought not do so without acknowledging that Tolkien himself claimed to hate allegory wherever he could found it. Nonetheless, the story is much more enjoyable when you look at it from a point of view that acknowledges Tolkien's Christianity and uses it to interpret the various pieces of the work. What we are hearing, I believe, is Tolkien's whisperings in the Confessional Box, but instead of being obscured to the point of unintelligibilty, as velvet-lined walls would do, it's hidden in a form that Tolkien would never have used for any kind of story other than this one: a confession or a spiritual autobiography.
And don't we all want to be considered cases for Gentle Treatment?
Still hoping for Gentle Treatment...
....is that Tolkien kept his characters simple but created a complex world (middle earth)for them to inhabit. As a natural story teller, Tolkien realized that kids and adults alike enjoy living vicariously though charcters in books. Frodo is the 'everyman'. He doesn't have superpowers, super strength, or even super looks :D Because of this, we the reader are able to imprint our emotions onto Frodo and other characters as they wade through the perilous and mysterious place of middle earth.
Another view is that Middle Earth is a recreated 'history' of ancient England. Before there were Knights and dragons, there was middle earth. A land which was rural, simple, non-industrialized. Where everyone had a pipe to smoke, a story to tell by the fire, and a garden to tend to: an idealized time.
IMO reading LOTR is like taking a relaxing walk though a field on a summers day (as corny as that may be!). Its not about the destination, but the journey(and what you see, smell, and eat along the way).
TW, was going through my papers last night and found my old copies of JRRT's poems, "Imram,"
Wow... is there any way you could make those copies available online? They sound fascinating.
"Teachers leave us kids alone