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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It should be noted though that the sales of his other books have risen. They obviously just havn't sold as much as the LoTR series.
Less we forget Tolkiens translation of the Pearl Poet's, 'Sir Gawain and the Green Knight'? That poem kicks ass (atleast as far as a poem can kick one's ass, that is)!
dont forget _The Silmarillion_ and _The Lays of Beleriand_. The Silmarillion is required reading for anyone interested in the culture and mythology of Middle Earth. Besides, _The Silmarillion_ was Tolkien's life's work and the trilogy was based on the stories in this tome.
I remember reading a couple of months back that some researcher requested someo f Tolkein's papers from the Oxford archives, and found within it a line-by-line translation of Gilgamesh, in Tolkein's own hand, with his comments. The article said that the translation was to be published this summer. I can find no reference to this on the web, however.
Anyone else here of this?
"Stop whining!" - Arnold, as Mr. Kimble
I wouldn't put him in the class of men. I believe that he is treated more as a spirit from the first age though his origins are a bit cloudy.
Arf!
Also worth noting is that Tolkin was one of the original translators of the New Jerusalem Bible.
yes... yes... I know that many of you don't believe in God, etc. But, hopefully, you'll recognize that translating the entire Bible to English is quite an accomplishment for one of our favorite authors. And, just maybe, you'll even appreciate how happy it makes us Christians to have this great author bring his talents to scripture.
Then again, maybe I'll just get modded to oblivion...
The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting; it has been found difficult and left untried. -G.K. Chesterton
An earlier recopilation of most of this tales (without the one about Tom Bombadil) was Tree and Leaf (or at least, in spanish, was "Arbol y Hoja", that can be easily found in bookstores here in Uruguay). Of this 3 tales, the one I remember more is Leaf, by Niggle, is just the kind of tale that remembers you that Tolkien was a great writer even without the Middle Earth.
heheh, while we're at it, I thik we need a mod for "-1 dumbass!"
the above is my personal opinion and does not necessarily reflect that of the little voices in my head
Every year for 23 years, Tolkien wrote his children a letter from Father Christmas, from the late 20's into the 40's. The great depression and WWII get mentioned in passing, but Father Christmas always triumphs.
This one is good for reading to children, with wonderful pictures by Tolkien. For older children, you can sprinkle in a bit of history by telling why Father Christmas had such trouble delivering toys in 1932, and so on. For the Tolkien fancier, the book gives some insight into the author's mind. For example, my edition has samples of the ``elvish writing'' which Father Christmas sent to the children.
See what I've been reading.
Q: Why aren't all these other books as popular?
:)
A: Because they aren't as good as LOTR.
Duh.
Personally I hated the LOTR trilogy and I can't see why any of it is popular. It is a crude and awkward reading experience. Sure, it is the grandfather of fantasy - but it is by no means the best.
I am mostly a science fiction fan, but my favorite fantasy book ever is "Magician" by Raymond E. Feist. Highly recommended even to those (like myself) that otherwise hate the genre. There are a bunch of books in the series, with prequels and sequels. All the books are seriously good, well written, very pleasant reading experience.
"Magician". In store now! Get it today!
Just a word to the wise, it ain't exactly light reading. Its practically the ME equivalent of the Bible, and reads similiarly in terms of style.
Just to be a little more specific, it is more like the Old Testament of the Bible.
The New Testament narratives are usually easier to read for the modern English reader. Many people compare The Hobbit and LoTR to the New Testament, especially in the light of prophecy being fulfilled.
As a side note, you may want to look into the books of Luke and Acts in the New Testament, which are two narratives that are relatively easy to read and are based on manuscripts with excellent Greek style (IIRC). And these two flow together, sort of like a part 1 and part 2.
>> heheh, while we're at it, I thik we need a mod for "-1 dumbass!"
Yeah...for the dumbasses who reply to the original post thinking it's a serious question.
Or at least Tolkien must have been aware of the similarities with this hero of the Finnish Kalevala when he was writing his poems. The Kalevala wizards employed a style of magic much like Bombadil's. The Bombadil poems read, unfortunately, like a rather watered down and less earthy copy of the orginal.
I think it's probably significant that the Bombadil chapters occur so early in LotR, when Tolkien was casting about for a theme. He was trying to create a new English folkore, and the Kalevala was an obvious model, having virtually redefined the Finnish national identity when it was published. The Bombadil chapters of LotR just feel like an unsuccessful graft from a different story. Indeed while with some effort Tolkien managed to accomodate Bombadil in his world by giving him an unique role in it, he rather ignores Goldberry, whose nature is equally problematic.
The simplest answer is that they both belong to a different story, one that Tolkien thought he might be writing before he found his own voice in Rivendell.
Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
is that the stories of the Silmarillion aren't really meant to be read, like the published forms of the Hobbit and LotR are.
The Silmarillion is meant to be told, out loud, in the manner of a bard in the king's hall, reciting and performing before a crowd. Modern readers find the style dry because they're used to having the facial expressions and voice tones spelled out in the text, or shown to them on television. If you read the stories aloud, you find that they're not so dry after all.
You cannot apply a technological solution to a sociological problem. (Edwards' Law)
...I'd seriously consider negotiating for the rights to Farmer Giles of Ham and/or Smith of Wootton Major, plus lesser-known (still very good) stories like Roverandum and Mr. Bliss, to be done as animated features. =)
:-)
Given the way these stories are written, they almost BEG to be done as animated features. Farmer Giles of Ham done under the right producing/directing team at Disney could be one very fun movie to watch (they can borrow the drawing style of Pauline Baynes, the original illustrator of the book) and Mr. Bliss is almost perfect as a Pixar feature. How about it, folks?
(P.S. I know Tolkien back in the 1950's had qualms about Disney animation, but Disney has shown since 1995 they can go with very different drawing styles successfully, styles that he probably would have approved.)