I just read mention that JRRT, dead lo these thirty-odd years, is coming out with a new book: The Children of Húrin, based on material “stitched together” by his son Christopher.
The blurb reads: Presented for the first time as a complete, standalone story… Though familiar to many fans from extracts and references within other Tolkien books, it has long been assumed that the story would forever remain an unfinished tale. Now reconstructed by Christopher Tolkien, painstakingly editing together the complete work from his father’s many drafts, this book is the culmination of a tireless thirty-year endeavor by him to bring J.R.R.Tolkien’s vast body of unpublished work to a wide audience..
All good and well, but I wonder how different this will be from The Silmarillion? Will this basically be an expansion of the stories of Beren and Luthien, Turin Turambar, and the Fall of Gondolin?
Who’s buying it? I already loved the stories from The Silmarillion, and I wonder how the prose style of this particular (re-)telling will be different in this book from what’s already been printed.
I’ve got it on my Interest List, meaning I’ll buy it unless it gets overwhelming bad press between now and release day.
Edit: My reasoning is basically that it was the sheer scope, overwhelming imagination and creative zest that made J.R.R. Tolkien one of my favourite authors - not his writing style. If Christopher Tolkien can reproduce his father’s creative vision, all the more power to him and all the more pleasure to me.
From the title, I thought that this was going to be just the story of Hurin and Morwen (the parents) and Turin and Nienor (the siblings) - expanded on what is found in the Silmarillion. I haven’t read anything besides The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings and the Silmarillion - are these books “re-written” by Christopher Tolkien comparable to the books written solely by the father?
Speaking of the Lays of Beleriand, I love them!
I have to get this one. If it’s like the other books in HOMES it will really go into more depth than in The Silmarillion. The whole metamorphasis of the story fascinates me.
If you’re satisified with what you get in The Silmarillion, then this probably won’t be for you. Also, if you’re not fond of his poetry. Again, that’s not a problem for me.
I’m not sure that there’s anything in this book that hasn’t already appeared in Sil, UT, or HOMES.
I’ll still pick it up, because it’ll put all the “essential” story (hopefully with some decent editing by CJRT) of the Narn i Hin Húrin in a single volume.
The review heard on BBC News Hour this morning makes me leary. I like the vividness of LOTR and the Hobbit, but couldn’t get started on Silmarillon. A.S. Byatt indicated that if you like LOTR+H, you won’t like this one- the characters are flat, and change names every chapter.
Actually, you can. It’s my opinion that if you just skip over the Ainulindule and Valaquenta, you won’t actually miss much in the Silmarillion proper. There are a few spots where the Valar (effectively, gods) interfere directly, but only a few, and when they come up you can more or less just make a mental note “Oh, ok, deus ex machina”, without needing to keep too much track of who’s who. All you really need to know is that Morgoth, the Great Enemy, was the most powerful of the Valar before his rebellion, Manwe is the leader of the good Valar (everyone except Morgoth), Melian is a Maia (one step below the Valar) who fell in love with an Elf and hangs out with him in Middle-Earth, and above them all is Eru Illuvatar, the One, who created them all and ultimately has the last word.
Of course, if you do like mythology, by all means read it; it’s very good. It just isn’t for everyone.
