Check out Leeane's selections in this new booktalk booklist in the archives on BookGuide at the following link:
In the years following the
publication of The Lord of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien continued to
explore and develop the concepts in his works, both published and unpublished.
His son and literary executor, Christopher Tolkien, asked NASA programmer and
amateur linguist Carl Hostetter to edit and prepare for publication a set of
manuscripts that came out of these explorations. The result is this book that
is alternately fascinating and difficult.
The difficulty partly comes from
the nature of the material. Even though Tolkien’s texts presented here were
mostly hand-written, many of them nonetheless had footnotes accompanying them.
Hostetter also often uses footnotes of his own to mention details about the
manuscripts, such as emendations Tolkien made on them. The result is that there
are places where there are footnotes even within footnotes.
The content itself, though, will
either be fascinating or unbearably abstruse, depending on the reader’s level
of familiarity with Tolkien’s legendarium. Many of the manuscripts deal more
with characters and themes in The Silmarillion than with those from The
Lord of the Rings. In fact, an appreciation of this book will depend to a
large extent on familiarity not only with those works, but also various
posthumous books edited by Tolkien’s son Christopher: Unfinished Tales,
the twelve-volume History of Middle-earth series, The Children of
Hurin, Beren and Luthien, and The Fall of Gondolin.
About a third of the book is
dedicated to Tolkien’s shifting conception of the relative rates of aging
between humans and Elves. But some of the more intriguing texts are very brief
(one or two pages). Here we see Tolkien’s thoughts on the Elves’ “mental
communication,” whether or not Elves reincarnate, and which species have
beards, and many other details. Many of these writings grew out of linguistic
notes on the Elvish languages, and so this information is spread intermittently
throughout the book as well.
Whether this book should be
considered an essential read depends on what kind of approach you take to reading Tolkien. If you read Tolkien only for
the adventure and your favorite characters, this book may not be for you. But
if you are the kind of reader who analyzes the grammar of the Ring inscription,
then yes, this book should be considered essential reading.
(If you enjoy this, you may also
wish to try The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien, Tolkien: the Illustrated Encyclopaedia by David Day, The Atlas of Middle-Earth by Karen Wynn Fonstad or The History of The Hobbit (Parts 1 and 2) by John D.
Rateliff.)
( Wikipedia entry on The
Nature of Middle Earth )
Recommended
by Peter J.
Virtual Services Department
Have you read or listened to
this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?
New reviews appear every month on the Staff
Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that
page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide Blog
individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the
reviewer's name to see more of this reviewer’s recommendations!
For anyone who remembers Cliff’s
Notes (which originated right here in Lincoln, NE in the late 1950s), or the
more recent SparkNotes (which launched in the late 1990s), author/illustrator
Lisa Brown is here to give you even more abbreviated study guides to some of
the classic works of English-language literature! For some time, Brown (wife of
author Daniel Handler — a.k.a. Lemony Snicket) has been produced the regular
cartoon “Three Panel Book Review” for the San Francisco Chronicle newspaper and
its website.
Long Story Short compiles 100 of her “three panel
reviews” (although I think she may have create some original content for this
volume as well. For this collection, the reviews are broken into broad
categories — “Big Thoughts”, “(Un)Happy Families”, “Jeepers! (Creatures!)”,
“Love”, “Sex”, “Death” and more. Each section starts with a slightly-longer
cartoon sequence, but the majority if what appears in the book are as
advertised — the plot of a work of classic fiction condensed and simplified
down into three simple cartoon panels. Some are simply a straight-forward
synopsis of a book’s critical plot points, while others take a more humorous or
satiric view of the original novel’s essence. All generally tend to be funny,
even if darkly humorous.
Not all 100 are real winners, but
I’d say I laughed at about 65% of the 100 titles profiled. Admittedly, it would
help the casual reader to already be a little familiar with the works being
condensed and shared. But even if you don’t know all of them, you’ll get quite
a few chuckles along the way. Similarly, not all of Brown’s cartoon-style art
is equal in quality across the board, but it hits its mark more often than not.
Wry, dry, sardonic…and sharing of love of literature. Definitely worth checking out!
[
official Long Story Short page on AmericanChickens.com
— the official Lisa Brown web site ]
Recommended
by Scott C.
Bennett Martin Public Library — Public Service
Have you read or listened to
this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?
New reviews appear every month on the Staff
Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that
page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide Blog
individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the
reviewer's name to see more of this reviewer’s recommendations!
STEAMPUNK = Mad Scientist Inventor [invention (steam x airship or metal man / baroque stylings) x (pseudo) Victorian setting] + progressive or reactionary politics x adventure plot.Steampunk as a term has only existed since the late 1980s, but Steampunk as a form of written or visual entertainment has existed in a variety of forms for decades. Imagine the 1960s television series The Wild Wild West, with secret service agents James West and Artemus Gorden going after mad scientists trying to take over the late 1800s America with steam-powered robots. Or picture feature films such as The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, set in Victorian times, but involving famous historical and/or literary figures using technologies that are decades ahead of their time. Steampunk is also something of a social movement -- involving people who don't read the books or watch the movies that have been heavily influenced by Steampunk trends. There is an extensive subculture of fans who like to dress up in Steampunk finery and roleplay as if they were living in a world patterned after the visual stylings of Jules Verne's 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, with retro-futuristic submersibles, electric rayguns, plucky female airship pilots, crazed mad scientists and high adventure in the late 1800s. The Steampunk Bible does a terrific job of providing readers with a detailed background on Steampunk's origins, and what the current movers and shakers in the world of steampunk are up to. Crammed with gorgeous color illustrations, this lovely book will engage your imagination for hours, as you contemplate how you can add bits of clockwork gears or ornate keys to your wardrobe for a touch of "out of time" -- or you can look back at the many elements of literary history which featured elements that were precursors to today's steampunk -- the "steam man of the prairie" featured in early American dime novels, for instance. The Steampunk Bible was a 2012 Hugo Award nominee in the non-fiction category -- and well-deserved its nomination. If you're familiar with the Steampunk genre, you'll definitely enjoy this one. If you're unfamiliar with Steampunk, I recommend this book as an exemplary introduction to an increasingly popular subculture in today's world. [If you enjoy this, you may also wish to check out the Thrilling Airship Adventures: The World of Steampunk booklist from my Nov/Dec 2012 booktalk at Bethany and Gere branches. Another very similar book that came out a year after the Steampunk Bible was entitled Steampunk: An Illustrated History of Fantastical Fiction, Fanciful Film and Other Victorian Visions -- I also recommend this one!] -- recommended by Scott C. - Bennett Martin Public Library [Subscribe to Scott's monthly booklist newsletter It's All Geek to Me! - on the Books, Movies & More newsletter sign-up page].
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