Christopher Tolkien to finish lost Middle Earth novel - The Barrow-Downs Discussion Forum

Maglor · 04-17-2007, 10:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sardy

Smaller as in content... or smaller as in the actual physical size of the book...?

Smaller in size. I actually haven't started reading yet (just the Preface and Introduction). But the book itself is slimmer and slightly shorter than I would have expected.

davem · 04-17-2007, 11:58 PM

Of course, its all just a rip off of Wagner, you know......

http://www.bitsofnews.com/content/view/5571/42/

Sir Kohran · 04-18-2007, 12:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Maglor

Smaller in size. I actually haven't started reading yet (just the Preface and Introduction). But the book itself is slimmer and slightly shorter than I would have expected.

Funnily enough it's actually taller than my copy of LOTR so I don't mind.

Anyway, this is the first book I've ever bought on its release day - when I bought it at Waterstones, the woman at the counter said 'this'll be quite good, actually...'. I've yet to actually start reading it, and I haven't read the Silmarillion, so could people kindly put spoiler marks if they post the ending or anything? Thanks.

davem · 04-18-2007, 06:00 AM

More on the launch

http://entertainment.timesonline.co....cle1668625.ece

Excerpt: http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/a...704180409/1030

Sauron the White · 04-18-2007, 06:06 AM

Looks like the $169.00 US double sig book on ebay is gone and it was some kind of test because overnight at least five more popped up with a buy-it-now price of $299.00. The market is being tested.

Lalaith · 04-18-2007, 07:20 AM

Got it this morning. Had a good look at the contents although I haven't started reading.

Although mine is just the ordinary version, it's a handsome volume. Pictures seem more of landscape than people. Not sure if that's a good thing or not.

SPOILER......

The book doesn't end with the death of Hurin, as I had hoped. Nor does it clarify what happens to him and what his state of mind is, when he dies. I do feel very cheated - for me it's the crux of the story. Hurin's children were destroyed to punish Hurin, and I need to know how far Morgoth succeeded in destroying Hurin's mighty spirit.
But I accept that this issue of Hurin's despair is probably just my own little obsession and that most readers won't be so bothered about this.

Child of the 7th Age · 04-18-2007, 07:39 AM

This review is a little more even handed:

http://www.salon.com/books/feature/2...urce=whitelist

Quote:

I came away from "The Children of Húrin" with a renewed appreciation for the fact that Tolkien's overarching narrative is much more ambiguous in tone than is generally noticed. As has been much discussed, he was a devout Catholic who tried, with imperfect success, to harmonize the swirling pagan cosmology behind his imaginative universe with a belief in Christian salvation. Salvation feels a long way off in "The Children of Húrin." What sits in the foreground is that persistent Tolkienian sense that good and evil are locked in an unresolved Manichaean struggle with amorphous boundaries, and that the world is a place of sadness and loss, whose human inhabitants are most often the agents of their own destruction.

davem · 04-18-2007, 11:54 AM

For those still waiting, Amazon.co.uk have the whole of Chapter 1 here

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/feature.h...d_i=0007246226

04-17-2007, 11:58 PM	#2
davem Illustrious Ulair Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: In the home of lost causes, and forsaken beliefs, and unpopular names,and impossible loyalties Posts: 4,240	Of course, its all just a rip off of Wagner, you know...... http://www.bitsofnews.com/content/view/5571/42/ __________________ “Everything was an object. If you killed a dwarf you could use it as a weapon – it was no different to other large heavy objects."

04-18-2007, 06:00 AM	#4
davem Illustrious Ulair Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: In the home of lost causes, and forsaken beliefs, and unpopular names,and impossible loyalties Posts: 4,240	More on the launch http://entertainment.timesonline.co....cle1668625.ece Excerpt: http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/a...704180409/1030 __________________ “Everything was an object. If you killed a dwarf you could use it as a weapon – it was no different to other large heavy objects."

04-18-2007, 07:20 AM	#6
Lalaith Blithe Spirit Join Date: Jan 2003 Posts: 2,779	Got it this morning. Had a good look at the contents although I haven't started reading. Although mine is just the ordinary version, it's a handsome volume. Pictures seem more of landscape than people. Not sure if that's a good thing or not. SPOILER...... The book doesn't end with the death of Hurin, as I had hoped. Nor does it clarify what happens to him and what his state of mind is, when he dies. I do feel very cheated - for me it's the crux of the story. Hurin's children were destroyed to punish Hurin, and I need to know how far Morgoth succeeded in destroying Hurin's mighty spirit. But I accept that this issue of Hurin's despair is probably just my own little obsession and that most readers won't be so bothered about this. __________________ Out went the candle, and we were left darkling

04-18-2007, 11:54 AM	#8
davem Illustrious Ulair Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: In the home of lost causes, and forsaken beliefs, and unpopular names,and impossible loyalties Posts: 4,240	For those still waiting, Amazon.co.uk have the whole of Chapter 1 here http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/feature.h...d_i=0007246226 __________________ “Everything was an object. If you killed a dwarf you could use it as a weapon – it was no different to other large heavy objects."

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04-18-2007, 06:06 AM	#5
Sauron the White Ghost Prince of Cardolan Join Date: Mar 2007 Posts: 903	Looks like the $169.00 US double sig book on ebay is gone and it was some kind of test because overnight at least five more popped up with a buy-it-now price of $299.00. The market is being tested.