Pithy Review: The Children of Hurin
JRR Tolkien may have died way back in 1973, but his son Christopher has done a masterful job of keeping his father's legacy alive. At the ripe old age of 81 Christopher Tolkien gives us what will likely be his father's last work of fiction, The Children of Hurin.
As far as Tolkien goes, among his larger works The Hobbit is the most accessible, followed by the trilogy, The Lord of the Rings, and the Silmarillion. The language in each of these grew successively more archaic, and The Children of Hurin is the most difficult to read because of its language. But that's not to say it isn't an enjoyable read. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
The fact that this latest novel was pieced together from unfinished fragments is not entirely seen by the casual read. But it does carry with it, throughout the story, a sense of... incompleteness, for lack of a better word. While The Silmarillion greatly employed 'archaic' language forms, it was filled with rich vibrant light; color, sound, texture, it was all there, but not so with The Children of Hurin, this last story is a but a shadow of The Silmarillion.
Despite this, it was, as I said, an enjoyable read. It offered a broader glimpse into Middle Earth just after the Nirnaeth Arnoediad, the fifth (and second to last) battle for Middle Earth against Morgoth, whose evil surpassed that of Sauron. Yes, Sauron was bad, but Morgoth was badder.
The cowries I shelled out for this book, hardbound, was well worth the price. Not simply because it sprang from the mind of Tolkien himself, but also because of the numerous illustrations by Alan Lee, the conceptual artist for The Lord of the Rings films.
Don't let this review fool you. The Children of Hurin is still an easier read than much of what Cormac McCarthy has written, and I absolutely LOVE Cormac McCarthy!
As far as Tolkien goes, among his larger works The Hobbit is the most accessible, followed by the trilogy, The Lord of the Rings, and the Silmarillion. The language in each of these grew successively more archaic, and The Children of Hurin is the most difficult to read because of its language. But that's not to say it isn't an enjoyable read. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
The fact that this latest novel was pieced together from unfinished fragments is not entirely seen by the casual read. But it does carry with it, throughout the story, a sense of... incompleteness, for lack of a better word. While The Silmarillion greatly employed 'archaic' language forms, it was filled with rich vibrant light; color, sound, texture, it was all there, but not so with The Children of Hurin, this last story is a but a shadow of The Silmarillion.
Despite this, it was, as I said, an enjoyable read. It offered a broader glimpse into Middle Earth just after the Nirnaeth Arnoediad, the fifth (and second to last) battle for Middle Earth against Morgoth, whose evil surpassed that of Sauron. Yes, Sauron was bad, but Morgoth was badder.
The cowries I shelled out for this book, hardbound, was well worth the price. Not simply because it sprang from the mind of Tolkien himself, but also because of the numerous illustrations by Alan Lee, the conceptual artist for The Lord of the Rings films.
Don't let this review fool you. The Children of Hurin is still an easier read than much of what Cormac McCarthy has written, and I absolutely LOVE Cormac McCarthy!
from the mind of... Eric | 11:37 PM
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