Book Review: The Adventures of Tom Bombadil by J. R. R. Tolkien, illustrated by Pauline Baynes

The Adventures of Tom Bombadil
Illustrated by Pauline Baynes
by J. R. R. Tolkien

I have been reading J. R. R. Tolkien's books for a number of years, as you might guess from the fact that I've already reviewed two books on my blog (and I just started posting book reviews here at the end of last year).

Last year I started purchasing several more books that I'd heard about but didn't yet own, one of those was The Adventures of Tom Bombadil.  While I have and continue to read other works by Tolkien I especially enjoy his works about Middle-earth, so what really drew me to this volume was that it is really an "in world" volume.

The present selection is taken from the older pieces, mainly concerned with legends and jests of the Shire at the end of the Third Age, that appear to have been made by Hobbits, especially by Bilbo and his friends, or their immediate descendants....  In the Red Book it is said that No. 5 was made by Bilbo, and No. 7 by Sam Gamgee.  No. 8 is marked SG, and the ascription may be accepted.  No. 12 is also marked SG, though at most Sam can only have touched up an older piece of the comic bestiary lore of which Hobbits appear to have been fond.
--from Preface by J. R. R. Tolkien

There are sixteen chapters in the book including such delightful stories as The Adventures of Tom Bombadil, The Man in the Moon stayed up Too Late, Oliphaut, Cat, and The Last Ship.  You'll find stories that very obviously connect with the mythology of Middle-earth, and some that take a bit of work to discover where they fit.

The book includes many delightful illustrations by Pauline Baynes, Tolkien's preferred illustrator during his lifetime such as this one of Goldberry's daughter.

Oliphaunt is a wonderful little poem about one of Sam Gamgee's favorite animals.

If you enjoy Middle-earth and especially if you have ventured beyond the Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings then you definitely want to uncover a copy of this volume.  You'll enjoy expanding your understanding of the universe.  But beyond that these short tales and poems are enjoyable on their own.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5
Summary: A collection of short tales and poems set within Tolkien's Middle-earth.
Technical: 64 pages, hardcover, published in Great Britain (ISBN 0048210196), seventh impression in 1973.

~Matt

Book Review: The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien 2005 50th Anniversary Edition

The Lord of the Rings
50th Anniversary Deluxe Edition
by J. R. R. Tolkien

I first read The Lord of the Rings when I was in Junior High or High School.  I still have the battered paperback editions that I first read and I've re-read them several times (see below).  I also have the edition of The Fellowship of the Ring that I bought for a college course on the Inklings.  However, I decided after patching up the battered covers of my paperbacks yet again that I should get an omnibus edition before my books fell apart in a way that I couldn't repair.

I then ran across this volume while browsing the shelves at Joseph-Beth and I decided that I needed to pick it up.  Last winter I went ahead and purchased it--I think I used my January $5 voucher for the purchase to take a bit off the cover price of $30, and it was worth every penny.  I'm sure that I'll be rereading this many times over the coming years so that I'll definitely get the full value out of the purchase and likely many times over.

Three Rings for the Elven-kings under the sky,
     Seven for the Dwarf-lords in their halls of stone.
Nine for Mortal Men doomed to die,
     One for the Dark Lord on his dark throne.
In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.
     One ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them,
     One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them.
In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.
--from J. R. R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings

My original paperback editions on my shelf of Tolkien books.

This edition incorporates a number of edits over the years made to correct typos in past editions.  Before the text proper begins you can read a note on the text, a note on the 50th anniversary edition, and a forward to the second edition.  The text is of course a classic tale that should be well known to many.  I love the breadth of the scope of the story, the strong sense of verisimilitude, the fascinating and by now familiar characters, it is a joy to reread this story each time I go through it.

In the back of the book you'll find the normal series of maps of the Third Age of Middle-earth.  This is perhaps the only slight downside of the book that the maps are small, but giving the size of the pages it truly can't be helped.  If I ever want to reference better maps I pull out my hardcover copy of Unfinished Tales with its fold-out map or my Atlas of Middle-earth by Karen Wynn Fonstad.

If you're in need of a new edition of The Lord of the Rings or haven't yet read this classic I would suggest you look for this edition.  One further advantage of an omnibus edition is that it reminds you this is one story, not a trilogy of stories like the publication process could make you believe.

Rating: 5.5 out of 5
Summary: A new omnibus edition of the classic story of high adventure and good versus evil.
Technical: 1187 pages, faux leather cover.  Includes appendices, index, and maps.  Text is based off reset edition published in UK in 1994.

~Matt

Book Review: Tolkien Maker of Middle-earth by Catherine McIlwaine

Tolkien

Maker of Middle-earth
by Catherine McIlwaine

Last year I heard about the new exhibit Tolkien: Maker of Middle-earth coming to The Morgan Library & Museum in New York in the exhibit's only appearance outside of Oxford.  It sounded like something amazing to experience, and I tried to figure out how to make a trip to New York work so that I could see it.  I looked into flights, babysitters, time off, workload, and many other factors but sadly I just couldn't make the logistics work.

Even though I had to give up on the idea of seeing the exhibit in person I was still fascinated by the topic.  I've enjoyed the world of Middle-earth since I first cracked open the books in my childhood and recently I've started picking up more of Tolkien's books and books related to Tolkien.  Fortunately I discovered that there was an exhibit book that had been produced and so I decided that buying the book and reading through it would be my consolation prize.

The author is Catherine McIlwaine, Tolkien Archivist at the Bodleian Libraries for more than fifteen years, who also curated the exhibit.  The book is a massive collection that takes some time to peruse.  It opens with a series of essays by Catherine and other Tolkien experts, the titles of which I've listed below.  Even if you're already familiar with Tolkien's life you'll find some interesting nuggets and details in these passages.

• J. R. R Tolkien: A Biographical Sketch Catherine McIlwaine
• Tolkien and the Inklings John Garth
• Faërie: Tolkien's Perilous Land Verlyn Flieger
• Inventing Elvish Carl F. Hostetter
• Tolkien and 'that noble northern spirit' Tom Shippey
• Tolkien's Visual Art Wayne G. Hammond and Christina Scull

After the essays the meat of the book begins, the catalogue section that covers the artifacts in the exhibit.  There are nine different sections covering different aspects of Tolkien's work and his life.  Included are a number of photographs of Tolkien, his family, and other important people in his life.  The photograph below is of Tolkien and his brother Hilary in 1905.  On the right is Father Francis Morgan, the man who took over responsibility for the boys after their mother died and took care of their upbringing.

Many of the pages also show examples of Tolkien's own artwork.  While I enjoy many other artist's versions of Middle-earth, it is especially wonderful to experience Tolkien's direct visions of his masterpiece of secondary creation.  While he apparently didn't always think much of his talents I would argue that he was a decent artist.  I found his drawings on newspapers and other materials especially fascinating.  These are a series of Númenórean patterns that he doodled over the years.

In addition to these patterns Tolkien also made quite a number of paintings.  Here you can see his vision of Bilbo talking with Smaug on his hoard and the dragon dying after he is pierced by the arrow of Bard the Bowman.

By far my favorite section of the book was the last section, on maps.  As you may or may not know I'm a bit of a geography buff and really enjoy maps.  I especially enjoy novels with maps in them and have ever since I read the Lord of the Rings and pored over the map of the third age of Middle-earth.  This map is annotated by Tolkien and the artist Pauline Baynes.  You can see a larger version of the map itself at this link.  Apparently the map was only discovered in 2015, so amazingly it appears as though items may still be uncovered in the archives.

I bought the book in May of 2019, but took my time reading it, letting it stretch out over many months so that I didn't finish it all at once.  I did take a break of a couple months in the middle of that time as it sat beneath another stack of books.  I finally finished it last month in January 2020.  I enjoyed the entire time going through the book and was sad to see it come to an end.

Rating: 5.5 out of 5*
Summary: A fascinating exploration of the life of J. R. R. Tolkien through manuscripts, photographs, artwork, and other exhibit materials.
Technical: Hardcover, 416 pages, £40.00, $65.00§.  Includes select bibliography and detailed index. 180 catalogue items and many other additional images included.

*Yes, I'm cheating slightly on the rating.  This book is simply too enjoyable to just give a rating of 5 stars.
§I bought it for $41 something on Amazon, but see that it is currently listed for just over $32 as I post this.

~Matt

Library Sale

Today was the first day of the December Kenton County Library book sale.  I've learned that if I want to get the best choices I have to be there on the first day of the sale, which is normally Sunday.  I've noticed that there are often used book dealers there at the head of the line with their scanners, trying to find out what books are the best values for them to snap up.  I'm not totally opposed to them going to the sales as they're just trying to make a living, but it does seem a shame when regular people just trying to find a good deal have to struggle to get in ahead of them.  But anyway, Sunday is always a good day to hit the sale as you'll usually find the best selection.  Most of the books that haven't been put out yet are in boxes below the tables that you can browse through, so you're not really missing much.

When we first arrived at the library many people were lined up waiting outside.  It is normal for a few people to be waiting since the library doesn't open until 1:00 on Sunday afternoons, but there are always more on a book sale day.

I forgot until we entered that the book sales are in a new part of the building instead of the meeting room at the front of the library.  Thankfully there are handy signs to guide you in case you forget.

The room holding the sale is decently large and can hold a number of tables and people.

I have a friend that really enjoys Winston Churchill's books and so I keep a lookout for ones she doesn't have whenever I go to a sale.  Sadly she already had this one.

This was what our basket looked like partway through collecting books (okay, this was near the end, but before a couple of the best finds had been made).

I've enjoyed Star Trek for many years, so I jumped at the chance to pick up another reference volume when I saw the Start Trek The next Generation Companion.

Dragons and Unicorns, A Natural History by Paul and Karin Johnsgard is a volume that I'd never heard of before.  It is a number of years old, but looks to be an intriguing book purporting to examine the history of dragons and unicorns.

 I really enjoy reference books based upon fantasy and sci-fi universes.

 It even has maps, which is another huge plus to me because of how much I enjoy geography.

My wife really enjoyed Kay Thompson's Eloise books, so she grabbed these two as soon as she saw them.  The one on the left (The Absolutely Essential Eloise) contains the original book as well as a scrapbook of material about the book.

She also knows that I really enjoy Bill Peet's illustrated children's books, so when she found three hardcovers she put them into our basket.  I absolutely love his illustrations and his stories are so clever.  I might already have The Wump World and Huge Harold, but I think they're in paperback, and even if I have them it is definitely worth having another copy as I hope our kids read these books many, many times over the years.

No Such Things is a wonderful tale about various imaginary creatures that Peet invented and then proceeded to illustrate, like the Snoof with backwards facing feet.

I've enjoyed every one of Terry Pratchett's books that I've ever read, so a while ago I made a list of all the ones I was missing just so I would have an easy time figuring out which ones I should pick up at library sales.  I haven't seen one at a library sale and this time I found two (Guards, Guards! and Wyrd Sisters), but I already had a copy of the other one, so I left it for some other fortunate treasure hunter to discover.

I've enjoyed Jan Brett's illustrations for a number of years.  When my wife found Daisy Comes Home I knew that we had to get it as the story looked quite charming, and it is set in a different location than many of Brett's tales.  I've tried to make sure our kids get stories from around the world and not just from North America and Europe.

I lost track of the books that Donna Andrews wrote a number of years ago, but I have many of her first few books, so when I found these three I realized that it was a great opportunity to start catching up on the ones that I'd missed.  I found The Nightingale Before Christmas and Six Geese A-Slaying in the Christmas book section and then picked up The Real Macaw in the mystery section.

 Amy also found the classic volume When We Were Very Young by A. A. Milne.  I'm sure it will be fun to read these to our kids.

I didn't spot the small Tolkien section until just before I got ready to leave the sale.  There were a number of volumes that I already had (The Hobbit and various volumes of The Lord of the Rings), but then I saw these two books and knew that I had to get them. I heard about Tolkien's Roverandom a number of years ago and had mentally added it to the list of books I wanted to find.

 Tree and Leaf contains two stories by Tolkien, On Fairy-Stores and Leaf by Niggle.  They're both excellent, but On Fairy-Stories is definitely a classic treatise on the writing of fantastic fiction and the creation of secondary worlds.

We ended up with all of these books for just $17.75.  I really like the Kenton County sales as they tend to have the best prices in the area.  Cincinnati sales have good selection but are much more expensive.

I hope that you've enjoyed reading about this books, though probably not as much as I'll enjoy reading these books over the coming days, weeks, and months.  You can see all the pictures from the sale in this album.

~Matt

Twenty Ten

I was just looking at the description of myself in the sidebar of my blog when I had an idea.

A twenty *mumble* *mumble* something year old unrepentant biblioholic...

I'm not going to turn thirty in a couple years.  Instead I'll go from twenty-nine to twenty-ten.  This year is called twenty ten, so there is precedent for the title.  Additionally, Bilbo Baggins celebrated an eleventy first birthday, so I think I'd be in good company to use the word for a birthday celebration.

~Matt ;-)

Just finished

On my way home this evening I finished listening to the Silmarillion. It was definitely an amazing experience. I'm sure it might not have been quite as good if I hadn't read the book before. I love rereading books, it is like rediscovering old friends. And this time it was like seeing that old friend in a completely new way.

~Matt

Parallels

I mentioned recently on my Facebook page that I am listening to (unabridged of course, like fullscreen DVDs, I avoid abridged audio books like the plague--I want to see or hear the entire product, ;-)) an audio book of The Silmarillion. I procured it before my recent vacation and listened to it on both the trip down to Tennessee and the trip back. I've read the volume several times, but never listened to it before. I am really enjoying hearing correct pronounciations (some words I've apparently been mispronouncing for years), a great English accent, and amazing storytelling ability. It is refreshing to once again immerse myself in the worlds of Tolkien and remember what an awesome author he was. He truly could spin a masterful tale.

The first volume of the Silmarillion, the Ainulindalë, tells "the tale of the Music of the Ainur and the creation of Arda." It isn't an allegory by any means, but some parts of it are analagous to the real world. The divine being Ilúvatar is very similar to God (somewhat like Lewis' 'Emperor over the Sea' in the worlds of Narnia) and the main personal force of evil is Melkor, who becomes known as Morgoth Bauglir or 'Black Enemy,' a rough analogue to Satan. For he was of the greatest of the Ainur, very similar to angels, before he rebelled against Ilúvatar. At one point he was trying to introduce his own themes in the to the heavenly"music of the Ainur" and after he failed to take control, Ilúvatar said the following to him:

"And thou Melkor, shalt see that no theme may be played that hath not its uttermost source in me, nor can any alter the music in my despite. For he that attempteth this shall prove but mine instrument in the devising of things more wonderful, which he himself hath not imagined."
-JRR Tolkien, The Silmarillion, Ainulindalë, p 17, First American Edition

When I look at that paragraph I see something akin to what God could actually have told Satan ere he fell. Satan may think that he is in control (of anything), but in reality God is in control of all things, as revealed when Joseph spoke to his brothers in Genesis 50:20:

But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive.

God didn't merely use what his brothers did to bring about a good end, but he meant it for good.

All this to say that I am truly enjoying experiencing the Silmarillion yet again, in a new way. Next I'm going to listen to an audio reading of The Children of Húrin, which though it is a dark and depressing tale, is nevertheless epic Tolkien and a grand tale in the tradition of European tales like Beowulf.

I love how we can find things that point to God in many different places. It doesn't mean pantheism is true, or that everything has bits of God in it, or that everything is okay because you can "find God there," but He has been gracious enough to provide us with many examples of His love and character that we can see all around us.

~Matt