I was in my local Borders today when I noticed a number of books that were written by him.
I know of the 5 usual titles. Hobbit, Lord of the rings trilogy, and Simulicrion(sp).
I saw a number of other books, 5 in total that sounded like they dealt with the history of middle earth, etc. Should these be read after hobbit and lord of the rings trilogy?
Feneant
05-22-01, 12:25 PM
If you ask me, they shouldn't be read at all.
Also, they aren't written by him, they are written by his son or something and are hardly worth it.
Holly E. Ordway
05-22-01, 12:35 PM
Tolkien wrote two full-length novels: The Hobbit, and The Lord of the Rings (which was published in three parts because the bindings of the day couldn't handle a book that long). He also wrote several shorter works, such as Smith of Wooton Major, Farmer Giles of Ham, and Leaf by Niggle, which are often published along with his essays.
He was working on The Silmarillion, a compilation of legends and stories about Middle Earth, drawn from his notes, when he died; after his death, his son Christopher Tolkien, along with Guy Gavriel Kay, finished editing and assembling the book, and published it.
The tons of other Tolkien books, such as the Lost Tales, the History of Middle Earth, and Unfinished Tales, are fragments of the notes and stories that Tolkien had written and not published. They are genuinely written by J.R.R. Tolkien; Christopher Tolkien is acting as the editor in assembling the pieces into books. However, these fragments are not anything like The Lord of the Rings. Tolkien was fascinated by creating an imaginary world, and he created languages, literature, history, and myth of that world. The novels are flavored by the fact that he had created and documented this vast world, but they're not the same kind of thing at all.
The "histories" and other lost tales are good if you are fascinated by the history of Middle Earth; for instance, if you think the appendices of Lord of the Rings are good reading. Since Tolkien never intended for these pieces to be published, they're not consistent in storyline, etc -- so another reason to read them might be if you are interested in how he created Middle Earth and changed things as he went along.
So my suggestion is: read The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings, and his short "novels" that I mentioned. Try out a bit of The Silmarillion; if you love it, then it's safe to read the histories. :) But if The Silmarillion isn't your cup of tea (and it's not mine, at all -- I love The Hobbit and LOTR but have never managed to finish The Silmarillion) then take a pass on the rest.
Vryce
05-22-01, 12:50 PM
Thank you both for the reply. That makes up my mind.
I intend to have read the Hobbit and at least the first 3rd of the Lord of the Rings before seeing the movie.
I have never read them to this point.
If my college would have had a humaties course in the works, I would have taken and read them in a heartbeat.
But, I will read them. :)
C-Mart
05-22-01, 02:46 PM
Hey Vryce, if you are interested there is a free Tolkien class at Barnes & Noble University (On-Line) as was previously mentioned in this thread:
Buy: