mistermatte's review against another edition

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adventurous funny lighthearted fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

wafer's review against another edition

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2.0

Coming from the perspective of enjoying "Roverandom", I expected a bit more. One thing that I really enjoyed about Tolkien's other more child-oriented work was its surreal qualities. It might have been written simply, but it had a creative spark that kept the reader relatively surprised throughout.

This book, while written in the same innocent tone, was much less engaging than I wanted it to be. It's an ordinary Hero's Journey with little to no deviation. It may be written well and with some charm, but that gentle Tolkien style can't save the story.

I always try to come at my ratings for these kinds of books with the perspective of the intended age group, but I honestly think that any young person familiar with this type of story would find "Farmer Giles" rather dull.

michconroy's review against another edition

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adventurous funny inspiring fast-paced

4.0

vaniltea's review against another edition

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adventurous funny lighthearted fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

ianroxas's review against another edition

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5.0

Love this edition of the book, with its gallery of illustrations by Pauline Baynes, a copy of the original text and the unfinished sequel, and notes on different parts of the story. The introduction also gives a background on how the story came to be and how it saw publication (via another glowing review by Rayner Unwin!) :)

The audiobook performed by Derek Jacobi is beautiful too.

mimirtells's review against another edition

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4.0

Puanım 4/5 (%80/100)

Kitabın kapağına ve içindeki resimlere bayılıyorum. Okuması çok çok eğlenceli ve aynı zamanda güzel ders veren bir Tolkien kitabı. Orta Dünya ile alakası olmayan Tolkien’in çocuklara önce sözlü olarak anlattığı daha sonra yazıya döktüğü kitaplardan birisi. (Roverandom gibi) Kitapta Ham’lı Çiftçi Giles dışında Tolkien ile ilgili birçok yararlı notlar ve resimler de bulunuyor o yüzden hepsini okumanızı tavsiye ederim. Tolkien 'e başlamak için güzel bir kitap.

Kitap adından tahmin edildiği gibi ana kahramanımız Giles adında sıradan bir çiftçi. Giles bir gün uyurken köpeği Garm tarafından uyandırılıyor. Köpeği önce dikkate almayan Giles daha sonra yaşadığı yer olan Ham’ın bir dev tarafından saldırıya uğradığını görüyor. Aklını kullanıp devi alt eden Giles’in ünü gittikçe artıyor. Bunu duyan Kral Giles’i yanına çağırıyor ve ödül olarak bir kılıç veriyor. Giles’in ünü gittikçe artmaya devam ediyor ve daha sonradan öğreniyoruz ki kralın verdiği kılıç aslında efsunlanmış çok güçlü bir kılıç. Kılıç kınından sadece bir ejderhanın yakınında çıkabiliyor ve tahmin Giles ne ile karşılaşıyor? Tabii ki uzun süredir kendilerini göstermeyen ejderhalardan birisiyle. Ejderha’yı öldürmek istemeyen Giles onunla bir anlaşma yapıyor ve kılıçtan korkan ejderha kabul ediyor. Daha sonra Kral kılıcı geri istese de Giles vermiyor. Yıllar geçiyor ve Giles artık çok ünlü ve zengin birisi haline gelmiş. Kendisine saraylar yaptırıyor ve kral olarak zenginliğini sürmeye devam ediyor.

diana_raquel's review against another edition

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adventurous funny lighthearted fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

"Farmer Giles went home feeling very uncomfortable. He was finding that a local reputation may require keeping up, and that may prove awkward."

Just like The Hobbit and Roverandom, this book was created by Tolkien to entertain his children, then it became a more elaborate and complete story. This is a short story about a misunderstanding and how those can grow, that, what seems like something inconspicuous and beneficial at first, becomes a curse.

Overall, I really liked this story. It's a short story with a beginning, middle, and end, funny and entertaining! And I think that this can be a really good entry story to start Tolkien since we can find some characteristics of Tolkien's writing, but since it's a simple story, it can be easier to understand than The Hobbit or The Lord of the Rings

Totally recommend!

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felinity's review against another edition

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4.0

Can't imagine a better narrator than Derek Jacobi, especially for the sly wit of Tolkien!

just_a_touch_of_bibliomania's review against another edition

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adventurous funny lighthearted

5.0

nevir's review against another edition

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adventurous medium-paced
  • Loveable characters? No

4.0