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octoberdad's review
3.0
Rating this a 3 primarily so as not to invoke Dave's ire. He's right that the tales are "turgid, tedious, and unconscionably self-indulgent." But then, he also uses "belike" in a nonsensical way.
Where I differ from him is in trying to imagine what the reviews would be in a world that didn't contain Tolkien's other published works. First of all, I shudder to think of such a world. Secondly, we don't live in that world, so what's the point in rating a book from that subjunctive point of view? Such arguments are simply attempts to justify one's own peevishness.
The Book of Lost Tales is a solid 3. No, the tales are not great, and yes sometimes they are downright terrible. But the book does precisely what it's supposed to do: Provide early, unrefined versions of stories that NEVER got to a point where Tolkien himself was comfortable publishing them. It's for the Tolkien lovers who want to delve into that minutiae. There's no reason to criticize the book simply because you're not one of those people.
Where I differ from him is in trying to imagine what the reviews would be in a world that didn't contain Tolkien's other published works. First of all, I shudder to think of such a world. Secondly, we don't live in that world, so what's the point in rating a book from that subjunctive point of view? Such arguments are simply attempts to justify one's own peevishness.
The Book of Lost Tales is a solid 3. No, the tales are not great, and yes sometimes they are downright terrible. But the book does precisely what it's supposed to do: Provide early, unrefined versions of stories that NEVER got to a point where Tolkien himself was comfortable publishing them. It's for the Tolkien lovers who want to delve into that minutiae. There's no reason to criticize the book simply because you're not one of those people.
celia_sphinxou's review
http://sphinxou.wordpress.com/2014/07/08/le-livre-des-contes-perdus-partie-1-_-tolkien/
nexusgoblin's review
3.0
Finally finished with this! I stopped reading this back in 2018, I think, because I was having a stressful year (...apparently I hadn't realized that 2019 would fucking suck or that 2020 would basically rewrite society). So now that I'm stuck at home with books I've put down for one reason or another, I decided to tackle it again.
You would think that this was a tome with the way it's written, but it's under 300 pages. It's a dense work and full of details on the notes on the histories and function of the language used, as well as changes. It's a hard read even for someone who loves all the minute.
You would think that this was a tome with the way it's written, but it's under 300 pages. It's a dense work and full of details on the notes on the histories and function of the language used, as well as changes. It's a hard read even for someone who loves all the minute.
kurtpankau's review
4.0
BoLTp1 is the first half of an early attempt at what would eventually become The Silmarillian, supplied with notes and commentary by Christopher Tolkien, the author's son. Compiled from notes and drafts from a number of hand-written notebooks, BoLTp1 follows the vein of Unfinished Tales and kicks off the twelve-volume history of Middle-Earth in which Tolkien the younger explores his fathers vast and slowly-developing legendarium.
I actually liked this a lot better than Unfinished Tales. It's still dry, and it will really only be of interest to Tolkien fans who actually enjoy The Silmarillian. In this early version follows a man named Eriol who encounters a cottage full of tiny faeries who proceed to walk him through the Lost Tales--stories of their history before they diminished. The framing story was eventually abandoned, and the individual tales therein are in various stages of completion, but this early rendering is remarkably insightful. The mythology feels much more like Nordic mythology than the more Christian-like version that was ultimately published. The Gods are more petty and human. Melko feels much more akin to the trickster god Loki than the Lucifer-esque Melkor incarnation of the Silmarillian.
Even though the Lost Tales didn't survive, BoLTp1 demonstrates the passion of a young man (Tolkien wrote much of it in his twenties) who lives for the stories he wants to tell as he starts on a tremendous storytelling journey.
I actually liked this a lot better than Unfinished Tales. It's still dry, and it will really only be of interest to Tolkien fans who actually enjoy The Silmarillian. In this early version follows a man named Eriol who encounters a cottage full of tiny faeries who proceed to walk him through the Lost Tales--stories of their history before they diminished. The framing story was eventually abandoned, and the individual tales therein are in various stages of completion, but this early rendering is remarkably insightful. The mythology feels much more like Nordic mythology than the more Christian-like version that was ultimately published. The Gods are more petty and human. Melko feels much more akin to the trickster god Loki than the Lucifer-esque Melkor incarnation of the Silmarillian.
Even though the Lost Tales didn't survive, BoLTp1 demonstrates the passion of a young man (Tolkien wrote much of it in his twenties) who lives for the stories he wants to tell as he starts on a tremendous storytelling journey.
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