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edders's review
4.0
For everyone hypnotised or enthralled by The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, I thoroughly recommend this book. Whilst it dawned slowly on me as a teenager that there is a depth and detail to Tolkien's classics belied (especially in The Hobbit) by their popularity and accessibility, this book has shown me now just how detailed and fascinating Tolkien's efforts were. The Hobbit and LoTR are patchworks of poetry, myths, legends, philology, history... it is fair to say that a first reading gives you no more than a fraction of the effort invested.
Luckily this book helps you realise that effort! Admittedly, I found the section on The Silmarillion less (though still very much so!) engaging, and the section on Tolkien's other small body of work less so still; but overall this is a fascinating read for anyone whose mind has at one point or another been held firmly by Tolkien. Maybe an ideal Christmas or birthday present for the friend you have who is obsessed with Middle-Earth; we all have one, unless it is ourselves.
Luckily this book helps you realise that effort! Admittedly, I found the section on The Silmarillion less (though still very much so!) engaging, and the section on Tolkien's other small body of work less so still; but overall this is a fascinating read for anyone whose mind has at one point or another been held firmly by Tolkien. Maybe an ideal Christmas or birthday present for the friend you have who is obsessed with Middle-Earth; we all have one, unless it is ourselves.
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