Reviews - Sprookjes & vertellingen

269 reviews for:

Sprookjes & vertellingen

J.R.R. Tolkien, Max Schuchart

4.01 AVERAGE

notdanross's review against another edition

3.75

lighthearted mysterious relaxing medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

candelibri's review against another edition

3.0

lighthearted medium-paced

allyreadstoomuch's review against another edition

3.0

Not really what I expected or hoped for

penguin_emperor_of_the_north's review against another edition

4.0

Part of this just really appealed to nostalgia. I remembered reading Roverandom and Farmer Giles of Ham when I was younger but only recalled the most bare bones of details. And I'd never read Smith of Wooton Major or Leaf by Niggle before.

The first note I wrote down was that the stories are whimsical and charming. And they are. Roverandom journey's to and sees the strangest of places and things. The common sense of animals is a great driver of Farmer Giles. Smith of Wooton Major relates Smith's long exploration of Elfland and the wonders he sees there. But it'd be a disservice to leave it at 'whimsical' and 'charming'.

I really appreciate the style of narration where the narrator chimes in with his own commentary on events. Like remarking that it doesn't matter if whales sleeping on the bottom of the sea is scientifically inaccurate. This particular one doesn't care. Or that the only commonality between an immigrant to the ocean and the native fish is drinking . . . Or that one might get hubristic after a dragon grovels at your feet.

I appreciate that style. It's silly enough to just laugh at but they can still get caught in your mind for a while.

And Leaf by Niggle (the story I picked this up initially looking for) was great. Does a great job highlighting the things that are genuinely important and what a person's truly lasting contributions are. That's intentionally vague but I really liked it, solid read.

bbrassfield's review against another edition

4.0

First off, I've been a Tolkien geek since I was twelve years old. I've read the biggies three times over and the various Silmarillion related publications too. I love it all. I love Tolkien's understanding of culture and metaphor, and his great respect for the power of language (see his wonderful essay On Fairy Stories) in creating mythology. Being a philologist he also understood the timeless nature of the various elements that come together in mythmaking and this adds a certain level of depth to his fiction. Despite all of this, I had never read his "lighter" work that he created early in his career, works that reflect his belief in the power of fairy tales. I remember after reading the Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings for the first time picking up at the library a copy of The Tolkien Reader, which features all of the tales collected here, minus Roverandom, but somehow the tales remained closed to me until now. My loss really as I absolutely loved Leaf by Niggle and Smith of Wooton Major. Simply wonderful, beautifully told allegorical tales of pure magic. How's that for a description haha. Farmer Giles of Ham is also great fun, with some creative wordplay that perhaps only philologists or lovers of semiotics might truly appreciate. I can imagine Umberto Eco enjoying Tolkien's little tale of the odd relationship between the dragon and opportunistic farmer. Capping the volume off is the so called hobbit-verse Adventures of Tom Bombadil, perhaps the most enigmatic character ever to grace the pages of Tolkien's mythological fiction. The verses show a being both in love with, and at one with his natural surroundings. No doubt the author felt a great kinship with old Tom. I know I do. Oddly enough, Roverandom, not published until 1997, but dating to 1925, is my least favorite in the collection. Perhaps if the story had featured a cat instead of a small dog (I prefer the German Shepherd type) I would have enjoyed it more.