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4.01 AVERAGE
4.01 AVERAGE
A really cool collection of stories, I love how they all tie in to the Middle Earth universe, and take it further outwards than just LOTR and The Hobbit. Such an fun, engaging set of stories, I spaced them out over a few rainy days, and thoroughly enjoyed the read.
Roverandom- Written for Tolkien's middle son after he lost his toy dog, Roverandom took a bit of getting used to since it is about dogs and sand wizards and the man-in-the-moon and not hobbits and kings and elves. But the humor and the characters grow on you; out of all the stories it was my favorite.
Farmer Giles of Ham- A hilarious story about a fat farmer who manages to scare off an ogre and so, quite by accident, becomes an appointed dragon-slayer, even though the dragon proves to be far less fierce than he first appears. Very, very funny, especially toward the end when the king is involved.
Tom Bombadil- After having read Lord of the Rings, I assumed this entire portions of poems would be pieces already quoted in the book. However, the poems are all completely different, with different subjects and settings and ranging from the light-hearted to wistful and sad. Each is accompanied by one of Alan Lee's beautiful sketches.
Smith of Wooton Major- The story has a slow start, but once Smith becomes connected to the fairy world, the reader gets to feel the longing, always the longing, he has to go back to it, to become part of a world to which he cannot belong. It's beautiful and bittersweet and funny as well.
Leaf by Niggle- By far the oddest story, in that the plot is disjointed and the characters are few. But if you stop thinking about that and try to imagine by Niggle's picture- the tree leading into the forest and the mountains peeping out behind, you will get a sense of its beauty and wish that you could go there too. A story for artists or anyone who has ever wanted to be an artist.
In all, a beautiful collection of stories made all the more excellent by the accompanying illustrations.
Farmer Giles of Ham- A hilarious story about a fat farmer who manages to scare off an ogre and so, quite by accident, becomes an appointed dragon-slayer, even though the dragon proves to be far less fierce than he first appears. Very, very funny, especially toward the end when the king is involved.
Tom Bombadil- After having read Lord of the Rings, I assumed this entire portions of poems would be pieces already quoted in the book. However, the poems are all completely different, with different subjects and settings and ranging from the light-hearted to wistful and sad. Each is accompanied by one of Alan Lee's beautiful sketches.
Smith of Wooton Major- The story has a slow start, but once Smith becomes connected to the fairy world, the reader gets to feel the longing, always the longing, he has to go back to it, to become part of a world to which he cannot belong. It's beautiful and bittersweet and funny as well.
Leaf by Niggle- By far the oddest story, in that the plot is disjointed and the characters are few. But if you stop thinking about that and try to imagine by Niggle's picture- the tree leading into the forest and the mountains peeping out behind, you will get a sense of its beauty and wish that you could go there too. A story for artists or anyone who has ever wanted to be an artist.
In all, a beautiful collection of stories made all the more excellent by the accompanying illustrations.
My overall thoughts:
1. This is a collection of short stories from J.R.R. Tolkien including; Roverandom; Famer Giles of Ham; The Adventures of Tom Bombadil; Smith of Wootten Major and Leaf By Niggle. This edition also includes the essay 'On Fairy-Stories'. I found this book to be the perfect nighttime read as I could fit in one story and then read the next the following night!
2. As I have said before I think Tolkien has one of the most poetic and beautiful writing styles I have ever read and I immensely enjoy reading his work. This novel was jam packed full of adventure and amusing tales that anyone would love to read!
3. Along with the stories are illustrations from Alan Lee which are absolutely gorgeous and really bring the story to life. I feel this really adds to the edition of this book that I own and would recommend taking a look at the illustrations if given the chance! Alan Lee is an awesome artist.
4. I would highly recommend this to anyone with children who wishes to introduce them to Tolkien but nonetheless this is a wonderful read that all would enjoy!
1. This is a collection of short stories from J.R.R. Tolkien including; Roverandom; Famer Giles of Ham; The Adventures of Tom Bombadil; Smith of Wootten Major and Leaf By Niggle. This edition also includes the essay 'On Fairy-Stories'. I found this book to be the perfect nighttime read as I could fit in one story and then read the next the following night!
2. As I have said before I think Tolkien has one of the most poetic and beautiful writing styles I have ever read and I immensely enjoy reading his work. This novel was jam packed full of adventure and amusing tales that anyone would love to read!
3. Along with the stories are illustrations from Alan Lee which are absolutely gorgeous and really bring the story to life. I feel this really adds to the edition of this book that I own and would recommend taking a look at the illustrations if given the chance! Alan Lee is an awesome artist.
4. I would highly recommend this to anyone with children who wishes to introduce them to Tolkien but nonetheless this is a wonderful read that all would enjoy!
I love this so much. There are so many different kinds of poems and stories in here: sad, laugh-out loud funny, imaginative...something for every mood. And the pencil illustrations by Alan Lee are beautiful and compliment the stories perfectly.
Better still, it was a Christmas present so I can read it again and again as I want!
Better still, it was a Christmas present so I can read it again and again as I want!
Individual ratings:
Roverandom: **
Farmer Giles of Ham: ***/*
The Adventures of Tom Bombadil: ****
Smith of Wootton Major: ***
Leaf by Niggle: ***/*
On Fairy-stories: **
Roverandom: **
Farmer Giles of Ham: ***/*
The Adventures of Tom Bombadil: ****
Smith of Wootton Major: ***
Leaf by Niggle: ***/*
On Fairy-stories: **
Tolkien Schreibstil ist durchaus auch mal anstrengend, aber diese Ausgabe mit ihren Illustrationen ist einfach traumhaft
Roverandom - 4/5
Farmer Giles of Ham - 3.5/5
The Adventures of Tom Bombadil - 4/5
Smith of Wootton Major - 4/5
Leaf by Niggle - 4/5
On Fairy-stories - 5/5
Farmer Giles of Ham - 3.5/5
The Adventures of Tom Bombadil - 4/5
Smith of Wootton Major - 4/5
Leaf by Niggle - 4/5
On Fairy-stories - 5/5
The audio version of this book was a delight, with the sole exception of The Adventures of Tom Bombadil, which I think is less a criticism of the work and more a failing on my part to connect with the poetry.
No, Tom Bombadil, we just can't get along, no matter what you say. It's not you, it's me. And I do understand it's not your fault you've been written in verse. But it's just all working against you. Life's tough.
Buy anyway. This is a funny book (I mean... a strange one). It's hard to sum it up - to be honest, each of the fairytales deserves its own rating. But like I said, life can be tough, so we'll just have to do with a single one.
I liked most of these fairytales (and hey, you already know which one I didn't like). The book is also illustrated very nicely. The stories are all so different - ranging from a truly children's story (about an enchanted puppy, turned into a toy) to a nearly metaphysical story about death and afterlife, the completion of one's life's work. I guess I could sum it up that this is Tolkien Lite - Tolkien for the non-Tolkien reader. I don't plan to read anything else by him, as The Hobbit and this is pretty much as far as I can go - so if you're like me, you could enjoy this.
Buy anyway. This is a funny book (I mean... a strange one). It's hard to sum it up - to be honest, each of the fairytales deserves its own rating. But like I said, life can be tough, so we'll just have to do with a single one.
I liked most of these fairytales (and hey, you already know which one I didn't like). The book is also illustrated very nicely. The stories are all so different - ranging from a truly children's story (about an enchanted puppy, turned into a toy) to a nearly metaphysical story about death and afterlife, the completion of one's life's work. I guess I could sum it up that this is Tolkien Lite - Tolkien for the non-Tolkien reader. I don't plan to read anything else by him, as The Hobbit and this is pretty much as far as I can go - so if you're like me, you could enjoy this.