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najdvss's review against another edition
3.0
my father gave me this book for my birthday! i sort of liked it, i guess. it was fun to see the different ‘generations’ of the story but i just got bored eventually. tolkien will however have to teach me how to write his rhymes though because hot diggity damn what thesaurus kind of brain allowed him to make such smooth and rhyming and descriptive sentences??????? beren & luthiens story = pretty. but this book compilation of it fell flat eventually.
sterlingprimerius's review against another edition
3.0
Yeah, so after reading [b:The Children of Húrin|597790|The Children of Húrin|J.R.R. Tolkien|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1390692771l/597790._SY75_.jpg|5725966] this was a bit of a let down. In Children of Húrin Christopher Tolkien mentions that of the extensive history of the Elder Days (First Age) Middle-Earth that his father wrote, three great tales were suited for publishing. These have, of course , all been released now, [b:The Children of Húrin|597790|The Children of Húrin|J.R.R. Tolkien|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1390692771l/597790._SY75_.jpg|5725966], [b:Beren and Lúthien|41015249|Beren and Lúthien|J.R.R. Tolkien|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1533061452l/41015249._SY75_.jpg|53286704] and [b:The Fall of Gondolin|39798828|The Fall of Gondolin (Middle-Earth Universe)|J.R.R. Tolkien|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1535688410l/39798828._SY75_.jpg|61528638]. But the extend of available material is different.
Let me first mention that the story of Beren and Lúthien I like, it is entirely the reason for giving three stars. Well that and the fact that the novel does expand on the history of Middle-Earth and that is always a plus.
However, it appears that for Children of Húrin the story was pretty much complete, written in consistent prose. But for Beren en Lúthien it is completely different. There's material from early Silmarillion manuscripts, The Lost Tales, summaries and poems that Tolkien wrote about this tale. Each piece covering only a part of the story or telling the story in a slightly different way. This makes Beren and Lúthien more of a study of what the story could have been, instead of solidly written novella.
Christopher Tolkien gives some background here and there, but generally just presents us with different pieces of text written by his father in various moments in time. Not all material Tolkien has ever written on Beren and Lúthien, but those pieces that Christopher Tolkien felt would allow us to form a full version in our heads and see the changes the story underwent as time went on, as Tolkien started and abandoned rewrites of the story multiple times.
Some older terms that Tolkien later dropped are still in use in some of these texts, such as referring to the Noldor (Elves) as Gnomes. Other things that changed over time is Beren being a Noldor in the first version and a Man in later versions. The evil 'Prince of Cats' is later replaced by Thû the Necromancer, who is Lord of Werewolves, but is also the first appearance of Sauron.
One of the things I liked was the ending of the first version of the tale, in which the person telling the tale ends up in a discussion with some others about several myths in regards to what happened to Beren and Lúthien after the end of the tale, which seem to indicate that the two of them ended up having a second life, a mortal life. This is confirmed in some later editions and some exempts from Lost Tales.
Overall I enjoyed the story of Beren and Lúthien as I mentioned before, but reading the same story multiple times with some subtle and some not so subtle differences in the same book, kind of took some of the fun out of it. Therefore 3 stars!
Let me first mention that the story of Beren and Lúthien I like, it is entirely the reason for giving three stars. Well that and the fact that the novel does expand on the history of Middle-Earth and that is always a plus.
However, it appears that for Children of Húrin the story was pretty much complete, written in consistent prose. But for Beren en Lúthien it is completely different. There's material from early Silmarillion manuscripts, The Lost Tales, summaries and poems that Tolkien wrote about this tale. Each piece covering only a part of the story or telling the story in a slightly different way. This makes Beren and Lúthien more of a study of what the story could have been, instead of solidly written novella.
Christopher Tolkien gives some background here and there, but generally just presents us with different pieces of text written by his father in various moments in time. Not all material Tolkien has ever written on Beren and Lúthien, but those pieces that Christopher Tolkien felt would allow us to form a full version in our heads and see the changes the story underwent as time went on, as Tolkien started and abandoned rewrites of the story multiple times.
Some older terms that Tolkien later dropped are still in use in some of these texts, such as referring to the Noldor (Elves) as Gnomes. Other things that changed over time is Beren being a Noldor in the first version and a Man in later versions. The evil 'Prince of Cats' is later replaced by Thû the Necromancer, who is Lord of Werewolves, but is also the first appearance of Sauron.
One of the things I liked was the ending of the first version of the tale, in which the person telling the tale ends up in a discussion with some others about several myths in regards to what happened to Beren and Lúthien after the end of the tale, which seem to indicate that the two of them ended up having a second life, a mortal life. This is confirmed in some later editions and some exempts from Lost Tales.
Overall I enjoyed the story of Beren and Lúthien as I mentioned before, but reading the same story multiple times with some subtle and some not so subtle differences in the same book, kind of took some of the fun out of it. Therefore 3 stars!
johnbishop213's review against another edition
1.0
I would give this book less than one star if I could. Almost quit my book club when they made me read this.
brigii's review against another edition
3.0
No matter how much I love Tolkien's world, it was tiring.
kerisreads's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
4.0
soupgirl9's review against another edition
3.0
If your man is not willing to get enslaved by the literal devil bc he was trying to impress your dad he is not the one for you!
alitasharing's review against another edition
5.0
Magnificent - truly a labour of love. It is such a gift to be given this kind of insight into J.R.R. Tolkien's writing process and see the evolution of a single love story dedicated to his wife. Younger Tolkien's sincere and thorough dedication to his father's literary legacy has always and will continue to move me. My gratitude to him is unending.
italorebelo's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
sad
fast-paced
4.0