Reviews

The Story of Kullervo by J.R.R. Tolkien

supersanni's review against another edition

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4.0

Todellakin lukemisen arvoinen, ehkä enemmän tässä arvostin Tolkienin esseetä kuin itse Kullervon tarinaa. Lukemisen jälkeen tuli fiilis, että täytyisi päästä lukemaan Kalevala. Oli ihanaa lukea kuinka paljon Tolkien rakasti Kalevalaa ja Suomea.

lancefestivalen's review against another edition

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Nej. Jag är ledsen, men det här är banne mej oläsbart. Nåt slags första, trevande försök att ens skriva prosa, influerat av Kalevala (tydligen, men vad vet jag?).

Lockelsen låg i det faktum att det här dels skulle vara något slags urversion - ett första utkast till pre-alphan - av det som så småningom skulle finslipas om och om igen och till slut så fröet som i sin tur skulle växa upp och bli Sagan om Ringen, och dels i att det skulle vara det mörkaste (jo, jag är så lättköpt) Tolkien någonsin skrivit.

Allt detta må vara sant. Men det går inte att läsa. Kilometerlånga meningar i svindlande prosadiktformat med bisarr meningsbyggnad och generellt osammanhängande svammel skall alltså leda till något slags berättelse.

Dra åt helvete.

Tolkien rodnar i sin grav.

stefania18's review against another edition

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4.0

Another summer, another moment of Tolkienian reverie

helenafaustina's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix

4.0

Not my favorite but good from a literary point of view.

the_sunken_library's review against another edition

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3.0

The tale is actually only 41 pages, the majority of this book is made up from two versions of the same speech given by Tolkien about his inspiration "The Kalevala" (a 19th-century work of epic poetry compiled by Elias Lönnrot from Karelian and Finnish oral folklore and mythology) and an interpretative essay on the impact/role this short story/retelling had on the Silmarillion by the editor, Verlyn Flieger, plus a bunch of glossaries.

While I don't doubt the impact and relevance this "exercise" (which it is in my opinion, more than anything of substance) - his first dabbling in "Language informing Literature", practicing his ballads and generally getting to grips with "Epic" style, this could have been included as a preface to a new printing of the Silmarillion or in the next Tolkien volume.

r_b_c's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional fast-paced

4.25

malu's review against another edition

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dark informative reflective slow-paced

3.0

lfsalden's review against another edition

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5.0

Wow.
Wrote a sermon on this one - Kullervo's path through the Hero's Journey parallels what we know about trauma and trauma recovery from modern neurobiology.

tamara_joy's review against another edition

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adventurous informative

4.0


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xknight95's review against another edition

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2.0

I enjoyed the actual story written by Tolkien (even if it was a bit confusing at times and incomplete). It is such a tragedy that the story will never be completed. The other 150 pages or so were not that interesting for me.