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niche070 's review for:
Tales from the Perilous Realm
by J.R.R. Tolkien
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I have mixed feelings about this book. On the one hand, it's a collection of beautifully written short stories by one of the most acclaimed storytellers of the 20th century. On the other hand... the plot got a little hard to follow sometimes. (And I am ashamed to admit I did not read either the Introduction or the Appendix, but I expect I shall come back to them some time in the future).
And the names. The names. (In the first two stories, I mean. The latter 3 had easily pronounceable names).
Roverandom
This one was easily my favourite out of all the 5 stories here. Occasionally I find myself rolling my eyes at the little dog's silliness but that made it more fun to read. It's so lighthearted and innocent and the plot events are rather crazy that it's just such a delight to read. I loved the whimsicality, the settings, the light humour of the characters and of course, the writing itself, not to mention Alan Lee's gorgeous illustrations. But to be honest when I first saw the word "Psamathos Psamathides" and "Artaxerxes" on the page my brain went nooooo! I don't blame Rover for mixing up the PAM's name in the end :P
And the names. The names. (In the first two stories, I mean. The latter 3 had easily pronounceable names).
Roverandom
This one was easily my favourite out of all the 5 stories here. Occasionally I find myself rolling my eyes at the little dog's silliness but that made it more fun to read. It's so lighthearted and innocent and the plot events are rather crazy that it's just such a delight to read. I loved the whimsicality, the settings, the light humour of the characters and of course, the writing itself, not to mention Alan Lee's gorgeous illustrations. But to be honest when I first saw the word "Psamathos Psamathides" and "Artaxerxes" on the page my brain went nooooo! I don't blame Rover for mixing up the PAM's name in the end :P
The blind was down; but outside the moon rose up out of the sea, and laid the silver path across the waters that is the way to places at the edge of the world and beyond, for those that can walk on it.
The dragon came after them, flapping like a flapdragon and snapping like a snapdragon, knocking the tops of mountains off, and setting all the sheep-bells ringing like a town on fire.
Farmer Giles of Ham
This one was okay. I think I would have enjoyed it better were it not for the typos I found there that threw me out of the story. Garm was very comical and rather annoying, Farmer Giles himself (or should I say Ægidius Ahenobarbus Julius Agricola de Hammo) funny to read about, and his neighbours were interesting as well. This one had a more serious, grown-up tone to it than Roverandom.
The Adventures of Tom Bombadil
I found this one a little hard to get into at first since in the early chapters of the story I found the rhythm of the rhymes confusing at times. It got better as it went along though and my favourite is probably Perry-the-Winkle. Here again Alan Lee's illustrations really bring the poems to life, and I especially like the one in the Oliphaunt!
Smith of Wootton Major
This I also really liked. Smith of Wootton Major has a dreamlike quality to the storytelling, which added to the fairytale feel of it. I enjoyed walking with Smith through the strange and marvellous land of Faery, although I got lost a bit on what really happened in the ending.
In that dale the light was like a red sunset, but the light came up from the lake. From a low cliff that overhung it he looked down, and it seemed that he could see to an immeasurable depth, and there he beheld strange shapes of flame bending and branching and wavering like great weeds in a sea-dingle, and fiery creatures went to and fro among them.
Leaf by Niggle
While reading this story I felt that it had a certain sort of eerie unsettling quality about it, which isn't surprising since this is a story about death. I felt that I would have understood it better had I read the Introduction, but alas I did not. From what I understand, Leaf by Niggle is an allegory about death, and the Workhouse that Niggle went to was... purgatory? It was bittersweet in the end that Niggle was eventually completely forgotten by all the townspeople but had his own happy(ish) ending in Niggle's Parish.