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A review by isabellarobinson7
The Children of Húrin by Christopher Tolkien, J.R.R. Tolkien
5.0
Second read: 14/12/2022 - 15/12/2022
Rating: (actually) 5 stars
Yes, I changed it to five stars. It's Tolkien so I cannot be stopped, though I suppose I have a somewhat valid reason for upgrading my rating this time. When I first read The Children of Húrin back in 2020, I did so solely via audiobook, which was more than okay (I'll discuss the audiobook and its greatness in the next paragraph). But since then I have acquired a physical copy and it has pretty pictures! And not just any pictures - Alan Lee pictures. The best (Tolkien) illustrator on the planet. He grabs the words right out of Tolkien's head and then transforms them into the most perfect images with this almost frightening accuracy. My love for Alan Lee's illustrations is perhaps (in part) due to the fact that Peter Jackson heavily involved him as a concept artist for his film adaptations, (movies I adore) but I honestly have never seen an Alan Lee painting/drawing/picture/whatever that I have in any way disliked. Maybe he has all his bad ones hidden away somewhere, I don't know.
Once again, I did the audiobook for my second read through of The Children of Húrin and Sir Christopher Lee was just as amazing a narrator as the first time. I know this is hardly a matter of contention or debate, but we lost a master all too soon when he died in 2015. He was a legend on the screen, yes, but he truly had a largely untapped potential as an audiobook narrator. (Well, he did narrate a total of 16 books, and plus the job of an audiobook narrator was really only established globally in the latter years of his life. So I'm not sure exactly how "untapped" his potential there was.) His voice is just magnificent! So grand and imposing; a voice my mum would describe as "rich, smooth, like melted dark chocolate". I mean, for all I know The Children of Húrin could be Tolkien's worst book and I am just blind to it, because my experience of this story is just so wrapped up in Christopher Lee's glorious voice.
How can I give this anything other than 5 stars? I mean, it's John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, the literary master himself, combined with such resplendent artistry from Alan Lee and the transcendent narration from Christopher Lee (really breaking out the thesaurus for this one). Mmm. There must be something going on with all the Lees of the world.
First read: 09/05/2020 - 10/05/2020
Rating: 4 stars
Well, that was depressing. Probably not the best read for a covid-19 lockdown.
I thoroughly enjoyed each stage of Túrin's journey, and as always Tolkien's prose, while difficult to digest at times, felt like coming home. I listened to the audiobook narratored by Sir Christopher Lee aka Saruman the White and his voice suited Tolkien's stories perfectly, and made the experience even more interesting.
Middle-earth is giant. I have had to explain to my family several times that The Lord of the Rings is but a smidgen in the entirety of its history, in a similar way that World War Two is for us. The Children of Húrin definitely backed this up, and I never had a doubt that it wouldn't.
I wish I could give every Tolkien book in existence 100,000 stars, but I need to be critical sometimes, and not blindly read Tolkien then rate it like the Bible.
Rating: (actually) 5 stars
Yes, I changed it to five stars. It's Tolkien so I cannot be stopped, though I suppose I have a somewhat valid reason for upgrading my rating this time. When I first read The Children of Húrin back in 2020, I did so solely via audiobook, which was more than okay (I'll discuss the audiobook and its greatness in the next paragraph). But since then I have acquired a physical copy and it has pretty pictures! And not just any pictures - Alan Lee pictures. The best (Tolkien) illustrator on the planet. He grabs the words right out of Tolkien's head and then transforms them into the most perfect images with this almost frightening accuracy. My love for Alan Lee's illustrations is perhaps (in part) due to the fact that Peter Jackson heavily involved him as a concept artist for his film adaptations, (movies I adore) but I honestly have never seen an Alan Lee painting/drawing/picture/whatever that I have in any way disliked. Maybe he has all his bad ones hidden away somewhere, I don't know.
Once again, I did the audiobook for my second read through of The Children of Húrin and Sir Christopher Lee was just as amazing a narrator as the first time. I know this is hardly a matter of contention or debate, but we lost a master all too soon when he died in 2015. He was a legend on the screen, yes, but he truly had a largely untapped potential as an audiobook narrator. (Well, he did narrate a total of 16 books, and plus the job of an audiobook narrator was really only established globally in the latter years of his life. So I'm not sure exactly how "untapped" his potential there was.) His voice is just magnificent! So grand and imposing; a voice my mum would describe as "rich, smooth, like melted dark chocolate". I mean, for all I know The Children of Húrin could be Tolkien's worst book and I am just blind to it, because my experience of this story is just so wrapped up in Christopher Lee's glorious voice.
How can I give this anything other than 5 stars? I mean, it's John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, the literary master himself, combined with such resplendent artistry from Alan Lee and the transcendent narration from Christopher Lee (really breaking out the thesaurus for this one). Mmm. There must be something going on with all the Lees of the world.
First read: 09/05/2020 - 10/05/2020
Rating: 4 stars
Well, that was depressing. Probably not the best read for a covid-19 lockdown.
I thoroughly enjoyed each stage of Túrin's journey, and as always Tolkien's prose, while difficult to digest at times, felt like coming home. I listened to the audiobook narratored by Sir Christopher Lee aka Saruman the White and his voice suited Tolkien's stories perfectly, and made the experience even more interesting.
Middle-earth is giant. I have had to explain to my family several times that The Lord of the Rings is but a smidgen in the entirety of its history, in a similar way that World War Two is for us. The Children of Húrin definitely backed this up, and I never had a doubt that it wouldn't.
I wish I could give every Tolkien book in existence 100,000 stars, but I need to be critical sometimes, and not blindly read Tolkien then rate it like the Bible.