What I've Just Finished Reading

Nothing but For Whom the Bell Tolls, which I tolerated and sometimes admired but did not love. Anthony Burgess concedes that "Maria. . . is not quite as compelling as Tolstoy's Natasha, despite Hemingway's ambition and boast," which might be the Understatement of the Year; Maria is not quite as compelling as the ( Read more... )

“The Eldar, you say, are unpunished, and even those who rebelled do not die. Yet this to them is neither reward nor punishment, but the fulfilment of their being. They cannot escape, and are bound to this world, never to leave it so long as it lasts, for its life is theirs. And you are punished for the rebellion of Men, you say, in which you had ( Read more... )

"But in after days it was sung that Tuor alone of mortal Men was numbered among the elder race, and was joined with the Noldor, whom he loved; and his fate is sundered from the fate of Men."

( Surprisingly, for a change of pace, cities fall and everything is in ruins )

I'm behind on books and things because of poor time management, so here is a super-quick roundup of What I Have Been Reading:

Finnegans Wake is a river of puns and a river of rivers, and I don't know exactly what to make of it but I think I like it. Or maybe I just have James Joyce Stockholm Syndrome; who knows?

The Secret Country and Lud-in-the- ( Read more... )

In "Of the Ruin of Doriath," we learn that the Eagles are fallible. They go looking for Hurin, but the world is too big, and they never find him after Morgoth lets him go. The Silmarillion continues to be a wall of sadness and bad decisions, and maybe some decisions that are not obviously bad but just kind of mistaken in retrospect. Thingol's long ( Read more... )

What I've Just Finished Reading

Wendy Werris' memoir An Alphabetical Life: Living it Up in the World of Books picks up somewhat after Werris moves into her dream job as a publisher's representative, selling books to bookstores in the Southwest US. She meets people, makes friends, does her job well or poorly depending on circumstances, has a few ( Read more... )

Then Turin sprang about, and strode against him, and the edges of Gurthang shone as with flame; but Glaurung withheld his blast, and opened wide his serpent-eyes and gazed upon Turin. Without fear Turin looked into them as he raised up the sword; and straightaway he fell under the binding spell of the lidless eyes of the dragon, and was halted ( Read more... )

Last of all the eastern force to stand firm were the Dwarves of Belegost, and thus they won renown. For the Naugrim withstood fire more hardily than either Elves or Men, and it was their custom moreover to wear great masks in battle hideous to look upon; and those stood them in good stead against the dragons. And but for them Glaurung and his brood ( Read more... )

A few thoughts on the Silmarillion so far:

- There are a LOT of names and because Tolkien is Tolkien, a lot of similar syllables for family members and place-name components. It's genuinely difficult to keep them straight sometimes. The epic style is part of the problem for me -- I had no trouble in e.g. War and Peace, where there were many ( Read more... )

In Chapter 10, we have dwarves! MY FAVORITE. Though I wonder if they are my favorite just because there's relatively so little worldbuilding dedicated to them? But I also have a personal attachment to them because they are dedicated to the making of beautiful things without needing to be beautiful, and that is a distinction I prefer to keep nice ( Read more... )