Silmarillion: finished!
I have finished The Silmarillion (and associated "books" it's packaged with, such as the Akallabeth and all that), and henceforth I am not trying to apply any of the diacritic marks to the vowels. Sorry, Professor. I'm on a schedule here.
So, yes: Beren and Luthien definitely need a movie made. Hollywood, you got to grab this one! You'd love it! It has, for one thing, two gorgeous leads, male and female, who get to do equally courageous feats of daring. It has a huge sweeping story of Forbidden Love. It has a talking wolfhound! Huan is my new favorite animal in Middle-earth. But then I'm not sure who my old favorite animal was. Bill the Pony? Theoden's horse? It has dragons. It has the hero and heroine turn themselves into a werewolf and a vampire bat. (If they hadn't done that, Hollywood, you know you would have made them do it anyway.) And it has a heartbreaking Orpheus-and-Eurydice tribute, with roles reversed, that if done properly should leave no dry eye in the house.
And frankly, they owe that to us after skimming through the Choices of Master Samwise in about 30 seconds of screen time. Grrr. Yes, I understand about pacing, but I'm still bitter about that.
Now, the story of Turin--good gracious, well, that would make a good movie if you were into the tragedies-per-capita of, say, Legends of the Fall, but I think it's too depressing for my tastes. Poor Turin.
Tuor's story, however, has some potential and some hope, especially if it extended into Earendil's life. Getting to voyage as a star into outer space! That's pretty sweet.
Then of course there's the rise and fall of Numenor, but we sort of already saw that, in miniature, with Denethor in Gondor later on.
I do have to say that it's getting repetitive to have the eagles rescue people at the last minute. I understand that's just what they do, but film audiences would think, "Hey, they stole that from LOTR." Heh. Speaking of which, I love the two-page sum-up of LOTR, in the "Rings of Power" chapter at the end; especially the ONE sentence about Frodo. "It is said that Frodo the Halfling took the Ring to Mount Doom and destroyed it; the end." "It is said." We're not really sure. Those Shirelings tell such tall tales when they've been drinking.
All in all I understand the urgency of the Ring quest much better than the wars over the Silmarils. At least the Ring could *do* something, and something very bad. The Silmarils were, well, pretty. I mean, *really* pretty, the light of heaven and all, but still. All the same, I bought it. And I admit by the end I loved this dang book. *sigh*
So, yes: Beren and Luthien definitely need a movie made. Hollywood, you got to grab this one! You'd love it! It has, for one thing, two gorgeous leads, male and female, who get to do equally courageous feats of daring. It has a huge sweeping story of Forbidden Love. It has a talking wolfhound! Huan is my new favorite animal in Middle-earth. But then I'm not sure who my old favorite animal was. Bill the Pony? Theoden's horse? It has dragons. It has the hero and heroine turn themselves into a werewolf and a vampire bat. (If they hadn't done that, Hollywood, you know you would have made them do it anyway.) And it has a heartbreaking Orpheus-and-Eurydice tribute, with roles reversed, that if done properly should leave no dry eye in the house.
And frankly, they owe that to us after skimming through the Choices of Master Samwise in about 30 seconds of screen time. Grrr. Yes, I understand about pacing, but I'm still bitter about that.
Now, the story of Turin--good gracious, well, that would make a good movie if you were into the tragedies-per-capita of, say, Legends of the Fall, but I think it's too depressing for my tastes. Poor Turin.
Tuor's story, however, has some potential and some hope, especially if it extended into Earendil's life. Getting to voyage as a star into outer space! That's pretty sweet.
Then of course there's the rise and fall of Numenor, but we sort of already saw that, in miniature, with Denethor in Gondor later on.
I do have to say that it's getting repetitive to have the eagles rescue people at the last minute. I understand that's just what they do, but film audiences would think, "Hey, they stole that from LOTR." Heh. Speaking of which, I love the two-page sum-up of LOTR, in the "Rings of Power" chapter at the end; especially the ONE sentence about Frodo. "It is said that Frodo the Halfling took the Ring to Mount Doom and destroyed it; the end." "It is said." We're not really sure. Those Shirelings tell such tall tales when they've been drinking.
All in all I understand the urgency of the Ring quest much better than the wars over the Silmarils. At least the Ring could *do* something, and something very bad. The Silmarils were, well, pretty. I mean, *really* pretty, the light of heaven and all, but still. All the same, I bought it. And I admit by the end I loved this dang book. *sigh*