dts@gitpyr.UUCP (Danny Sharpe) (03/25/85)
In article <1018@topaz.ARPA> @RUTGERS.ARPA:milne@uci-icse lists some of Tolkien's works: > > - The Silmarillion (posthumous; completed and edited by Tolkien's son. > - Unfinished Tails > - The Road Goes Ever On and On > - The Adventures of Tom Bombadil > - Leaf by Niggle > You've missed some: Tolkien's son is editing three more books along the same lines as _Unfinished_Tales_. Two are out already (_The_Book_of_Lost_Tales Parts 1 and 2). The third one I think will be called _The_Lays_ of_Beleriand_. Then there's a book of essays and lectures called _The_Monsters_ and_the_Critics_, also edited by his son. In one of the lectures ("The Secret Vice") he talks about his passion for inventing languages and why he did so. Then there are two more books: _The_Father_Christmas_Letters_, a collection of letters written by Father Christmas (actually by Tolkien) and delivered to Tolkien's children at Christmas, and another short book which I haven't read called _Mr._Bliss_. And you can get some of his translations from Old English (like _Finn_and_Hengest_, etc.). Caedmon puts out (or used to) several record albums: _Poems_and_ Songs_of_Middle_Earth (which is a recording of the music in _The_Road_Goes_Ever_On_), two records of Tolkien reading from _The_Hobbit_ and TLOTR, and a record of Christopher Tolkien reading from _The_Silmarillion_. There is some Elvish on a couple of the albums. (I don't know if all these are still in print, but I've seen them at Oxford Book Store, 2345 Peachtree Road NE, Atlanta GA, zipcode unknown.) > > However, never in all my readings have I encountered anything that even >approaches The Lord of the Rings in stature, even the things I've read and >re-read with undiminished pleasure. Its impression on me is so strong that >I'll risk sticking my neck out and calling it "the best" with no more >qualification than a "probably". Which, as a subsequent message rightly >pointed out, is most unwise practice. >... > One other point: when I said "prolific", I did not mean in the sense of >being a veritable book factory. I was thinking rather of Tolkien's ability to >pursue his explorations of the intertwined histories of Middle Earth, and its >languages and cultures, in seemingly unending depth and detail along so many >different paths, while never losing the beauty of the epic. Those explorations >have produced the works I listed above: not many, by some standards, but great >by almost any. This unceasing power in his writing is what I meant by >"prolific". I heartily agree. I don't know of any other world, created by any other author, that is both as deep and as broad as Middle Earth. One of several reasons Tolkien invented the place was to give the English people a body of myths, and he spent most of his life working on it. I think he did a good job, and if we forget his work it'll be to our shame. I won't call his work "the best" or "the most enjoyable", but I will say it's a large body of work and it has depth and much beauty for anyone who cares to look. You don't have to dig deep to find the good qualities. -Danny -- Either Argle-Bargle IV or someone else. -- Danny Sharpe School of ICS Georgia Insitute of Technology, Atlanta Georgia, 30332 ...!{akgua,allegra,amd,hplabs,ihnp4,seismo,ut-ngp}!gatech!gitpyr!dts -- -- Either Argle-Bargle IV or someone else. -- Danny Sharpe School of ICS Georgia Insitute of Technology, Atlanta Georgia, 30332 ...!{akgua,allegra,amd,hplabs,ihnp4,seismo,ut-ngp}!gatech!gitpyr!dts