Tolkien, "The Children of Húrin"

John

Anyone else looking forward to this? I can't wait!

quickbeam

Yeah - didn't know anything about it until recently, but am looking forward to it a lot. My favourite part of The Silmarillion and Unfinished Tales is Turin's story, so this should be really good.

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

as an atheist, it's a serious blow to my worldview that tolkien keeps releasing books after he died.

please stop.

ZorbaTehZ

lol Mordeth, however it's going to be christian or christopher or whatever he's called (his son) who's name shall appear on the front of the book afaik. Still though I get where you're coming from tbh.

John

J.R.R. appears on the book just like The Silmarillion and The History of Middle Earth books, Christopher appears in the smaller print below his father's name:

Illuvatar

NICE! Silmarillion one of my favorites. Christopher keeps on finding his fathers writings, that are mostly unfinished also he has to sort out all the papers, and keep in mind most of them are old and some handwriting is hard to decipher. As long as they don't screw anything up (which I'm sure they won't) it should be a good read.

Tar.Aldarion

Oh god yes. I hope this is good. The Silmarillion, Unfinished Tales and Lost Tales make me so happy, so very, very happy.

da_deadman

Yes really looking forward to this one - not long now before it goes on sale.

I really enjoyed The Silmarillion and Unfinished Tales, so keep up the good work Christopher.

slippery1

This is going to be awsome.Ive had my copy ordered for weeks! Chris Tolkien has been working on this for ages. Its one of the best stories in the whole history of Middle Earth. Murder, incest, betrayal, curses! what more do you want from an epic tale. This is from www.tolkienestate.com

"Three « Great Tales » were to be of most considerable importance to J.R.R. Tolkien in his creation of Middle-earth : Beren & Lúthien, The Fall of Gondolin, and The Children of Húrin. As was to be expected, these tales exist in many unfinished and heavily reworked forms. As a culmination of thirty years' work on his father's papers, and having already published such fragmentary and condensed forms of the tale of Túrin as part of the development of « The History of Middle-earth », Christopher Tolkien has now succeeded in assembling the multiple variants, unfinished pieces, and outlines of the tale to produce a standalone and complete version, entirely in the author's original words. The work therefore is accessible both as a new and complete version of the text for the Tolkien scholar, and as an entirely new tale from Middle-earth for the Tolkien reader who is not familiar with the great tales and mythology that are the roots of « The Lord of the Rings ». "

Illuvatar

What day does it come out?

John

Monday just gone I think. I pre-ordered it on Amazon but my credit card was at its limit when they went to charge me on Monday so I haven't got it yet. I've been sick so I haven't been out to see if it's in any shops here though.

da_deadman

yeah, it went on sale on either Monday or Tuesday of this week.

In a spot of good timing I recently got an Eason voucher for a birthday gift, so I might just go in to Easons after work today and see if i can pick up a copy of it.

r3nu4l

I just got my copy! I wasn't even expecting it, my gf bought it for me as a surprise

I'll start reading it tonight, can't wait! I had a quick flick through it and there are some great illustrations.

Roll on 5.30 this afternoon

/checks watch...again!

John

Is it sad that I'm excited for you?

r3nu4l

John wrote:

Is it sad that I'm excited for you?

Probably, but if the situation was reversed I'd be the same

Haven't formed any opinions about it yet. It's 313 pages including appendix but the print is quite large, makes a change from LOTR and the tiny print

John

Get off boards and start reading!

I nearly bought it this afternoon, but for some starange unexplainable reason I got Heart Shaped Box instead. Took me awhile to figure out why then it hit me, it was 32 euro in the shop, got it online for 17 euro.

tHE vAGGABOND

I bought a first pressing copy off ebay [I will be amazed if thats what I get - but whatever!]. I have 2 weeks holidays starting in a month, so I will keep it until then..

Started reading the Silmarillion today in preparation..

John

Wouldn't all the copies in circulation be first pressings considering it's a brand new book?

r3nu4l

Yes, they are all first edition, first print at the mo.

The most valuable of this text would be an original draft copy, after this an original uncorrected proof copy, then the first editon, first print.

Tbh, the only one of these texts worth any significant money would be a draft text. There will be millions of copies of The Children of Hurin printed in the first edition first print! They won't be worth anything, unless signed (by Christopher Tolkien) with a very specific message.

John

Yeah, it's not like when Tolkien was obscure when his books came out first when the first printing would be very small in comparison.

Tar.Aldarion

So, what is it like?

John

Mine arrived but I haven't started it yet. It looks lovely!

luckat

There's a brief review in yesterday's Evening Herald, reprinted on http://heatseekers.blogspot.com

If anyone wants my copy, shout.

simu

Is anyone else lolling at the title?

r3nu4l

^^ Well, I guess children are sometimes the result of Hoorin all right

Yes, I'm about half way through at the moment and loving it. The initial introductory chapter at the start is hard work and I had to go over it twice to try and determine fi there was any sense to it. Christopher Tolkien felt the book needed an introduction and while I disagreed at first, I did find it useful later on.

So far the book is very, very good, although it does seem to me like a very unfinished work. There are a number of events that occur throughout the main characters (Túrin) life but it seems to me that Tolkien hadn't finished fleshing out the book at all. It's almost like this is an early draft where the plot and main events are laid out as something to work on, develop and embellish.

It is still very good in my view and you do get to learn a lot more of the History of Middle-Earth so as someone who loves the index and appendices in the LOTR trilogy almost as much as the books themselves I'm quite happy with it so far.

Tar.Aldarion

simu wrote:

Is anyone else lolling at the title?

No, Tolkien: Serious business.
Now, back to Tar is a whore with you.

Can't wait to read this. Drool.

luckat

Seriously, if anyone wants my copy, just pm me. The cat chewed the cover a bit, but it's new otherwise.

Tar.Aldarion

Hmm, think I'll PM you.

John

Just finished it. I thoroughly enjoyed it (well, enjoy might not be the right word, this tale is grim). Granted sometimes it is obvious that the book is a Frankenstein of different drafts but it flows remarkably well. Hats off to Christopher Tolkien for another job well done.

Tar.Aldarion

Grim.

:P


I always wanted more about what this book is about, should adore it.
Is it long?

John

Not really, only about 230 pages make up the story, the rest is introductions and appendices. Still a lot longer than the little bits and pieces that have previously been made available.