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New Tolkien Book - The Children of Hurin
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Administrator
Posted 2007-04-17 11:25 AM (#283)
Subject: New Tolkien Book - The Children of Hurin



Admin

Posts: 4102
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Location: Dallas, Texas

that's right.  a new Tolkien book!  i'm really excited about this one.  edited by son christopher and release 93 years after it was begun.  cnn has a review here.

happy reading!

- dave

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SapereAude
Posted 2007-04-27 5:40 AM (#308 - in reply to #283)
Subject: Re: New Tolkien Book - The Children of Hurin



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Have you started it yet? If you have give us the dirt so far.

Mr.Christian
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Administrator
Posted 2007-04-27 8:43 AM (#312 - in reply to #283)
Subject: Re: New Tolkien Book - The Children of Hurin



Admin

Posts: 4102
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Location: Dallas, Texas		Mr. Christian,
i have not as yet started the book. i'm trying to finish up my current read so i can get to tolkien. hopefully i can finish Gridlinked (by neal asher) this weekend. i will let you know how it is next week.

- dave
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icowrich
Posted 2007-06-30 8:12 PM (#518 - in reply to #312)
Subject: Re: New Tolkien Book - The Children of Hurin



Admin

Posts: 288
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Location: Irving, TX		How about now? Is it good?
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Administrator
Posted 2007-06-30 10:50 PM (#523 - in reply to #518)
Subject: Re: New Tolkien Book - The Children of Hurin



Admin

Posts: 4102
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Location: Dallas, Texas		well, i started it but found i did not have the time to sit down for a good long read which a book like this deserves so i put it down for now and moved on to other books that i can read in snatches here and there. i'll get back to it when things settle down a bit.

- dave
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icowrich
Posted 2007-07-01 11:56 AM (#529 - in reply to #523)
Subject: Re: New Tolkien Book - The Children of Hurin



Admin

Posts: 288
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Location: Irving, TX		I bet you'd read it if it won a Hugo!
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Administrator
Posted 2007-07-02 10:13 AM (#540 - in reply to #529)
Subject: Re: New Tolkien Book - The Children of Hurin



Admin

Posts: 4102
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Location: Dallas, Texas		you might be right about that but right now i'm digging the faster pace of SF! reading tolkien is like sitting down for a 4 course meal. you need a proper amount of time to relax and partake. don't have that kind of time so i'm opting for the fast food SF for now.

- dave
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icowrich
Posted 2007-07-02 6:40 PM (#556 - in reply to #540)
Subject: Re: New Tolkien Book - The Children of Hurin



Admin

Posts: 288
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Location: Irving, TX		I know what you mean. I just read a Turtledove novel in one day. He's the Piers Anthony of sci-fi....very prolific but not very good. Reading him was sort of like eating junk food...it tastes good at the time, but when afterwards, you regret it.

Edited by icowrich 2007-07-02 6:41 PM
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ethawyn
Posted 2008-11-29 8:16 PM (#1510 - in reply to #283)
Subject: Re: New Tolkien Book - The Children of Hurin



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Location: Vancouver, BC		When I first heard that there was going to be a "new" J.R.R. Tolkien book I was worried. While I knew that Christopher had completed some of his father's work before in the form of the Silmarillion, I didn't want anything to taint the perfection that is Middle-earth. Nonetheless I felt compelled to read the Children of Hurin and I'm glad to say my fears were unfounded.

Children of Hurin falls much more in the camp of the Simarillion than that of Lord of the Rings in many ways. While being the story of one family, it is still written much more in the style of a history than of a narrative story.

It is the general story of Children that is its strength, being the creation of J.R.R. himself. Tolkien shows in this story that he has the capacity to be a true tragedian. While Lord of the Rings is much more a Norse epic, the story of Children of Hurin falls firmly in the camp of the Greek tragedies. There are many times in the story that you might think you were reading the work of Sophocles himself. Indeed Hurin's children have lives that make the stories of Oedipus or Shakespeare's hamlet look positively bright. It is also a story that demonstrates, just as the classics, the terrible danger of hubris.

It's not a perfect book, however. While the universe and plot are as good as one expects from the senior Tolkien, the prose suffers some, as Christopher is not as good of an author as his father.

I prefer the tone and scope of Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit and the prose of those books is definitely stronger but Children of Hurin is worth checking out if your a Tolkien fan, or if you're studying the classic tragedy as it is a fabulous example of a modern story emulating that style.
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jynnantonnyx
Posted 2008-12-01 10:15 AM (#1512 - in reply to #1510)
Subject: Re: New Tolkien Book - The Children of Hurin



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Location: Dallas, TX		"Children of Hurin" is very much like a Greek tragedy, if it were written by a medieval Norseman. Yeah, that makes more sense than trying to fit it entirely into the Norse mold, which I had been doing.

I would love to see this book made into a film or miniseries, but I think the subject matter would keep most American studios away from it.
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