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Title: The Road to Middle-earth : Revised and Expanded Edition by Tom Shippey ISBN: 0-618-25760-8 Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Co Pub. Date: 24 June, 2003 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.78 (9 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: A very informative Study
Comment: Tom Shippey has an intimate knowledge of the mind and creative processes of the late Professor J.R.R. Tolkien, perhaps nearly as intimate a knowledge as Christopher Tolkien himself. The degree of the schism between language and literature professors of his day was most startling, and how that affected the early critics' appraisals of his masterpiece was also not what I had expected. Tom Shippey's knowledge of JRR Tolkien's mind is most revealing and is encyclopedic, and his ability to explain how deeply the master philologist would see legends and myths in the most ordinary of names and words left me thunderstruck. I have read all five of the main Middle Earth volumes several times and have read some of the Lost Tales, but I had not gained any insight from previous volumes saying how Pr. Tolkien created his world. The authors of those books seemed to lack legitimacy. Tom Shippey does not have that problem, and his book demonstrates that he is Pr. Tolkien's bona fide pupil and linguistic heir. Fans of Middle Earth should be thankful for Tom Shippey's insight, an insight that could only be bettered by Christopher Tolkien, or Pr. Tolkien himself.
Rating: 5
Summary: The single best critical study on Tolkien
Comment: Shippey's "J.R.R. Tolkien: Author of the Century" places Tolkien in the context of his time. "The Road to Middle-earth" has the more scholastically challenging job of placing Tolkien in the context of his tradition. As that tradition is primarily philological and philosophical, these are his subjects. He tells us what Tolkien meant the words and names in his stories to mean; he tells us how Tolkien used modern language to convey modern and ancient styles and philosophies in contrast; he tells us how the Ring mediates two mutually exclusive concepts of evil; he explains Tolkien's complex narrative strategies; he dresses down critics who misunderstand Tolkien and blame him for not fitting into their concepts of literature; and he does all this with such a blistering display of erudition and general intelligence that the reader sits back amazed.
The book is discursive, and the opening theoretical chapters may seem heavy going, but have patience: they provide necessary context. Shippey has Tolkien's measure in full throughout. He explains what was important to Tolkien, what Tolkien thought he was doing, and - no less vitally - why it is necessary to understand this if one is not to bash Tolkien in annoyance for not accomplishing something totally different.
If you read Shippey, will you necessarily understand Tolkien? No. But if you don't read Shippey, and if you also don't have his insight and knowledge, you will not fully understand Tolkien.
Rating: 5
Summary: One of the foundations in Tolkein research
Comment: Road To Middle-Earth appears for the first time in paperwork in a revised, expanded edition and is considered one of the foundations in Tolkein research. It studies the literary roots of his fiction, examining the originating myths of his works, and considers some of his lesser-known works as well as his Lord of the Rings and Hobbit titles. Scholars and the general reading public alike will find Road To Middle-Earth an inviting study.
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Title: J.R.R. Tolkien: Author of the Century by Tom Shippey ISBN: 0618257594 Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Co Pub. Date: 08 September, 2002 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
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Title: The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien by J. R. R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien, Humphrey Carpenter ISBN: 0618056998 Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Co Pub. Date: June, 2000 List Price(USD): $15.00 |
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Title: Splintered Light: Logos and Language in Tolkien's World by Verlyn Flieger ISBN: 0873387449 Publisher: Kent State Univ Pr Pub. Date: November, 2002 List Price(USD): $19.00 |
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Title: A Question of Time: J.R.R. Tolkien's Road to Faerie by Verlyn Flieger ISBN: 087338699X Publisher: Kent State Univ Pr Pub. Date: December, 2001 List Price(USD): $18.00 |
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Title: Tolkien in the Land of Heroes : Discovering the Human Spirit by Anne C. Petty, J. Stein ISBN: 1892975998 Publisher: Cold Spring Press Pub. Date: 26 August, 2003 List Price(USD): $16.95 |
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