16 Dec, 2007
2007-12-16 5:37:52 AM UTC
Just sharing for fun, this is what I have on my wish list right now (with a reasonable chance that a family member might get me - it's a whole separate list that I would like to get myself if money were no object...)
p.s. - reading this list should show you all just how far behind I am this year what with family and job...
- The History of the Hobbit boxed set
- The Company They Keep
- The Tolkien Encyclopedia
- The Lord of the Rings 1954-2004: Scholarship in Honor of Richard E. Blackwelder
- J.R.R. Tolkien: Six Decades of Criticism (Bibliographies and Indexes in World Literature)
- J.R.R. Tolkien: An Audio Portrait of the Author of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings
- J.R.R. Tolkien - An Authorized Film Portrait
- J.R.R. Tolkien and His Literary Resonances: Views of Middle-earth
- Perilous Realms: Celtic And Norse in Tolkien's Middle-Earth
- Tolkien's Modern Middle Ages (The New Middle Ages)
- Root And Branch
- Tolkien Through Russian Eyes
- Ents, Elves, And Eriador
- Inside Language
- Roots and Branches
- The Plants of Middle-Earth
16 Dec, 2007
2007-12-16 7:38:56 AM UTC
Rowns,
My wish list is growing quite large as well. As my birthday falls close to Christmas and my family give me money for my books, I have the tough task of trying to work out which books get priority on my list.
At the moment I am looking at: A Question of Time, Tolkien Studies 3 Parma Eldalamberon 6,7 and 11 (yes, I'm falling way behind), and last of all the Tolkien Encyclopedia.
I'm not sure about the Encyclopedia though as I have heard good and bad reviews for this book, especially considering the price!! Can anyone recomend this book?
Hope everyone gets what they wish for!!
Cheers
Dior
16 Dec, 2007
2007-12-16 8:45:48 AM UTC
I ain't got Drout's
Encyclopedia so can't really comment on content. But at the time I remember thinking £100 for Drout's with a few poor reviews and some real problems with the text (typos
etc); versus ~£32 (Amazon discounted) for the two volumes in
C&G by Hammond & Scull -no contest!
I think
Tolkien Studies are pretty good value for money, and are quite good (if like me) you don't want to (or don't have the time) to read an enormous amount of Tolkien criticism. Unfortunately they review loads of books which you then end up buying!
As for the Gift List -I don't have a family list (got my own wants obviously!); although my partner has bought me The
Silmarillion - Thirty Years on. And, of course, I've just shelled out on the Super Deluxe
CoH for myself (I think it came at a bad time of year...)
A Film Portrait of J R R Tolkien is an excellent video! Extensive interview(s) with Christopher Tolkien. I don't collect a lot of film media related Tolkien, but this is a must - content is superb.
I got the Hobbit Hx as they came out, rather than boxset. Still sitting in the 'to be read' shelf! Hammond & Scull's
...Blackwelder is also good; and inexpensive -another which fairs favourably to Drout's, costing about a third of the price. Great piece by Hammond on collecting.
But I'll have
Deagol's 1982 Deluxe
Silmarillion once he's finished admiring how well it slides into its slipcase! (just for a minute mind, to see the beauty of the thing...)
BH
16 Dec, 2007
2007-12-16 5:35:43 PM UTC
Don't know how I missed not having
A Question of Time by Verlyn Flieger yet. Added to my list! (I've loved all of her other books so far that I have read.)
I also agree that the Tolkien Studies volumes are an excellent summary of the year past (well past, as the year reviewed bibliographically is two years behind publication) as well as enjoying the critical pieces. Only critique I have heard of the volumes is that the critical pieces tend to be heavily weighted to the editors of the volume.
For the Encyclopedia, I am also in agreement with you guys - it has flaws and is very pricey, and there are a couple of other books out around the same time that are more accessible and more immediately useful too (like the Companion and Guide.) I do think most of the flaws are being addressed online (
on this website and similar) and there is useful critical work here that will quickly become inaccessible once the book is no longer available from the publisher (there are reportedly only 800 copies in print.) Should be a useful resource even given it's painful genesis and resultant flaws.
See Michael Drout's
blog post on the topic.