Tag: Tolkien

My favorite books from my childhood

As a kid I spent a lot of time reading to escape how boring reality was. For me, every book was a new adventure and as a kid living in a small town that was all I needed.

The very first chapter book that I read was “Because of Winn-Dixie” by Kate DiCamillo. I actually found this book while I was camping with my family at Moonshine park here on the Oregon coast. The book was down by the river, I picked it up and read the back. I was intrigued but afraid to take it because I didn’t want to steal it. So I left it there and when we went back the next day I picked it up and read a little bit. I repeated that process every day until we left. I then decided that the owner probably wasn’t coming back for it, so, I brought it home with me and finished it. To this day I am extremely fond of that book. I’ve always loved dogs and something about Winn-Dixie and his little smile won me over.

As a kid I also loved “The Hobbit” by the great J.R.R. Tolkien. I didn’t so much read this book but had it read to me. My grandmother read this book to my dad, then he read it to my brother and I, and I have every intention of reading it to Finn. It’s a family tradition at this point and it’s such a magical book, I feel like it really opened my mind to the fantasy genre. “The Hobbit” is like a really long and intense fairy-tale that embodies friendship, family, and adventure. I think it is an excellent novel to read to a child or read to yourself. I reread this book about once a year.

This next one is a little bit different, but I absolutely adored the “Young James Bond” series by Charlie Higson. I have always loved James Bond, my dad and I go see all of the Bond movies together. Higson wrote young Bond in a way that doesn’t come off as a cheesy, but very believable for the beloved spy. I honestly read those books so frequently that my copy of Silverfin, book one in the series, is absolutely wrecked. I actually got my copy of Silverfin on a whim while visiting the spy museum in Washington D.C., best souvenir I ever bought.

I couldn’t possibly leave out the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling. I actually struggled with these books growing up. I had a hard time finishing The Order of The Phoenix because it was so long, it took three tries before I finished it. I read the last two books later in life mostly because I was tired of the bullying I received for reading Harry Potter at school. Luckily, times are a bit different and kids can like stuff like Harry Potter, Pokémon, and Star Wars without being bullied. Harry Potter will forever be my favorite kids series.

These are my all-time faves without a doubt in my mind. What did you read as a kid? Do you reread them often like I do? Let me know in the comments!

Get To Know Me: My Favorite Author

My all-time favorite author is J.R.R. Tolkien. I consider him the grandfather of the fantasy genre and his fantasy writing is something that can’t be copied.

Tolkien is a master at world building. Middle Earth has an extensive history including multiple ages, several languages, and various races of beings. Tolkien is able to juggle the world of Middle-Earth in a way that I haven’t seen done before or since. Tolkien was a linguist and knew at least 16 languages, and created about 15. He takes these languages and imbues the races of Middle Earth with them. He created the beautiful rolling Elvish language and the harsh and terrifying Black Speech. Tolkien’s ability to dedicate himself to one world and add the depth that he did is something to be admired.

Tolkien also creates characters you want to root for. My favorite of his characters being Samwise Gamgee, the stubborn and loving sidekick to Frodo Baggins. There is something fascinating to me about an author who can create characters as terrifying as the Uruk-hai and then some as lovable as the Hobbits. He also manages to touch the depths of evil without making his story gory or explicit.

Tolkien’s writing style is wholesome but not silly. When you enter Middle-Earth you aren’t entering a world of sex and murder like a lot of fantasy novels. You are entering a world held together by friendship and the struggle between good and evil. I enjoy this because it allows Tolkien to focus entirely on the adventure and the bonds a fellowship creates, without worrying about how the violence or sex scenes will sound to the reader.

Tolkien also does a great job of expressing love between his characters. We have the love between the fellowship in The Lord of The Rings, which prompts a massive search and rescue mission for Merry and Pippin, we also have the love between Aragorn and Arwen which has spanned such a long time. Setting The Lord of The Rings aside we can also see Tolkien’s great care for love in The Hobbit between Bilbo and his new Dwarf friends, or in the tale of Beren and Lúthien. In fact, Tolkien compared his wife to Lúthien and on their gravestones they are respectively named Beren and Lúthien.

I hold Tolkien’s writing dear to my heart. He is my inspiration to read and write. Thanks to his books I chose to pursue English/Writing in college.

Who is your favorite author? Do you also like Tolkien? Let me know in the comments!

The Lure of The Ring by Alan James Strachen and Janet Coster

This book is different than what I usually review, but as a Tolkien fan I was drawn into the exploration of who Tom Bombadil truly is.

This book is a theoretical idea speculating about who Tom Bombadil is and how Sauron’s desire for the ring was like an addiction. I can tell that a lot of research went into this publication and I found it fascinating.

The first point that I found interesting was their comparison of Sauron to a Hungry Ghost in Bhuddism. He is like an emaciated creature who’s only desire is possession of the ring but his appetite can never be quenched. I found this to be a good comparison because it really delves into who Sauron is at the core. Tolkien leaves a lot to speculation and I think it is important for Tolkien enthusiasts to dig into the motivations and habits of each character. It gave me a different view of Sauron and sort of makes me pity him.

Creeping past Sauron we entered what I was truly curious about, Tom Bombadil. If you don’t know who he is it’s probably because he isn’t in the Peter Jackson movie. He is a mysterious being in the books, and no one can really define who he is. But this book speculates, and the hypothesis makes a lot of sense. The authors wrote that we can envision Tom Bombadil as the antithesis to Sauron, and I thought that was clever.

They also offer up two different definitions for who Tom Bombadil could be. They state,

“Tom has answered Frodo’s “Who are you?” question in two ways: In terms of identity, Tom’s true name is silence. Simultaneously, in relationship to Frodo – and , indeed , to all others – we shall see that he is called Eldest.”

This is a good representation of his character because it is not an easy answer, if that makes sense. Tom Bombadil is complex and one answer would never work. He is the silence you experience when you are just being, and he is the Eldest because he watched Middle Earth become what it is. He takes two forms and only one being corporeal. We can’t fathom who he is because he is unfathomable.

My issue with this particular book is that it is extremely repetitive and unnecessarily wordy. It’s already a short read but could be quite shorter. Old points are brought up again and again, then sentences are reworded three different ways. Not only was that kind of annoying but it caused me to lose interest. It took me a little over an hour to read and probably could take less if points weren’t constantly reiterated.

All in all, the speculation is great, but the execution could be better. I give The Lure of The Ring 3/5 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley and BooksGoSocial for allowing me to access this content. An extra thank you to BooksGoSocial for giving me my first Auto Approval!