Insidious Rex
02-24-2016, 02:51 PM
Has anybody read this and had any thoughts about it? Im about two thirds of the way through and its a slog of a read. VERY wonky but I guess if you are into Tolkien and into Arthurian romances its a must have. Of course its just Tolkien's incomplete poem on Arthur's return to Britain and his doom (might be all of 30 pages in this 200+ page book?) analyzed backwards and forwards in ad nauseum by his son. So it amounts to a comparative study of all the various classic Arthurian sources in the context of Tolkien's particular tale and frolicking speculation on how the Arthurian work influenced Tolkien's writing in the Silmarillion or vice versa (especially in regards to Avalon and Tol Eressëa). Because so much is incomplete (and apparently Tolkien's notes are impossibly messy and hard to read) Christopher Tolkien is left just thinking out-loud mostly about what might have influenced what and what his father may have had in mind. Its interesting I guess but not a "light read" by any stretch. Would ONLY recommend this to true wonks and then only those I know can handle difficult (lots of old english) literature and who have a strong knowledge of some of the more obscure Tolkien works. It would also help to have some knowledge of classic Arthurian romances as well. Im guessing a lot of film fans bought this out of name recognition and wound up having a pretty good WTF moment when first trying to read it. Anyone else who read it had any thoughts about it?