Regular marked price: $30.00Discount Price: $19.80
Cost Savings: $10.20 (34%)Price fluctuation possible.
How soon does it ship: Normal ship time within one day
Shipping? Absolutely FREE if you qualify for Super Saver Shipping.
Type of bind: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 823.912
EAN num: 9780618642670
ISBN number: 0618642676
Label: Houghton Mifflin
Manufacturer: Houghton Mifflin
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 894
Printing Date: December 27, 2005
Publishing house: Houghton Mifflin
Sale Popularity Level: 40474
Studio: Houghton Mifflin
Other books you might be interested in perusing:
Editor's Notes and Comments:
Product Description:
In The Lord of the Rings: A Reader's Companion internationally acclaimed scholars Wayne G. Hammond and Christina Scull examine Tolkien's masterpiece chapter by chapter, offering expert insights into its evolution, structure, and meaning. They discuss in close detail important literary and historical influences on the development of The Lord of the Rings, connections between that work and other writings by Tolkien, errors and inconsistencies, significant changes to the text during its fifty years of publication, archaic and unusual words used by Tolkien, and words and passages in his invented languages of Middle-earth. Thousands of notes, keyed to standard editions of The Lord of the Rings but universally accessible, reveal the richness and complexity of one of the most popular works of fiction in our time. In addition to their own expertise and that of other scholars and critics, Hammond and Scull frequently draw upon comments by Tolkien himself, made in letters to family, friends, and enthusiasts, in draft texts of The Lord of the Rings, and in works written in later years which amplify or illuminate characters and events in the story. Extensive reference is made also to writings by Tolkien not previously or widely published, including elaborate time-schemes, an unfinished manuscript index to The Lord of the Rings, and most notably, the important Nomenclature or guide to names in The Lord of the Rings prepared for the use of translators, long out of print and now newly transcribed and printed in its entirety. With these resources at hand, even the most seasoned reader of The Lord of the Rings will come to a greater enjoyment and appreciation of Tolkien's magnificent achievement.
User popularity level:
Rated by buyers -
The Lord of the Rings - A Readers Companion
I remember when I was at college, struggling to read Ulysses by James Joyce. I had a book of annotations to my side and was struggling to understand chapter 3 of Stephen Dedalus's adventures on the Sandymount Strand in Eire
This book is rather like that book, but I think its more of a joy to read. Although this book is not for a person who has never read the Story (it will probably give away the ending for a start!) I think its pretty worthwhile for a person whos read the "trilogy" (of SIX Books! in three Volumes!) more than once
If you've read Lord I think you'll really enjoy this. Its engrossing, and (to be honest) too much in depth (I don't really care to know what words mean in Elvish!)
So this book works well but you don't have to read EVERY bit. Tolkien was in love with words, names of places and people had to mean something. His pose was as a translator of the work into Westron, the Common Tongue, so you get (for example) Samwises real name in the original text as Banizir
So I can think the attention to detail can get overwhelming (what Samwises name is in Sindarin, etc).
I think its a great book, but it can get overwhelming. Tolkien created a history for the work, and as great a book as this is (its the best book I've read on Tolkien, up there with Lord of the Rings actually) it might be best if you just take it in small doses. Listen to the Lord of the Rings on audio cassette and read along with this book
Again, it helps if you're intimate with the Lord of the Rings. Its not unusual for people to read Lord every year. If you have read it a few times, I think you will really enjoy this book, as its an intelligent, in depth study of the work
I mean, its 900 pages of annotations, and it has a nice "dip in" quality, and it is an absorbing read
Just make sure you've read the Lord of the Rings a few times very first though, otherwise you might end up throwing the Companion aside in frustration, just because of the attention to detail
See, Tolkien worked out phases of the moon, dates, and so forth; after Books 1 & 2 (which comprise The Fellowship of the Ring) it becomes convoluted, with Book 3 starting off with Aragorn speeding up the hill of Amon Hen (on February 26) and ending with Pippin riding with Gandalf to Minas Tirith the night of March 5/6 - with different characters at different times throughout that particular Book. By contrast Book 4 (with Frodo and Sam's Mission to Mordor) starts in median res (in the middle of things) at February 28 and ends with the capture of Frodo by old Sauron on late March 13th, a full week later than the end of Book 3 (so the time periods to each book are not always concurrent - that is, starting at the same time and ending at the same)
So to keep track of moon phases, dates, meanings of words in one huge tome is quite something. Clearly the Lord of the Rings is a matter that got out of hand rather quickly (original drafts of early chapters of Book 1 had the Black Rider originally being Gandalf, comically surprising the hobbits in the Shire - in the comic vein of the earlier book The Hobbit, to which Lord was a sequel; this incident became much darker with Gandalf turning to a Black Rider STALKING the hobbits before they even left the Shire!)
This book keeps track of events, words (lot of archaic words need to be defined - and not everyone knows that a league is 3 miles!)
As brilliant a book this is (I've read it once thus far, all the way through) I do have to wonder who its for... As I've said, you can't just pick up this book if you're not really familiar with the Story as you'll get rather cross and fling it aside because you'll be confused about references to Westernesse (aka Numenor) and so forth
But I think it would help if you had a familiarity with The Silmarillion, even if just reading about it in the excellent Tolkien for Dummies book
I think reading the Silmarillion might be too much for some people (I found it tedious and not as engrossing as the Lord of the Rings). I do think it would help that you read the Lord of the Rings a least a few times before picking up this work, because it really helps if you know the Lord well. Otherwise this work might be too frustrating a read, and you won't know the world
Rated by buyers -
I will not belabored this point, I have read all the previous reviews and I can say with total certainty that they are pretty much on the mark. This book will definitely give you a greater understanding of Lord of the Rings and the author's intentions. I would have to say that its just about mandatory supplemental reading material in truly understanding Tolkien's work. It will amazed any reader how much, how far and from within, Tolkien gathered his materials to write his masterpiece. It will also surprised any reader how Lord of the Rings had been altered bit here and bit there over the various publications. So please read many of the reviews written before me, some of them are quite insightful and informative. Then if you are truly interested in Lord of the Rings as a literature, buy this book.
(This book probably could be read side by side while reading Lord of the Rings but reading the book as a whole could be bit difficult. After all, there are hundreds upon hundreds of pages, nit-picking and explaining Tolkien's words, phases and all that. Nice place might be your bathroom if you take my meaning.)
Rated by buyers 
-
.
"...has left the path of wisdom." -- Gandalf
If you'd like to ruin Tolkien's beautiful and exciting story for yourself, I can't think of a better way than this excessive scholarship.
Lest "ruin" seem an extreme term, it means, in this context: remove the LotR from the realm of great story-telling, and enter it needlessly into the superfluous arena of pedantic academia.
I admit that I only got through a few pages before disposing of it, and that I fail utterly to understand what's meant to be gained from turning a tale that's merely meant to be enjoyed (for reference to this, I highly recommend The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien) into "study."
The only reason I'm writing a review in the very first place -- I can't be bothered to add one for every volume of the baffling collection of rough drafts called the History of Middle-Earth -- is to counter, for curious minds, the other reviews that call this book "indispensable." It is not. By all means, dispense with it, and retain your sense of wonder for the story itself.
Those who would argue in favor of literary critics (and the like) accepting the LotR as worthy of "merit" because of publications like this should ask themselves: "Who cares? Do I enjoy Tolkien's stories or not? What does the approval of my tastes by others matter?" Seems a rather superficial aim to me.
I offer four stars nonetheless, because anything less strikes me as needlessly rude, in light of the sheer effort. The labor must have been massive.
But Tolkien would have been horrified.
Rated by buyers -
This comprehensive work consists of bits of information derived from everything that ever had anything to do with Tolkien, his manuscripts, letters, and works, and it is astounding. Every annotation is explained in depth and with accuracy.
Rated by buyers -
I just got the book but am thoroughly impressed with this work. Each book is broken down pretty much by paragraph and the relevant information and background, and history is given. I look forward to exploring more with this book, and would definitely recommend this to any fan of LOTR.
Find other books like this one:
