The Children of Húrin

[Flexor the Mighty!]

The Children of Húrin

Anyone read this yet? Is it any good?

 

[cignus_pfaccari]

It's surprisingly good.

If you've read Unfinished Tales and the Silmarillion, you've been exposed to the story. However, it's been expanded into book form.

I expect that there have been some alterations/amplifications, too:

Spoiler

I don't really remember the version from my copy of Unfinished Tales mentioning the orcs dismembering human prisoners in front of the army, or impaling women to trees with spears.

But it's been a while since I read them.

Brad

 

[Darth Shoju]

I'm halfway through it and I'm finding it enjoyable (although I still prefer LoTR).

 

[Welverin]

Definitely good, makes me wish there was enough material to do the same for the sotries of The Fall of Gondolin and Beren and Luthien.

I'm halfway through it and I'm finding it enjoyable (although I still prefer LoTR).

Well LotR is a finished novel, as opposed to CoH, which was cobbled together from multiple separate manuscripts written at different times and not necessarily even building off of each other.

I really regret/bemoan/detest/what-have-you Tolkien's style of working, I think it rob of us of a lot of good and even great work due to his inability to finish much of anything.

 

[sniffles]

Definitely good, makes me wish there was enough material to do the same for the sotries of The Fall of Gondolin and Beren and Luthien.



Well LotR is a finished novel, as opposed to CoH, which was cobbled together from multiple separate manuscripts written at different times and not necessarily even building off of each other.

I really regret/bemoan/detest/what-have-you Tolkien's style of working, I think it rob of us of a lot of good and even great work due to his inability to finish much of anything.

I agree. I enjoyed The Children of Hurin greatly, but not as much as I enjoy re-reading LOTR. And I do wish there were completed versions of other stories.

Tolkien must have done his writing in fits and starts, much the way I do. I can empathize with him.

 

[Wolf72]

finished it ... was not bad.

Very tragic in a shakespearian way. Read it while reading a Glen Cook book ... and the styles are completely different to each other.

Was surprised to see how the elfs where kind of petty and naive at times.

 

[sniffles]

finished it ... was not bad.

Very tragic in a shakespearian way. Read it while reading a Glen Cook book ... and the styles are completely different to each other.

Was surprised to see how the elfs where kind of petty and naive at times.

Yeah, I'm not sure where the idea came from that Tolkien's elves were noble and perfect. Even in LOTR they're not perfect. Galadriel is kind of scary, and Elrond can come off a bit bigoted against humans.

Actually I found the tragedy of Turin more reminiscent of ancient Greek drama than Shakespeare.

 

[Randolpho]

Elrond can come off a bit bigoted against humans.

I think you might be confusing the movie with the books. I never got the feeling Elrond was bigoted against humans.

 

[Flexor the Mighty!]

Yeah, I'm not sure where the idea came from that Tolkien's elves were noble and perfect. Even in LOTR they're not perfect. Galadriel is kind of scary, and Elrond can come off a bit bigoted against humans.

Well they are superior to Men and they know it. more wise, superior physically. Though Galadriel is a very nice to non-elves in the Fellowship. Elrond wasn't nearly as jerky in the books either. He was a bit too standoff-ish in the movie.

 

[Brown Jenkin]

There is also the elves of Mirkwood in the Hobbit who didn't come off too well.