The fourth ghost

[delphipsmith]

"I am the ghost of Christmas Future Perfect Subjunctive: I will show you what would have happened were you not to have changed your ways!"

Heeeee...

I am nearly caught up on mini_fest, planning to work my way through sshg_giftfest over the weekend (some lovely stories over there, go see!), and eagerly anticipating the opening of hoggywartyxmas in just a few days.

This weekend I hope to also get books shipped out to everyone who claimed one in the Great Book Giveaway of 2014. Still a few left for you last-minute shoppers!

I am embarking on a nice, leisurely reread of The Hobbit and Lord of the Rgins Rings ('rgins' heh heh) as my holiday read. It's been a few years since I did this, and I can feel that it's time again. "In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit..."

Comments

[delphipsmith]

My mother read us The Hobbit when I was pretty young, and for years our Christmas present to her was The Brothers Hildebrandt's new Tolkien calendar. We used to have a four-hour drive to visit my grandparents, and we would sometimes amuse ourselves by reciting Tolkien songs and poems.

I didn't tackle the Silmarillion until later -- it's heavy going for a twelve-year-old! -- but when I eventually read it I was overwhelmed by the complexity of his mythology. It set the standard for fictional world-building for me, and few authors can match him in that respect (Frank Herbert, perhaps, with his intertwined politics, religion, and economics).

I mention Tolkien's "cauldron of story" often in discussions of fanfic. I think he would have approved of stories that add something new, but I think he might have been hard put to understand Gimli/Legolas slash ;)

[tcpip.livejournal.com]

Ahh, reading The Hobbit, I was almost about to mention what a delight that is. Another is Farmer Giles of Ham (with his dog talking dog Garm).

Those Hildebrandt calendars look pretty special. I used to have a couple of the Roger Garland's from the early 80s which were pretty good too. Goodness knows what happened to them. I think I chopped them up and put them on folders for school :)

The mythological context is certainly a strength in Tolkien. I am less impressed with his history, especially the technological stagnation.

So I once had a bit of fun with that with ... White Hand Rising.

[delphipsmith]

Intriguing, and very plausible. Have you read Kirill Yeskov's The Last Ringbearer? Though a somewhat atrocious translation from the Russian (at least the version I read was), the author's more geography-based approach to the story and his recasting of the orcs and the Southrons as unwilling invaders who would really rather be back home, offers yet another slant on the War of the Ring. Salon.com posted an essay by the author (much better translated than the book!) about why he chose to write it.

[tcpip.livejournal.com]

I know of it and it's basic themes (after I wrote my article) but haven't read it.