Title: The Children of Húrin
Author: J.R.R. Tolkien
Publisher: First published in Great Britain by HarperCollins Publishers, 2007
Pages: 293
I found this book when my family and I went to Barnes and Nobles to buy our summer reading books. I was already interested in the Lord of the Rings Series written also by Tolkien.
The story told in this book is set in the great country that lay beyond the Grey Havens in the West: lands where Treebeard once walked, but that were drowned in the great catastrophe that ended the First Age of the World. In that long and distant time Morgoth, the first Dark Lord, dwelt in the vast fortress of Angband, the Hells of Iron, in the North, and the tragedy of Túrin and his sister Niënor unfolded within the shadow of the fear of Angband and the war waged by Morgoth against the lands and secret cities of the Elves. Their brief and passionate lives were dominated by the hatred that Morgoth bore them as the children of Húrin, the man who had dared to defy and to scorn him to his face. Against them he sent his most appropriate servant, Glaurung, a powerful spirit in the form of a huge wingless dragon of fire. Into this story of brutal conquest and flight, of forest hiding-places and pursuit, of resistance with lessening hope, the Dark Lord and the Dragon enter in direly articulate form. Sarcastic and mocking, Glaurung manipulated the fates of Túrin and Niënor by lies of diabolic cunning and the curse of Morgoth was fulfilled.
I believe the audience for this book is basically everyone. It is a good read and has many morals in it that speak to the reader.
The author, Tolkien has a very unique writing style. He is very descriptive and he creates his own dialects and languages for each type of race in his mythological world. From Elvish to the Dark Speech of Sauron in the Lord of the Rings, it is seen that Tolkien, by far, was one of the best imaginary writers in our time.
“Then Sador was troubled, for he knew well that Túrin had himself received the knife that day; but men held it a grievous thing to refuse a free given gift from any hand. He spoke then to him gravely: ‘You come of a generous kin, Túrin Son of Húrin. I have done nothing to equal your gift, and I cannot hope to do better in the days that are left in me; but what I can do, I will.’ And then Sador drew the knife from the sheath and he said: ‘This gift indeed: a blade of elven steel. Long have I missed the feel of it.’” (pg.49)
“The suddenly Glaurung withdrew his glance, and waited; and Túrin stirred slowly as one waking from a hideous dream. Then coming to himself with a loud cry he sprang upon the Dragon. But Glaurung laughed, saying: ‘If you wish to be slain, I will slay you gladly. But small help will that be to Morwen and Niēnor. No heed did you give to the cries of the Elf-woman. Will you also the bond of your blood?’” (pg. 179
“One only was mightier in arms among the marchwardens of Thingol at that time than Túrin, and that was Beleg Strongbow; and Beleg and Túrin were companions in every peril, they walked far and wide in the wild woods together.” (pg. 86)
“And now they arose, and departing from Eithel Irvin they journeyed southward along the banks of Narog, until they were taken by scouts of the Elves and brought as prisoners to the hidden stronghold. Thus did Túrin come to Nargothrond.” (pg.158)
These passages struck me because they represent something in most of Tolkien’s works. The second quote is that the main character always has a loyal friend that will stay with him until the end like Samwise Gamgee in The Lord of the Rings. However these two must always travel on a journey that is almost a coming of age deal. In passage two, the Elves capture him and did not know what his quest was or who he was. But they supplied him with means to survive on his long journey to rid his siblings of Morgoth’s hatred. The third quote is the final test that the main character has to face in order to overcome his troubles. The Antagonist, Glaurung, is sure that he is superior but we all know that brawn doesn’t always matter.
I really enjoyed this book. After reading the Lord of the Rings, I was looking for something else from Tolkien and found this. There were not very many parts that I could relate to, but I could really feel the emotions of some of the characters that I really connected with. And through this I could understand the story better because it is a little hard to read. Overall I liked the book and recommend it for anyone who likes to read this type of genre.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Children of Hurin sounds great to me. I love fantasy type of books and definitely would check out this book. I think that these kinds of novels are hard to relate to because it is mostly imaginary. Books that are a little difficult to read are always interesting because you can expand your reading skills.
ReplyDeleteI never read this book, but I am very interested in it. I love reading fantasy-adventure type novels and J.R.R Tolkien is one of my favorite authors! I think that this novel, like most of his others, will be hard to relate to because Tolkien's so imaginative and creative. I love all of his books about Middle Earth, so I think I would really enjoy this book. I think this book might make the reader think a lot, because his books about Middle Earth are very detailed and sometimes he gives a lot of history at once, sometimes a little too much.Though, everything considered; Children of Hurin seems like it would be a good read.
ReplyDeletethis book i havent heard of, however it sounds extremely interesting and seems to catch your eye. The way you described the story really drew in my imagination. The foreign names of the characters and the setting would make anyone want to read this book. Also, how you related the quotes to the lord of rings helps someone who hasnt read the book relate to whats going on or how the characters relationship is.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I have never read any of J.R.R. Tolkiens novels, sheerly because of the reading level they require, I am drawn to the Lord of the Rings series (especially the movies). This book seems very interesting and complex at the same time. I am drawn to this book as well because of its fantasy/magical essence. The setting sounds just like one from the Lord of the Rings, so I can get a great picture of what type of place the characters are in. Just like Tolkiens writing, the vocabulary in your essay was great and very descriptive. Well done.
ReplyDeleteWhile I have never heard of this book, I have read The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings series ,by J.R.R Tolkien, and enjoyed them. This book seems to be very simalar to those and an enjoyable read. I also thought it was intresting how you connected the book to other pieces of J.R.R Tolkien's work. All in all it seems like a great book and you did a good job writing about it.
ReplyDeleteHaving read the Lord of the Rings series im familar with the writing style of J.R.R Tolkien but i have never read this book. Tolkien can make his words spin in your head while reading however this review did a nice job simplifying a seemingly confusing plot and makes me want to read this book.I also agree with chris when he says Tolkien is one of the best imagenary writers of our time.
ReplyDeleteThis novel is new to me, I have not heard of it. The writing style of J.R.R. Tolkien at times is confusing, but i would like to read it. If the audience is everyone, then that must include me. I am eager to discover new books to read. You can never read too many books.
ReplyDeleteThis piece of literature does seem like there is much detail in it. I feel as if I wouldn't be able to relate to this book so much. I have never read one of Tolkien's works, but they always have some sort of action in it, and that's always good. It sounds interesting to read, but I don't think I'd be able to keep track with most of the characters. I'd probably be one to stick to the movies.
ReplyDelete