–published 2004
–Macmillan Audio
–abridged version, 4 hours, 33 minutes
–4.25/5 stars

Even before the release of The Return of the King in theaters, the die was cast: I would forever proclaim myself to be a fan of Tolkien as author, and Peter Jackson as film maker. While I waited to read the trilogy for the first time after I had seen all the films, I did not wait to begin collecting a host of nonfiction books about J.R.R. Tolkien and about the process of making this epic film trilogy. One of the books that I was hesitant to get, once it was released, was Sean Astin’s memoir about his involvement in the making of the Lord of the Rings trilogy; the reason being that so many of the reviews I read on Amazon painted Astin as an egotistical, largely negative and overly neurotic individual. Having watched the ‘making of’ documentaries on the extended editions over and over again, which presented a largely positive spin on the process, I was loathe to pick up anything that might tarnish my own fantasies about what to me has always seemed a dream opportunity. I always knew, in the back of my mind, that temptation, and the lack of new print material about the films, would eventually drive me to pick up Astin’s book. That conundrum was taken out of my hands this past Christmas when Jeff gave me the audio copy of this book, read by the actor himself. As I was perusing my to be read shelf last week I came across this audio book and felt such a strong urge to listen to it that I put it in the CD player in the truck that very morning. What followed was a very engaging and emotional experience as I listened to Astin’s recollections over the next couple of days.

Continue reading There and Back Again: An Actor’s Tale ~Sean Astin, with Joe Layden →

Defending Middle-earth, Tolkien: Myth and Modernity ~Patrick Curry

–published 1997, revised 2004
–Houghton Mifflin Company
–157 pages (198 with references, bibliography, and index)
–4.25/5 stars

I first became aware of Patrick Curry, as well as a number of other Tolkien experts, via the author-related documentaries on the extended editions of the three Lord of the Rings films. Each time I view them I am fascinated with the insights these men and women offer and I long ago determined to read the Tolkien books of those who were published authors. I began this quest a few years ago reading Tom Shippey’s superb book, The Road to Middle-earth: How J.R.R. Tolkien Created a New Mythology. It is a deeply academic work, particularly the first part of the book dealing with philology, but one I highly recommend, even if a person were to skip to the latter half of the book to read Shippey’s brilliant and well-reasoned debunking of Tolkien critics.

My recent return to high fantasy via George R.R. Martin’s A Game of Thrones not surprisingly put me in a Tolkien mood, so I decided to indulge this whim by purchasing and reading Curry’s book. While not as in-depth as Tom Shippey’s work, and certainly not a perfect work from where I stand, Defending Middle-earth is an excellent and relatively quick read in defense of a work that has defied all odds and abundant criticism to become one of the most beloved pieces of literature ever written. As a personal bonus, Defending Middle-earth has gone a long way towards helping me to coalesce my thoughts on ecology/conservationism and Christianity to the point where I am feeling an urge to actually write about it. But more on that later.

Continue reading Defending Middle-earth, Tolkien: Myth and Modernity ~Patrick Curry →