The Lord of the Rings: A Reader's Companion
by Wayne G. Hammond, Christina Scull
List Price:
Our Price: $15.96
You Save: $14.04 (47%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $9.80 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions
Book Summary Information
Author: Christina Scull, Wayne G. HammondEdition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2005-12-27
ISBN: 0618642676
Number of pages: 894
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
Book Reviews of The Lord of the Rings: A Reader's Companion
Book Review: The Lord of the Rings - A readers companion
Summary: 5 Stars
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 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
Literature & Fiction Books
Book Subjects
- Arts & Photography
- Audiobooks on Cassette
- Audiobooks on CD
- Biographies & Memoirs
- Business & Investing
- Children's Books
- Comics & Graphic Novels
- Computers & Internet
- Cooking, Food & Wine
- e-Books
- Engineering
- Entertainment
- Gay & Lesbian
- Health, Mind & Body
- History
- Home & Garden
- Horror
- Law
- Literature & Fiction
- Medicine
- Mystery & Thrillers
- Nonfiction
- Outdoors & Nature
- Parenting & Families
- Professional & Technical
- Reference
- Religion & Spirituality
- Romance
- Science
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Sports
- Teens
- Travel
Most talked about in Christmas Wishlist
The Lord of the Rings and Philosophy: One Book to Rule Them All (Popular Culture and Philosophy)Open Court; Published: 2003-08-04; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.50
Price in other shops:
The Lord of the Rings SketchbookHoughton Mifflin; Published: 2005-10-19; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $17.70
Price in other shops:
The Lord of the Rings Complete Visual Companionby Jude Fisher
Houghton Mifflin; Published: 2004-11-15; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.00
Price in other shops:
The Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar (Prima Official Game Guide)by Mike Searle
Prima Games; Published: 2007-04-24; Paperback; Book
Best price: $10.85
Price in other shops:
The Lord of the Rings Trilogy Gift Setby J.R.R. Tolkien, J. R. R. Tolkien
Recorded Books Unabridged; Published: 2002-01; Audio CD; Book
Best price: $124.17
Price in other shops:
The Lord of the Rings: A Reader's Companionby Wayne G. Hammond, Christina Scull
Houghton Mifflin; Published: 2005-12-27; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $17.84
Price in other shops:
Eragon (Inheritance, Book 1)by Christopher Paolini
Knopf Books for Young Readers; Published: 2003-06-25; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $6.95
Price in other shops:
Against the Empire (Star Wars: Last of the Jedi, Book 8)by Jude Watson
Scholastic; Published: 2007-10-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $1.77
Price in other shops:
MAD About Star Wars (r)by Jonathan Bresman
Del Rey; Published: 2007-10-16; Paperback; Book
Best price: $11.55
Price in other shops:
The Star Wars Vault: Thirty Years of Treasures from the Lucasfilm Archives, With Removable Memorabilia and Two Audio CDsby Stephen J. Sansweet, Peter Vilmur
HarperEntertainment; Published: 2007-10-10; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $40.92
Price in other shops:
Similar books summaries and other product reviews
The Lord of the Rings: 50th Anniversary, One Vol. Editionby J.R.R. Tolkien
Houghton Mifflin; Published: 2005-10-12; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.02
Price in other shops:
Unfinished Tales: The Lost Lore of Middle-earthby J.R.R. Tolkien
Del Rey; Published: 1988-08-12; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.90
Price in other shops:
The Atlas of Middle-Earth (Revised Edition)by Karen Wynn Fonstad
Houghton Mifflin; Published: 2001-04-10; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.42
Price in other shops:
J.R.R. Tolkien: Artist and IllustratorHoughton Mifflin; Published: 2000-10; Paperback; Book
Best price: $11.57
Price in other shops:
The Annotated Hobbitby J.R.R. Tolkien
Houghton Mifflin; Published: 2002-09-09; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $20.28
Price in other shops:
Understanding The Lord of the Rings: The Best of Tolkien CriticismHoughton Mifflin; Published: 2004-05-24; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $12.67
Price in other shops:
The History of the Hobbitby John D. Rateliff
Houghton Mifflin; Published: 2007-10-26; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $55.23
Price in other shops:
The Lord of the Rings (50th Anniversary Edition)by J.R.R. Tolkien
Houghton Mifflin; Published: 2004-10-21; Leather Bound; Book
Best price: $49.56
Price in other shops:
J.R.R. Tolkien Companion and Guide (Two Volume Box Set)by Christina Scull, Wayne G. Hammond
Houghton Mifflin; Published: 2006-10-06; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $16.54
Price in other shops:
The Children of H?rinby J.R.R. Tolkien
Houghton Mifflin; Published: 2007-04-17; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $6.00
Price in other shops: