Resumo de Unfinished Tales

J.R.R. Tolkien, the author of THE HOBBIT and the Ring Trilogy, was not just a great author of fantasy. As everyone who has read, or is now reading, his books knows, he was a hard working creator of a fantasy universe possessed of diverse societies and a long history of which we catch only glimpses in the novels. The glimpses are found in the allusions to the myths, traditions and histories of humans, hobbits, dwarves, elves and others who populate Middle Earth. They are also found in the lengthy appendices, on such topics as Proper names among the Hobbits and the language of the elves.

UNFINISHED TALES is the chance for those who want to know more of the history, traditions and back stories of the societies and the characters of the novels..

Did you want to know how and why Gandalf and the other wizards came to Middle Earth? That story is told here.

Did you wonder about the life of Bilbo Baggins before he began consorting with dwarfs and wizards? This book gives an account of that life.

Did you want to know more about the history of Middle Earth before the Third age? Stories from those long ago times are included here.

This book, edited and annotated by the author's son, Christopher Tolkien, is not for everyone. The tales are, just as the title says, unfinished. They are back stories, deletions, or variant telling of episodes from the novels, ranging is length from two to forty pages. Each of these fragments is fleshed out by extensive and enlightening notes by both the author and the editor. Christopher Tolkien says in his introduction that any reader of this book should have at least some knowledge of the novels.

My own estimate is that this book will be useful and enjoyable for those readers who belong to one or more of three groups. The first group consists of those who have become so enamored of the world which Tolkien created that they have virtually taken out second citizenship there. For those people, this book will slake, if it will not completely satisfy, their wish to know more.

The second group consists of those parents or teachers who are reading one of the novels to their children. This book will certainly make them more confident and knowledgeable guides.

The third group, the group to which I would particularly recommend the reading of UNFINISHED TALES, consists of those who are engaged in, or teaching a course in, creative writing. This is a close look at an outstanding writer at work. It reveals the effort in creating and making real a fictional work and the skill and judgment involved in deciding what of the story to include and which treatment of a subject best suits the story. I cannot recommend it too highly.

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