This is a guide to the travel and characters of Middle-Earth. Can hobbits be psychoanalyzed? What was the relation between Tolkien's writing and the two World Wars? How seriously can we take the good-versus-evil morality of "The Lord of the Rings" as a useful guide to everyday life? Does Tolkien's Christianity shine through his imitations of pagan legends? The 11 chapters of this book, by different authors coming from different disciplines, treat Tolkien seriously as a literary artist and a cultural giant. The first chapter analyses the character transformation of Gollum, the second traces the "psychological journey" of Bilbo. Robert Plank sees the regime set up by Saruman at the end of "The Lord of the Rings" as a close parallel to fascism. Two chapters analyse Tolkien's narrative technique. Others investigate his use of myth and symbol within the broad Western cultural tradition.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Did you know you can trade in your old books for an Amazon.co.uk Gift Card to spend on the things you want? Visit the Books Trade-In Store for more details. Special Offer until June 30, 2013: Receive an additional £5 promotional Gift Certificate, when you trade-in at least £10 worth of books. Learn more. |
Book Description
Product details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
More About the Author
Discover books, learn about writers, and more.
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
Browse and search another edition of this book.
Browse and search another edition of this book.
First Sentence
J.R.R. Tolkien's fallen hobbit, Gollum, is an interesting character in his own right, but the changes in his character that Tolkien made between the first edition of The Hobbit in the 1930s and second edition in the 1950s make him one of his most fascinating creations. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
J.R.R. Tolkien's fallen hobbit, Gollum, is an interesting character in his own right, but the changes in his character that Tolkien made between the first edition of The Hobbit in the 1930s and second edition in the 1950s make him one of his most fascinating creations. Read the first page
Explore More
Concordance
Browse Sample PagesConcordance
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
There are no customer reviews yet on Amazon.co.uk.
5 star
4 star
3 star
2 star
1 star
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
3.5 out of 5 stars
4 reviews
10 of 12 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars
Good collection, but incomplete
11 Mar 2003
By E. A Solinas
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback
"Tolkien Compass" was long out of print, along with a lot of other good books on and by J.R.R. Tolkien. Now with the release of the live-action movie trilogy, virtually all the Tolkien-related books are being pulled off the shelves and rereleased -- this among them. It's a good, insightful collection of essays, but there's something vital missing...
It's a compilation of essays, by various people. Among them are Bonniejean Christensen's
study of Gollum in "The Hobbit" -- there were two versions of the "Riddles in the Dark"
chapter; Walter Scheps's "Fairy-Tale Morality of Lord of the Rings," which studies the ethics
of Tolkien's trilogy as well as traditional fairy-tales; Agnes Perkins and Helen Hill's essay on
power, corruption, the lust for power, and the One Ring; Deborah C. Rogers's study of
humanity both in the "everyman" hobbits and in the noble Aragorn; Robert Plank's study of
the Scouring of the Shire and how it reflects fascism; and several others. On the downside, Dorothy Matthews' "The Psychological Journey of Bilbo Baggins" is okay, but rather off-balance because it explains a hobbit's mind in complex jargon -- those don't go together.
But there is a major problem. I was fortunate enough to find a first-edition paperback of this book, from the 1970s, and the last part of it is a special meaning and pronunciation guide by J.R.R. Tolkien himself. It's a wonderful bonus, and worth the price of the book alone. But for some reason, the chapter has been removed from the reprinted "Tolkien Compass." It's just essays, no Tolkien -- I'm not sure why it was removed, but it was.
"Tolkien Compass" is a good collection of scholarly essays on various facets of Tolkien's
work, which aren't dumbed down but also aren't too hard to understand. If the extra guide chapter had been included, this would have been a reissued treasure. As it is, it seems very incomplete.
5 of 6 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Missing Appendix
19 Mar 2003
By San Valentino
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback
Reviewer la solinas complains that the new edition fails to include Tolkien's "Notes on Nomenclature," which the 1975 edition offered. A glance at page 157 would have explained why. The Tolkien Estate would not permit its reprinting, because the Estate plans to republish it another book. "A Tolkien Compass" is a splendid book. Jared Lobdell appreciated the depth of Tolkien's genius long before most Americans.
1 of 2 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
A literary analysis excellent in its scope
16 May 2003
By Midwest Book Review
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback
Fans of Tolkien and his fantasy will thrill to A Tolkien Compass, a handbook which provides reflections on his political, religious, and psychological principles. Ten writers explore these concepts, offering very different backgrounds of expertise and approaches to Tolkien's art. The result is a literary analysis excellent in its scope.
›
Go to Amazon.com to see all 4 reviews
3.5 out of 5 stars
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
