Customer Reviews

Hobbits, Elves and Wizards: The Wonders and Worlds of J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings"

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This book comes across as the ultimate college English term paper on Tolkien: all the basic lit-class analysis you could possibly want. Prof. Stanton has been teaching Tolkien to undergraduates for many years, and the voice of this book is that of the competent but uninspired freshman-lit teacher, analytically keen but prone to overgeneralization, and hazier than he thinks in his grasp of the facts in a complex novel.
Normally I'd be the last person to object to intelligent scholarly analysis. But this well-meaning book shows the harm it can do. Stanton is so diligent in ferreting out the subtlest threads and connections from =LotR= and laying them out clearly that he sucks all the life out of them, leaving them drab and dead on the page, and denying readers the joy and the vividness of discovering them for themselves.
Stanton makes several good points, and has observed many obscure connections and even loose ends in =LotR=, but that doesn't keep him from stating questionable facts, often through overgeneralization, or highly doubtful interpretations, on almost every page. A good example is his statement that mellifluous languages are spoken by good people and harsh, guttural languages are spoken by bad people. This claim is usually made with the intent (which is not Stanton's) of denigrating Tolkien, and it's not true anyway (what about Dwarvish?).
This book, despite its good points, should on no account be read by anyone who's just finished =LotR= for the first or even second time, and the true newcomer shouldn't even glance in its direction. It should only be read by those with a deep experience and knowledge of =LotR=, who won't be spoiled by it but might still learn something; and, perhaps, by English lit students desperate for term paper topics the night before the deadline.

I ordered this book with much anticipation -- there hasn't been a good critical study of the LOTR for a decade. Highly disappointing, mostly a retelling of the story. Tolkien fans will find this a superfluous rehash of tired ideas, and non-fans will just be bored. Tolkien's Elves are not the flittery creatures of Victorian storybooks? Middle Earth is a translation of the Old Norse/Anglo-Saxon term for our world? Is there anyone on earth who hasn't known that since 1972 (or if they're under age 30, since they first encountered "The Hobbit" in grade school?)

When Stanton does hit upon an idea that may be interesting, he drops it immediately, with no development. If this book is for Tolkien aficionados, it needs to be about 100 pages longer, with a better scholarly apparatus, or at least an acknowledgement that other people have written about these books before. If it is an attempt to capitalize upon the movie, it needs to be a lot more entertaining.

If you want to get more out of your readings of LORD OF THE RINGS, this book will help you a great deal. As a relative neophyte to Tolkien's grand epic, I was occasionally confused by the myriad place and name variants, and the huge vistas of time that are covered and referred to in the books. Stanton's book is extremely useful for all of these concerns, is very readable, and is also organized in a very clear way. If you want to go back and read only about, say, the Ents, you can easily do so. Stanton taught LOTR and Tolkien for 25 years in classes at the Univ. of Vermont, and it shows. He also makes a point of thanking his many students, who over the years have given him additional insights into this great work of literature.
Great reading, and very very helpful. It's going on my shelf next to my LOTR set.

Hobbits, Elves and Wizards is a broad over-view of the Lord of the Rings. In it, Stanton goes over the trilogy, and analyses the patterns in Tolkien's writing, historical relevence, Tolkien's life, and his writing.
The book is divided into two parts, and each cover different things. The first half covers the trilogy itself. There are six chapters, one for each of the books in the Lord of the Rings. In each chapter, he points out similarities between scenes, how the characters are progressing, and the geography.
The second half covers the races of Middle Earth, Languges, and Good and Evil, and how they play a role in the story.

Overall, this is a fairly good read, if you are not a die-hard Tolkien fan. Stanton was a UVM (University of Vermont) professor, and taught LOTR for a long time. This is his reactions and conclusions from the books, presented in a book form. It reads like he's there talking in front of you.
But if you are familiar with the Lord of the Rings, this book will just be a reiteration of what you can get out of the books yourself.
The only gripes I had about the book are the signifagance of the Gray Havens, for I would have liked to know more, The Hobbit. This book does not cover it, but it would be good to see in included. Some of Stanton's conclusions are a little off. At one point in the trilogy, Gollum is fantasizing at taking over the world, while Stanton says that he is not ambitious. He could have explained that more.
Also, the hardcover edition was released before the Fellowship of the Ring movie was released. The paperback version has his own comments on the movie, but not in the hardcover.

Even for Tolkien or Lord of the Rings fans, this in a good read about the style and writings of Tolkien.

I just reread "Lord of the Rings" (having not read it since high school) and picked up Stanton's book as the first criticism in advance of seeing the film. As a starting point, it's a very good guide to the initial critical arguments surrounding LOR. It's a fine an affectionate summary of all the work done to date and it really provided some good insights, at least to my mind, about how to read the books as a whole. After you read Stanton, you can use his thoughtful bibliography to go further in Tolkien criticism. I'm now on to the work of Jane Chance, but Stanton's book was a solid bedrock from which to go forth.

Wonderful chapter by charter review of book giving insight on characters, then an understanding of different races and interactions. Michael Stanton loves the story as much as I do and presents the information as I would have loved to have been able to do. His enthusiasm shows through.

A concise well-written, well-organized critique. Stanton includes many tantalizing nuggets dug out of the rich ore of The Lord of the Rings (LOTR) increasing the reader's wealth of understanding and appreciation for J.R.R. Tolkien's masterpiece. Stanton is a seasoned guide who knows the terrain well, pointing out sights along the way, and helping us through the fogs and mists but savvy enough to get out of the way to allow the reader to see the grand vista for himself, even prompting us to do more exploring on our own paths of discovery. He writes in a manner that will enlighten the first-time reader of LOTR and add dimension to the seasoned LOTR affecianado.

Stanton never grandstands or gets in the way of the subject. I've read several criticisms on LOTR, and this is one of the best. Stanton looks at LOTR without the dated cultural bias and skewed pop criticism that mars so many other critiques and reviews of Tolkien's epic fantasy. The author is not presumptuous, or pompous, or arrogant, a tone that prevails in many other similar works. Stanton's book provides an excellent index, something that is lacking in many other criticisms of Tolkien's works, and a reasonable bibliography to broaden the perspectives of the more interested reader.

Hobbits, Elves and Wizards is a welcome addition to my library, and the one book that I recommend to all my friends who want a crisp, smooth overview and sympathetic interpretative criticism of The Lord of the Rings.

The author claims "I wrote it to entertain and instruct myself" (i). It does not cover anything new, but is written in order to clarify. The author is an early fan from the pirated American edition, and unfortunately does not seem to have been able to get past the flaws of that edition.

He begins with a brief biographical sketch of Tolkien's life and admits the books came out of Tolkien's love of language. He calls Tolkien "flagrantly ordinary...dowdy" (6) and does not get much more complimentary as he goes on.


He points out that Hobbits came late in Middle-earth's development and that Elves were Firstborn quite literally. Ironically, the author does not support a literary criticism of the books, calling that technique "obnoxious" (10) then proceeds upon it himself. Tolkien, he claims, is "identifying Middle-earth with our Earth long ago" (10). He then does highly critical analysis of patterns he thinks he sees which have no fundimental bearing on the books at all. He claims each of the 'ages' gets better, i.e. the Third Age is better than the Second and the Second better than the First which is the direct opposite to what every reader of Tolkien knows to be true.

He then ridicules the 'conservative' aspects of teh book and quickly passes over the obvious Christian references with a brief outline of them before abruptly ending the chapter in embarassment.

Stanton then simply rewrites the books in his own words for several chapters. If we wanted that, we would have read the books or fan fiction. He continually hunts for a "basic pattern" (27) and every detail is analyzed as having deep symbolic meaning -- something Tolkien himself despised. He even calls the Black Riders "vampires" (28) which is ridiculous, considering the only thing they have in common is a tendancy to come out at night. So do burglers, owls and college students but we don't call them vampires. Stanton then ignores all prevalant theories of Tom Bombadil and sidesteps the question with a typical New Age 'nature spirit' idea.

He sees much of the book as mere "literary devices" (33). He then mistakingly traces Aragorn's lineage. He ignores Boromir's large part in the Council of Elrond and in assisting the Fellowship. He degrades the books to what the Inklings clearly despised and even claims "Tolkien again makes you feel danger in the highest degree" (41). That, in itself, is a contradiction because Lewis and Tolkien believed that writing and reading for the mere thrill of danger was not only the lowest form of literature but one to avoid like the plague.

Stanton completely misinterprets all actions as mere nature magic mother earth wicca stuff which is, frankly, nausiatingly opposed to Tolkien's view and is one of the reasons why the movies are so dasdardly. At that point, Stanton goes downhill from there. He idealizes Gandalf, and without any explantion, dismisses the profound character of Denethor as simply "madness brings him to dispair" (77). In other words -- he was a crazy old man that got depressed the more crazy he got. The more logical explanation is that he was depressed first and thus became crazy and of course the true Denethor was depressed and lost all hope which is an entirely different thing.

In Stanton's attempt to explain Aragorn's usurpation of the throne, the author uses a series of logical falacies: Appeal to Authority with a claim that it was fine because the leaders wanted it, and then the fact that the White Tree had grown when it could have grown for Faramir's kingship or Denethor's and it was merely a final ironical twist. Last time I checked, it didn't have a sign on it saying "I grew because of Aragorn".

He then examines the poems and tears them apart until they lose all meaning and beauty. Stanton then tries to spiritualize everything in the worst sense. He puts it in the same category as the wildly occult Earthsea tales which I am sure because of which, Tolkien is turning in his grave.

In conclusion, I would not only not take the time to read this book, but I would encourage others not to do so. It is especially bad to those trying to show the truth of Denethor.Just because someone put it in a book does not mean it is true. And in the case of Stanton's writings, I am not even sure how something so blatantly erroneous could have been published at all.

Informative for the novice only. If you've read LOTR more than twice, pass on this, as you likely will learn little.

An excellent guide to the world of J.R.R Tolkien's. A really enjoyable book for a good read for vacation or on the airplane or the beach. A must read for all Lord of the Rings fans!