From School Library Journal
Gr 9 Up-This collection of abridged, previously published essays provides sophisticated analyses of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. The introductory essay presents solid biographical background on Tolkien. Although some of the selections are accessible to high school students, most suffer from the abridgment and several are too complex or presume readers' familiarity with writers such as George Macdonald or C. S. Lewis or with Jungian psychology. Roger Sale's excerpted essay on heroism in The Lord of the Rings seems to end abruptly in the middle. T. A. Shippey's concluding essay, which identifies Tolkien's sources in developing Middle-earth, is perhaps the most useful in the collection. The editor also includes a thorough chronology of Tolkien's life, times, and work. Purchase where demand for this subject is high and readers are advanced.-Ellen A. Greever, University of New Orleans, LA
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