J.R.R. Tolkien, author of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, has written another book, the Children of Húrin, which was published this week. Not bad, considering that Tolkien passed away in 1973.
Actually Tolkien has had several books published posthumously, edited by his youngest son, Christopher Tolkien, from his voluminous notes and drafts that rarely saw the light of day while the author was still alive. Christopher Tolkien, now in his eighties, has spent 30 years putting the pieces of the puzzle together and has finished another legendary tale.
The Children of Húrin represents Tolkien's first work on Middle Earth, dating back to when he was recovering from World War 1 in 1918. Having read excerpts of the story of Húrin and his descendants already published in other volumes, I'm eager to read this as well. I'm a huge Rings fan and love the additional material available from Tolkien's notes; I have ten Tolkien books on my shelf already. Altogether it creates this massive collection of interrelated myths, a fantasy history of the ancient world. It's a masterpiece of English literature.
I really want my boys to read these books (at minimum the Hobbit and the LOTR trilogy) as they get older. The stories promote virtues such as courage and duty and commitment. Young men ought to have tales like these ringing in their hearts.
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