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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A good solid work, Sep 13 2003
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.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
An interesting insight to Tolkien's Middle Earth, Oct 30 2002
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.
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3.0 out of 5 stars
For people who already know LOTR backwards & forwards ONLY!!, Feb 21 2002
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.
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