Narn I Chin Hurin: The Tale of the Children of Hurin
by J.R.R. Tolkien
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Book Reviews of Narn I Chin Hurin: The Tale of the Children of Hurin
Book Review: A new Tolkien is a delight
Summary: 4 Stars
The style of "The Children of Húrin" falls somewhere in between "Lord of the Rings" and "The Silmarillion". It is a narrative story but less of a novel than the former, yet not as much in the style of ancient mythology of the latter.
Edited by J.R.R. Tolkien's son Christopher, it tells in more detail one of the stories alluded to in "The Silmarilion", the fate of son and daughter of the hero Húrin, as he is kept prisoner by the evil fallen angel Melkor, and forced to watch that fate through the eyes of malice of the evil one.
Unlike most heroic fantasy, this is the story of a hero with serious flaws, unable to do the right thing, and the ending is not happy. The question is if Túrion's mistakes are his own, or the result of Melkor's curse on his family? The son of a great lord, foster-son of an elven king, he ends up leader of a band of outlaws, takes the life of his one great friend, and (SPOILER!!!) unknowingly weds his own sister, leading to their mutual destruction.
What makes the story interesting, despite its bleak tone, is that it casts light on several events and places mentioned in Tolkien's other work, the hidden elven realms of Gondolin, Doriath, and Nargothrond; Nirnaeth Arnoediad, the Battle of Unnumbered Tears; and the killing of the dragon Glaurung. It makes some of the ancient lofty lore a bit more accessible.
Old tales fascinate because of their distant origins. We think the "Lord of the Rings" is a wonderful tale, but in that epic Sam and others yearn for stories of even more ancient ages. Túrin's tale is one of those ancient stories for Sam and Frodo, yet even in that time, thousands of years before the events of "Lord of the Rings" there were even older sagas of deeds of even earlier days.
Book Review: Tolkien's tragic vision
Summary: 5 Stars
I'm not a "Ring" guy. Oh, I liked "Lord of the Rings," but to some extent I always felt the Hobbits were a bit too precious. Seriously, did a single one die during the three volume effort? (Gollum doesn't count.) On the other hand, I really liked the "Similarion." Difficult, but rewarding and Epic. What an imagination Tolkien had! And in fairness to the Ring comments above, I should probably go back and read the Ring books after now absorbing all the history of the "Similarion." What Tolkien achieved, with the "Similarion," was to create a complex history and mythology of a world that is as textured as "Genesis" and as tragic as "King Lear."
The "Children of Hurin" is more of the same. It's too bad that Tolkien didn't have time to expand upon other bits and pieces of the "Similarion," because "Children of Hurin" is first class stuff. It is also tragic in a top drawer English survey kind of way. For example, the idea of having the captured Hurin condemned to a chair from which he must view the fate of his family is grim but also pretty inspired. And what unfolds is right up there with the last act of "King Lear," with some grim moments from Oedipus's story to leaven things a bit. There is nothing precious here in this version of Middle Earth, no furry feet and comfortable shires in sight. One warning however, this is not a light read. Compounding this is Christopher Tolkien's introduction, which is off-putting and dizzying as he bombards you with names, places and history that will blow the uninitiated away. I wonder if the reader might be better off just turning to the story first. Still, the Introduction and Appendix are useful and important tools for a book that probably demands more than one reading. Yeah, it's Fantasy, but it's also Literature.
Book Review: Fantastic and epic
Summary: 5 Stars
This is a fantastic read and a thought provoking tale that will keep you thinking long after you've turned over the last page. The one thought that stuck with me was wondering if Turin could have changed his fate if only he had made different choices, or was the curse of Morgoth inexorable?
This is by far a darker tale than the ones that most readers are probably familiar with. The people in this tale are morally flawed and sometimes vicious. The protagonist is just as likely to kill friend as foe, the dwarf who shows up for a single chapter is a nasty, vengeful fellow, and the elven folk, generally seen as the morally incorruptible in Tolkien's more familiar stories, namely "The Lord of the Rings", make often selfish and morally wrong decisions. All this makes for an interesting and riveting read. I'd be remiss if I didn't also make mention of the beautifully stylized writing employed by Tolkien.
On a final note, while the book prominently bears J.R.R. Tolkien's name, I feel that Christopher Tolkien deserves just as much credit for it since he had the task of piecing together incomplete fragments of the story, often having to decide between conflicting versions which was the "true" tale, or pulling even as little as a single sentence from an older version of the story in order to bridge two otherwise disjointed passages, and arriving somehow at a coherent narrative, a task he has succeeded at wonderfully. Reading his notes in the appendix, I was amazed at just how incomplete the story was that he had to work with, and I do not think it would be an exaggeration to say that on the evidence of this book, he's as fine a literary craftsman as his father.
Book Review: An engaging story of destiny and pride
Summary: 4 Stars
I was familiar with the sketch of Húrin's story that appears in The Silmarillion. Unlike that book, this version is structured like a regular novel, and I found it to be far richer and more accessible.
At first, it wasn't an easy read. The introduction has some useful background but it's rather dense. The first two chapters are slow as well, recounting Húrin's childhood and his role in a major battle against the armies of Morgoth, a Satan-like figure in Tolkien's works.
The book hits its stride in chapter three, where we get a scene between a protagonist and Morgoth himself. In all of Lord of the Rings, we never got to see or hear much from Sauron himself. I found it fascinating that Tolkien finally lets his villain take center stage, albeit briefly. It's a great scene. After that, I was hooked.
The story's themes are reminiscent of Greek myth, particularly Oedipus. Destiny and pride weave their way through the narrative, reminding the reader why wisdom can't always forestall disaster. The characters have an engaging mix of virtue and flaws.
I was surprised to learn that the editor stitched this book together from drafts and fragments of the author's writings, without creating any new material to bridge the gaps. The narrative flow is smooth enough that I didn't notice.
The Children of Húrin certainly isn't a cheerful tale but I enjoyed it all the same. There are several scenes that approach or equal the best parts of Lord of the Rings. It brings readers a glimpse of Tolkien's world long before the events of Rings, without have to wade through the dense, Biblical telling in The Silmarillion.
Book Review: A Few Faults but Still Great
Summary: 4 Stars
Letting people know first off, if you are looking for a deep, enriching, and epic read then count this book out. It is by the well accomplished author J.R.R Tolkien who has written such world renowned books as The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, but the previously mentioned books completely dwarf this one (no pun intended). The Children of Hurin is satisfactory as to how it was well written and startling at points; however it does have its faults which could potentially ruin the experience of reading the book.
The book itself felt rushed and too short. I've read somewhere that Tolkien intentionally made the book seem short in order to give it a more chaotic, time's-running-out kind of feel. This I felt didn't necessarily help the novel but rather quite the opposite. Key scenes would seem to go by in a flash, leaving no real impact on the reader. The blame for this probably doesn't stem from only the shortness of the book but probably also stems from the fact that some of the chapter titles gave away the key scenes before they even happened.
Honestly, the biggest mistake upon reading this book was reading the table of content. I personally have a tendency to skim over the table of content to get the feeling of how many chapters there are and the like, but this particular table of content almost ruined the book before I began reading. It also didn't help that when I got to certain chapter, right away it said in big letters, "The Death of ..."
Despite this, the content itself is wonderful. It keeps the reader reading, not wanting to put it down. The entire plot of the tragic hero is refreshing, which is all I'll say for now.