The New Munsell Student Color Set, 3rd Edition Review

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The New Munsell Student Color Set, 3rd Edition Reviewif you are a beginning artist, an aspiring designer or just someone fascinated with color, then this is a great publication to train yourself in the many nuances of color vision.
the format is a small black three-ring binder of 13 white card pages, and 13 small plastic baggies of dull finish color chips, somewhat smaller than postage stamps. each page presents an empty grid of color (light to dark down the page, and dull to brilliant across it) that you must fill in manually by placing each chip in its assigned position. there are no codes or color names printed on the back of the color chips to help you along, but there is an introductory page explaining the basic concepts of hue, chroma (saturation) and value, the three basic attributes of color.
accompanying the binder is a staple bound color primer by joy turner luke. although the production values are pretty modest, this is one of the best overviews of color i have read anywhere, particularly for artists and designers. luke gets into the history of color research, the basics of color vision, the details of color mixing (she has some sobering critical thoughts about the many commerical "artist's color wheels" on the market today), color design and more.
the color chips are fussy to work with; they are delivered unattached to the card pages so that you can sort and rearrange them in various color tests or color demonstrations, but it's easy to mix them up. i found it most convenient to glue them into place, so that they wouldn't get lost and were ready for quick reference. that tedious exercise apart, this is a very instructive introductory resource for young adults and color students of any age.The New Munsell Student Color Set, 3rd Edition Overview

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Lord of the Rings Review

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Lord of the Rings ReviewYou can purchase this book is some NewZealand stores and save carrying it with your luggage. I saw it at the airport. It was good at orienting you to where different scenes were shot. A head's up: Many places were used for background, while the action was shot in a studio or created on a computer. Also, many scenes in the movie feature scenes shot all over new zealand and since they are together in the movie you assume they are also together in real life. Example: when arwen rides away from the nazgul, the horse scene (shot with a double by the way) is in one area, the river she enters in another area, and the when she turns to face the nazgul, that river is yet somewhere else. I highly recommend the area around queenstown and glenorche.Lord of the Rings Overview

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500 Wedding Rings: Celebrating a Classic Symbol of Commitment (500 Series) Review

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500 Wedding Rings: Celebrating a Classic Symbol of Commitment (500 Series) ReviewAs usual with Lark books, gorgeous photos of incredible jewelry. My one complaint, and it is the same as all the other Lark jewelry books, is the inclusion of "non-wearable" and "exhibition" type pieces. Wedding rings made out of plastic or felt with weird tangly things off them is not worthy of inclusion in such a collection. I feel as if the pages taken up by the craft hour projects is such a waste. For the people out there who think completely unwearable and some, downright painful, jewelry is worthy of admiration, please Lark, save those pieces for their own volume. Other than that, the Lark books, particularly the Rings books, are my fav source of design inspiration.500 Wedding Rings: Celebrating a Classic Symbol of Commitment (500 Series) Overview

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Where Should Turtle Be? Review

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Where Should Turtle Be Review"Where Should Turtle Be?" is a great picture book and read-aloud. It narrates the story of a baby sea turtle who takes the wrong path, away from the ocean, and ends up in different habitats inhabited by other types of turtles. As he journeys, he discovers other kinds of turtles who find their homes in the woods, salty marsh, and ponds. The poor sea turtle finds these habitats alien and uncomfortable despite noticing that the various turtles he meets, i.e. box, painted and diamond back seem at home in their individual habitats. So he trudges on, hoping to find his real home at last.
The story itself is captivating and will appeal to young children and even older ones as they follow the young sea turtle's journey home, beautifully illustrated in full-color. But this is not merely a story - there is a lot to be learned here too, and I loved that the book had learning activities for readers to participate in at the end of the book, such as matching the different habitats to the respective turtles, and many more. This makes a wonderful read-aloud and picture book which serves to educate in a fun and interactive way. Highly recommended!Where Should Turtle Be Overview

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Let Freedom Ring Review

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Let Freedom Ring ReviewThis is a beautiful, inspirational book that is the perfect gift for everyone, especially the Patriot among you.Let Freedom Ring Overview

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The Lord of the Rings Poster Collection 2 (No. 2) Review

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The Lord of the Rings Poster Collection 2 (No. 2) ReviewThis collection features six works of Alan Lee who, along with John Howe, was one of the principle conceptual artists for Peter Jackson's films based on J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings".
The six works featured in this collection are:
1. The Mines of Moria
2. Tol Brandir
3. The Golden Hall
4. Orthanc
5. The Siege of Gondor
6. Two Orcs in the Land of Shadow
The six works are large, stand alone posters on heavy stock contained within an attractive folder featuring "Orthanc" on the front cover. The prints--the originals were done in watercolor--have a black border with the name of the work and the artist at the bottom in small print.
These prints are an excellent addition to any Tolkien fan's collection.The Lord of the Rings Poster Collection 2 (No. 2) Overview

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Wedding Rings Review

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Wedding Rings ReviewThis jewel of a book tells you all you could hope to know about the history and folklore of wedding rings, and does so in a delightful highly readable fashion. The book is strewn with literary quotes and has an ample supply of beautiful photos and illustrations.Wedding Rings Overview

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Necklaces, Bracelets, Brooches and Rings using Crystal Beads Review

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Necklaces, Bracelets, Brooches and Rings using Crystal Beads ReviewThis is a good example of the French way of beading using crystals and nylon thread. I plan on using c-lon or fireline with a beading needle. Before the projects are a few pages explaining the materials and method.Everything is clearly explained step by step with good illustrations and color photos. The projects are in sets; e.g. ring, bracelet, earrings, necklace, etc. There are 13 sets. Instructions call for two needles when beading with needles. My favorites are Ocean lace, romance and southern stars which is a 6 point star. Color choices are lovely. Both this book and her earlier one highly recommended. Very reasonable book well produced.Necklaces, Bracelets, Brooches and Rings using Crystal Beads Overview

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Creatures of The Two Towers (The Lord of the Rings Movie Tie-In) Review

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Creatures of The Two Towers (The Lord of the Rings Movie Tie-In) ReviewAlthough this is the official movie guide for children to the Two Towers, I found that it was helpful for adults who are not Lord of the Rings fans and/or have not read any of the books by Tolkien. It is lushly illustrated with gorgeous photos of all of the people/creatures in The Fellowship of the Ring and The Two Towers. There are also a few photos of how they developed CGI characters such as the cave troll and Sauron. Underneath each photograph is a sentence or two explaining who the person/creature is and how they fit into the story. The wording and the brevity of the descriptions make it perfect for younger readers or those looking for a quick and dirty introduction to the characters of Middle Earth including Hobbits, Ents, Easterlings, Haradrim, Uruk-Hai, Gollum, the Watcher in the Water, Dwarves, Elves, Wizards/Istari, Balrog, Gwaihir, and many more. The book also comes with a free fold out enlarged picture of Gandalf confronting the Balrog in Moria. I would recommend this book for those who are not very familiar with The Lord of the Rings trilogy and for children ages 8 and up. It is very short at app. 60 pages (most of which is taken up by pictures) and so is a great introduction. However, if you are a Tolkien fan and familiar with the stories or saw the first movie, there is nothing new for you here.Creatures of The Two Towers (The Lord of the Rings Movie Tie-In) Overview

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The War of the Ring: The History of The Lord of the Rings, Part Three (The History of Middle-Earth, Vol. 8) Review

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The War of the Ring: The History of The Lord of the Rings, Part Three (The History of Middle-Earth, Vol. 8) Review"The War of the Ring" is the third installment of Christopher Tolkien's "The History of The Lord of the Rings" series, and the eighth volume of his massive "The History of Middle Earth".
Like the two volumes before it, Christopher Tolkien takes the reader on a detailed journey of the creative processes through which "The Lord of the Rings" came to be. Of particular interest in this book:
The development of the "Paths of the Dead" story.
The development of the character of Denethor, Steward of Gondor.
The development of "The Battle of the Pelennor Fields".
The development of the story of Shelob and Frodo's capture.
It's unfortunate that Christopher Tolkien was unable to finish "The History of The Lord of the Rings" in three volumes, so the reader is left with the story still unfinished. It is also worth noting that these books, especially as they proceed to the end of the story, do not simply rehash the final work. If sections of a chapter underwent little or no evolutionary development, they are treated briefly. The greatest attention is paid to those episodes which were written and re-written, often in very different ways.
I was somewhat disappointed that the theme of Gollum's "near repentance" was not treated in detail, as JRR Tolkien felt that this was a key turning-point in the story. But again, if an episode underwent little development, Christopher did not spend much time on it.
Five stars -- and another "Thank-you" to Christopher for this labor of love on his late father's behalf.The War of the Ring: The History of The Lord of the Rings, Part Three (The History of Middle-Earth, Vol. 8) Overview

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The Lord of the Rings: The Art of The Return of the King Review

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The Lord of the Rings: The Art of The Return of the King ReviewImpressed by astounding cinematography of LOTR? I am. "The Art of The Return of the King (The Lord of the Rings)" by Gary Russell shows the amazing art behind the movie is more than pretty pictures.
From "The Siege of Gondor" to "Shelob's Lair," Russell walks us through the stages of design that created a real and surreal world of Middle Earth.
With Shelob, for different artist's reasons for the balance of spider- and crab-like characteristics. Part of the problem was in trying to stay as close to Tolkien's own version while bringing plausible life to Shelob that would work in a movie.
Some of the pictures are pencils. Others are full-color, finely detailed views. Various angles are provided as in the many scenes of Mordor. There are photos of early models, both colored and plain, giving a 3D perspective of what the artists were thinking.
The insight here will intrigue nonartists like myself who are amazed at how complex the making of LOTR was, and serve as a primer for character and building studies. There are elements of technical discussion, but I felt I learned about the relationships of style and message.
I fully recommend "The Art of The Return of the King (The Lord of the Rings). It is a beautiful book, with interesting text. Having recently watched the movie, I appreciated both Tolkien and the makers of the movie so much more.
Anthony Trendl
editor, HungarianBookstore.comThe Lord of the Rings: The Art of The Return of the King Overview

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The Treason of Isengard: The History of The Lord of the Rings, Part Two (The History of Middle-Earth, Vol. 7) Review

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The Treason of Isengard: The History of The Lord of the Rings, Part Two (The History of Middle-Earth, Vol. 7) ReviewThe advent of DVD technology increased what many of us expect to get out of a movie. When I buy a movie I love on DVD, I expect to get as much extra data as possible. I want to see the original drafts of the script, I want to hear the director and writer talking about the movie, I want to see a 'making of' documentary and all the deleted scenes that never made it to the final version.
This is *precisley* what you get with this compendium of Christopher Tolkien's History of Middle Earth. Unlike the previous volumes that cover the actual internal history and chronology of Middle Earth in the same way the books of Lost Tales did, this series details the *writing* of the Lord of the Rings. We *see* Tolkien's thought processes as he figured out what happens next. We watch as Aragon shows up with the unlikely name of Trotter. We watch Frodo get moved around so much that, by the time he's recognizable to us as the character in the novel, he's had several names and other characters have had his name!
We see the *entire plotline* surrounding Saruman's defection from the Council, one of-if not *the*- major subplots of the novel arise out of Tokien's problems with the Nazgul. If the Nazgul are going to chase Frodo and Co. around on the way to Rivendell, Gandalf *can't be there*. Otherwise he'd just smack the Nazgul around. Ok, where can Gandalf be? Hmm. . .he'd have to be *captured* by someone if he couldn't make it to defend Frodo. And so the entire notion of Saruman takes form.
This is more than just a fascinating examination of the development of a famous novel; it's a lesson on how books are written. About the endless series of compromises that must be made to get the story into print.
Two points you should consider, though. This is not *fun* to read, it's not remotely entertaining. It's not *meant* as entertainment, it's mean as a scholarly examination of the development of a novel. Christopher Tolkien is occasionally casual; he'll say; "Then father wrote something I honestly can't figure out and doesn't make any sense to me." Fair enough, but that's about as engaging as this gets. If you pick this up, be prepared to read it like a textbook.
Secondly, Christopher Tolkien is necessarily bound by the things his father thought were important. Gargantuan volumes of text are devoted to following his father's obsession with working out the precise timeline, often down to the hour and minute, things occurred in the story. I don't think this is going to be interesting to anyone except another Tolkien scholar. I don't think the timeline is that important in the first place, so I can't honestly say that it was interesting watching its development.
But you shouldn't let these two things stop you. Some advice; skip the parts that are boring to you. Each book has a hell of an index. Start leafing through it, looking for interesting subjects. I was fascinated by the development of the Palantir. Much time is spent talking about the different drafts, but we don't need to know when the different drafts were written, or why, just that there *were* different drafts. I was able to learn a lot about the development of the Palantir just by reading that section, without understanding the nature of the different drafts of the story.
The whole series is filled with this stuff. It's worth it alone for the development of the poem Errantry, which Bilbo recites in the house of Elrond. Great stuff!!The Treason of Isengard: The History of The Lord of the Rings, Part Two (The History of Middle-Earth, Vol. 7) Overview

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The Lord of the Rings Complete Visual Companion Review

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The Lord of the Rings Complete Visual Companion ReviewThere are two kinds of "Lord of the Rings" fans -- those that have seen the movie, and those that have not. For the ones who haven't, Jude Fisher is like a best pal when it comes to filling in details. Her "Lord Of The Rings: The Complete Visual Companion" not only encompasses the three visual guides she wrote before, and rounds it off with the finales.
Things have been reshuffled a little to allow for better flow (why bother with recap if it's all in the same book) and the three visual guides together seem almost seamless. Fisher examines in detail the many characters from mild hobbit Frodo down to loathsome Grima Wormtongue, the places (such as the exquisite Lothlorian) pivotal battles, strange monsters and climactic events like the battle of the Pelennor Fields.
"The Return of the King Visual Companion," the last of the three books, was released over a month before the movie was -- therefore, Fisher was restrained from giving away anything that happens after Frodo and Sam reach Mount Doom. In short, it didn't tell us anything about how the movie ended -- would Frodo destroy the Ring, or would it possess him? Would Aragorn become king? Would he marry Arwen?
Now that "Return of the King" is almost a year behind us, Fisher is free to include new chapters and beautiful photographs from the last parts of the trilogy. She adds on the climax of the entire trilogy, with Frodo struggling into the heart of Mount Doom, and ends the chapter with the ambiguous line "I have made my choice." No, it's not clear what he chose just by reading.
After that comes a chapter detailing the coronation and wedding of Aragorn and Arwen, a chapter about the Fellowship splitting up for the last time, the Hobbits returning home, and a mention of Sam Gamgee's wedding to his beloved Rosie Cotton. In the final chapter (including the loveliest picture in the entire book), Fisher describes Frodo's final departure from Middle-Earth into the west.
Fisher has a pleasant, breezy style, and is able to explain the world of Middle-Earth without dumbing down the material. Sometimes she adds background info (such as Frodo's tragic life before coming to live with Bilbo) that was not a part of the actual script, but is essential to the characters anyway. The varied, colorful photographs are quite gorgeous, and the book has been reissued in a trade paperback with glossy flaps.
Anyone disappointed that "The Return of the King Visual Companion" did not include the climax and ending will be pleased by "The Lord Of The Rings: The Complete Visual Companion" -- like the trilogy, the visual guides are best read in one big chunk.The Lord of the Rings Complete Visual Companion Overview

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The Lord of the Rings Weapons and Warfare Review

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The Lord of the Rings Weapons and Warfare ReviewThis book is absolutely astonishing....224 pages of pure LOTR bliss! If you buy nothing else this holiday season, then you MUST get this book! It has all of the good facts about the folks in the three LOTR films...and it even backtracks to give us a little bit of history prior to the legendary War of the Ring. Of course, this is all done from a military/war aspect...which makes it even better! The illustrations are wonderful....the pictures are delightful and pleasing to the eye. The prose is not written for children...but it is not written in such a difficult language that a person with limited reading comprehension may not be able to understand it. I highly suggest you run right out today and get yourself a copy! You'll be glad you did!The Lord of the Rings Weapons and Warfare Overview

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Sauron Defeated: The History of The Lord of the Rings, Part Four (The History of Middle-Earth, Vol. 9) Review

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Sauron Defeated: The History of The Lord of the Rings, Part Four (The History of Middle-Earth, Vol. 9) ReviewIn "Sauron Defeated", Christopher Tolkien brings to a close "The History of The Lord of the Rings", a subset within his "The History of Middle Earth". Like the previous three volumes in this series, Christopher traces the development of his father's thought as the final chapters of The Lord of the Rings are written. Of special interest are the early conceptions of "The Scouring of the Shire" and the two versions of the never-published "Epilogue". The Epilogue was, to me, particularly touching, as it involved Sam, now a middle-aged hobbit with a houseful of kids, reading to his family and keeping the Story alive.
HOWEVER, the above material, while unable to fit into the previous volume (The War of the Ring), was not enough to warrent a volume all by itself. So Christopher has also included "The Notion Club Papers" -- a space/time/dream travel story, written at the same time as The Lord of the Rings was being developed. The story itself involves Numenor -- Tolkien's telling of the Atlantis saga. Of particular interest to CS Lewis fans, "The Notion Club Papers" purports to be a discussion of (among other things) Lewis' own space travel fiction, penned in the late 30's and early 40's. It's a shame that this story was never brought to completion -- I'm finding the ideas it expresses to be quite interesting.
Again, 5 stars, both for the Master, and for the tireless work of Christopher.Sauron Defeated: The History of The Lord of the Rings, Part Four (The History of Middle-Earth, Vol. 9) Overview

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The Lord of the Rings: The Making of the Movie Trilogy (.) Review

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The Lord of the Rings: The Making of the Movie Trilogy (.) ReviewDon't get this book confused with Sibley's FIRST "Making of Lord of the Rings" book. The first book was restricted in what it showed the production of -- in other words, it showed production mainly of the first movie. This book includes stuff from the first AND second movies, a slew of new photos and information, and real-world reactions to the first movie.
The book starts with a description of what the stars did on the night of the movie's world premiere, then snaps back to when Peter Jackson first began the journey to create "Lord of the Rings." The parts on costumes, sets, locations and CGI have been expanded to include Two Towers as well (there's an entire chapter devoted to making Brad Dourif into Grima Wormtongue). There's information on dressing Eowyn, creating Treebeard, baking lembas, and -- of course -- the creation of CGI masterpiece Gollum. Even little details, such as the moth that Gandalf uses as a messenger, are dealt with.
There are dozens of pictures, ranging from the exquisite (pictures of people working on the "bigatures," Treebeard, and the intricate costumes) to the awkward (Legolas in mid-war-scream, Elijah Wood gnawing on his fingertip). The bonuses include quotes from the actors on their costars and a hilarious interview with Dominic Monaghan and Billy Boyd ("I need a hug!" "Not NOW!") in which they comment on the sexiness of their hobbit armor, the maturation of their characters, and Billy falling into a cactus. And actor Ian McKellen writes a brief but sprightly foreword in which he talks about Sibley's "Making of" guide and the making of the movie itself, and the impact it's had. (And it has a plug for his website!)
It's an entertaining and informative look behind-the-scenes for anyone who enjoyed the movie and wanted to know "How was that done? Who did that?" Fantastic read.The Lord of the Rings: The Making of the Movie Trilogy (.) Overview

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The Ruby Ring: A Novel Review

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The Ruby Ring: A Novel ReviewThe current vogue in historical fiction has led to an influx of novels such as The Ruby Ring. Their authors take truly fascinating and moving artifacts and stories (in this case, the apparent affair between Renaissance artist Raphael and baker's daughter Margherita Luti) and then use them as the basis for a novel. In some cases (such as Philippa Gregory's various novels about English history and Emma Donoghue's Slammerkin and Life Mask) the results are fascinating and inspired. In other cases, such as The Ruby Ring, the results are dishwater-dull recoutings of what might have happened if everyone in history acted like they were in a romance novel. I will discuss the plot of this novel, so don't read further if for some reason you fear having this book spoiled for you.
One sure sign you're reading a stinker is if the heroine is immediately presented as a paragon of wit, beauty, bravery and intelligence even though she is a mere girl of humble means. Often a parent (usually the father, in this case the mother) has impressed upon our lass that she is very special and cut out for great things. And typically she has some kind of unusual eye color, for some reason, though in this case there's an actual painting so the author must lump it with the classic brown hue.
In any case, here's how this love story of the ages goes. Raphael needs a new model, he seems Margharita, he immediately falls in love, after some ridiculous dillydallying on her part when offered what must have been the equivalent of 10K, easy, to pose for Raphael (I believe to show her feisty independence, even though her family is impoverished, so her hesitation seems to make no sense), she poses, they hit it, they fall in love.
From this point henceforth, which occurs early on, the vast majority of dialog between the two consists of "I love you, bella." "I love you, mi amor." (Sex ensues.) This does not vary over the course of the rest of the book.
There are other characters, of course, particuarly a cardinal obsessed about having Raphael marry his daughter (who is ugly and weird, unlike super!pretty!and smart! and just as noble as the nobility! Margharita.) Most of them are pretty interchangeable. Often they admire Margharita and think she is wonderful, unless one of them wants to marry/do Margharita or Raphael (handy!)
There is also much coverage of the politics of art and artists, none of which will be particularly interesting to most people who has read anything about Renaissance Italy before. It seemed to me that the author was powering through those parts so she could get to the next "mi amor" scene.
The writing is dull too. The author has a tendency to inform the reader of things that one could clearly pick up from context. "Oh, Raphael, you signed the nudie painting of me!" "Yes, mi amor, I am signing it because I am proud that I painted you in the altogether and you are my lady!" "Oh, my dearest love, but you rarely sign paintings!" "Oh yes, but as you can see, I did in this instance! Now let us off to the bedchamber!"
Bleah.The Ruby Ring: A Novel Overview

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The Return of the Shadow: The History of The Lord of the Rings, Part One (The History of Middle-Earth, Vol. 6) Review

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The Return of the Shadow: The History of The Lord of the Rings, Part One (The History of Middle-Earth, Vol. 6) ReviewIn the forward of the Return of the Shadow, Christopher Tolkien writes "My father bestowed immense pains on the creation of The Lord of the Rings, and my intention has been that this record of his first years of work on it should reflect those pains." Well he has succeeded immeasurably. By taking the time to sift through all the old manuscripts, some only half finished and written in fading pencil, and putting them into a coherent order Christopher not only tells the story of how the Lord of the Rings came to be, but he provides aspiring writers like myself with a textbook, if you will, on how great books are written. As the quote above implies, writing a story can be like an intellectual child birthing during which the writer experiences great pains and frustrations to achieve what he hopes will become a wonderful new creation that others will enjoy. Perhaps the realization that a master storyteller and obvious genius like J.R.R. Tolkien first put pen to paper without even knowing what the story would be about, or where it would go, and then suffered through hundreds of revisions, alterations, and conflicting ideas to produce his masterpiece of literature should not be surprising. But it is, and therefore, such knowledge is a great encouragement for some who is currently going through the same process. Thank You very much Christopher Tolkien for this wonderful work.The Return of the Shadow: The History of The Lord of the Rings, Part One (The History of Middle-Earth, Vol. 6) Overview

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Rackham's Color Illustrations for Wagner's "Ring" Review

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Rackham's Color Illustrations for Wagner's "Ring" ReviewThese are fantastic illustrations.
C.S. Lewis stumbled upon these Arthur Rackham paintings for Richard Wagner's, "Der Ring Des Nibelungen". Lewis writes in "Suprised By Joy" how the pictures inspired a Mythical sensation of 'Northerness' in his young mind.
As a child, 16-years ago, I discovered the same books and Arthur Rackham illustrations at the local library. I was enchanted! They led me explore the worlds of Wagnerian Opera.
I'm really glad the pictures are now reproduced in this paperback book. Pure Magic!
If you're new to Arthur Rackham's illustrations, these are PERFECT to start with.
"Yo-Jo-To-Ho!!!" -Die WalkurieRackham's Color Illustrations for Wagner's "Ring" Overview

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The Lord of the Rings Sketchbook Review

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The Lord of the Rings Sketchbook ReviewI had been waiting rather impatiently since this book was first announced, 4 or 5 years ago. It has been promoted by the publishers as a " sumptuous, large-format" book featuring preparatory sketches and rejected drawings for the illustrated edition of " Lord of the Rings", in which Alan Lee's spectacular watercolors inspired Peter Jackson to hire him as conceptual artist for the film trilogy. His involvement with the films obviously held up work on putting the book together, and, in the meantime, the book took a turn in the direction of the film. The result is a mixture of sketches and drawings that were obviously meant as illustrations to the book, coupled with some designs for props, armor, etc from the film AND some drawings done on the New Zealand locations of a few of the actors in their rols ( MacKellan as Gandalf, Blanchett as Galadriel) and maybe even some drawn-from-life landscapes with additions to make them look like Middle-Earth scenery. An example of book illustration is the section devoted to Tom Bombadil and Goldberry; the pencil drawing of Tom's house is coupled with the watercolor developed from it for the book. But there are also drawings of Tom and two for Goldberry ! There are also some sketches for the unfilmed barrow-downs scene.
The big disappointment is the size. It's certainly not " large-format" at 8 x 10 inches, and it's hard for a book to be " sumptuous" when it's that puny ! Also, quite a few of the 20 " color plates" are merely black-and-white pencil drawings on tinted paper !
That said, the drawings ARE beautiful, and many of them have never been published. It certainly is a must for the Tolkien or Alan Lee fan.The Lord of the Rings Sketchbook Overview

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