Beschreibung

 

Im Ersten Zeitalter von Mittelerde, tausende Jahre vor dem Ringkrieg, gelangt Morgoth an die Macht und ein Krieg gegen die Elben und Edain beginnt. Nach einer schrecklichen Schlacht wird Húrin von Morgoth gefangen genommen und seine gesamte Familie mit einem Fluch belegt.

 

Das Schicksal führt Húrins Sohn Túrin schon in jungen Jahren zu den Elben. Dort wächst er zu einem stolzen jungen Mann heran, der seinen Mut schon bald im Kampf gegen die böse Macht Morgoths und den Drachen Glaurung unter Beweis stellt.

 

Meine Meinung

 

Die Geschichter über „Die Kinder Húrins“ nimmt für J. R. R. Tolkien einen großen Stellenwert ein, jedoch wurde sie zu seinen Lebzeiten weder fertig gestellt, noch veröffentlicht. Sein Sohn Christopher hat sich dem Vermächtnis seines Vaters angenommen und die bestehenden Fragmente zu einer fortlaufenden Geschichte zusammengefügt und ergänzt. Ein Vorwort erläutert die Zusammenhänge sowie die zeitliche Einordnung der Geschichte, außerdem sind Anhänge mit Stammbäumen, einem Namensverzeichnis und einer Karte beigefügt, die das Werk komplettieren.

Die Erzählkunst Tolkiens weicht in „Die Kinder Húrins“ etwas von dem detailreichen Stil, wie wir ihn aus „Der Hobbit“ und „Der Herr der Ringe“ kennen ab.

 

Mich erinnert Tolkiens Schreibstil hier sehr stark an eine Sage oder Legende, denn Tolkiens Sprache ist sehr altertümlich gehalten, zudem betrachtet man die Geschichte mit größerem Abstand zu Protagonisten und Plot, so dass man keinen direkten Zugang zu den einzelnen Figuren erhält und das Geschehen wie aus der Vogelperspektive betrachtet.

 

Die heroische Geschichte über das Geschlecht der Beor und den Krieg gegen die dunkle Macht Morgoths hat mich von der ersten Seite an gefesselt und auf eine spannende Reise durch das erste Zeitalter Mittelerdes, etwa 6500 Jahre vor dem Ringkrieg, mitgenommen. Im Mittelpunkt steht Túrin, der Sohn von Morwen und Húrin, sowie die Entwicklung in Beleriand. Ganze Städte werden von Morgoth vernichet und Túrins Schicksal ist der Kampf gegen diesen mächtigen Feind. Als Elbenfreund und großer Krieger macht er sich in den unterschiedlichsten Gegenden Beleriands einen Namen. Doch der Fluch von Morgoth überschatten sein mutiges und stolzes Wesen mit einer dunklen Seite.

 

Nachdem ich erst kürzlich „Der Hobbit“ und „Der Herr der Ringe“ nochmals gelesen hatte, habe ich es sehr genossen meine Füße nun wieder auf Mittelerdes Boden setzten zu können und einen umfangreicheren Einblick in die ersten Tage und Schlachten zu erhalten. In meinen Augen eignet sich die Geschichte vor allem für Tolkien Fans die tiefer in die Vorgeschichte Mittelerdes eintauchen möchten. Einem Neuleser würde ich daher empfehlen, zuerst mit den beiden genannten Werken zu beginnen.

 

Fazit

 

Eine Sage aus dem ersten Zeitalter Mittelerdes die eine Bereicherung für jeden Tolkien-Fan ist!

Nice overview about the object. Also includes, for the length, a rather good analysis about the debate. A good place to start if interested in the topic.

 

This is a very dark and cold story, as so many reviewers have pointed out; but it's a tragedy, of course it wasn't going to be sunshine and rainbows. Túrin was one of my favorite characters in the Simlarillion, so naturally I was thrilled when I found out that he had his own book--and now he is one of my favorite characters in existence. This book is beautiful in the way that a thunderstorm is beautiful, terrifying and bleak and dazzling. I love every single word on every single page of it.

I like dark tales; I freely admit that. My favorite authors are Jun Mochizuki and Carol Berg, for goodness' sake. But I don't just enjoy this book because the tragedy breaks my heart, or because I love and sympathize with Túrin as I do with few other characters, or because I enjoy the magic and tension and battle scenes. I put this book on my favorites shelf because, through all of the suffering and sorrow, there is a beauty to it that few other books possess; a phenomenal story that I've been drawn back to over and over again; and a realism to it, the knowledge that not all endings are happy and not all lives are as blissful as we like to imagine they are. 

This book makes my heart ache; it makes me feel Túrin's anger and his hurt. It makes me smile; it gives me the joy and satisfaction that a young boy once felt when he gave his dagger to an old cripple. And if a book can do all of this, I think it deserves to be recognized as an amazing piece of work. If you enjoy J.R.R. Tolkien or Terry Brooks, or a dozen other writers of old-fashioned epic fantasy, I cannot recommend it enough.

I think this is number five and I must say that the quality of the series seems to be degrading, but then I suspect that this is simply the law of diminishing returns coming into play. In the first few books there seemed to be a lot more twists in the story and it was difficult to see how the book was going to progress, and when you thought that you had worked it out, it suddenly took a new turn.

There is none of that in this book.

Basically the Shroud of Turin has been stolen by, guess what, a bunch of psychotic demons, and even though there are mention of other types of demons, we only encounter one lot here, and they are pretty nasty as well (but then what do you expect from demons, tea in the park with flowers?). Also, at the beginning we have the vampires return because, well, the war between the wizards and the vampires is continuing and there is always someone out there gunning for poor old Harry (especially since the blame for starting the war lies with him, but they don't really want to end the war because while they don't like fighting, they do have ulterior motives in mind).

Micheal the Paladin returns, along with two others who are also like him, one being some big hulking Russian dude, the other being some old Japanese guy who became a Christian because he went to a rally where Elvis was playing and after the rally he was invited to come down the front to meet 'The King' though it turned out that 'The King' wasn't Elvis (evidence that Butcher really can't tell a joke).

As mentioned I found this book to be a little dry and dull and once I had finished it I sort of wondered whether I am going to continue reading them. I still have another one sitting around that my friend lent me (which is the next in the series) so I will probably read that to see how it goes, but from this one the series does not really seem to be going anywhere. However, fortunately, unlike a number of other fantasy series (such as the Wheel of Time) these books are complete in themselves so you are not left hanging waiting to see what happens when the next one comes out. In fact, I could stop reading at this book and not worry about what happens to Harry.

Fun fact: I'm a perfume lover. I own a good thirty bottles of perfume and have another fifty or so samples from houses (mainstream and niche) the world across. Sure, I started with a bottle of Acqua di Giò (what guy hasn't?), but my perfume journey has taken me to wild and fanciful places. Now Bertrand Duchaufour, Christopher Seldrake, Jean-Claude Ellena and Francis Kurkdjian are among my favourite noses, and I am beginning to explore the domain of niche perfumery.

Here's the thing: perfume is an intensely personal experience. I love Black Aoud; my mom hates it. When I wear Sycomore, my dad wrinkles his nose. My friends refuse to sit next to me when I put on Encre Noire. I wear perfume for myself because I've grown to love the scents and the associations I've made with them. Clearly, however, not everyone has the same taste. In fact, judging from the list of perennial bestsellers—think Acqua di Giò, Bleu de Chanel, Light Blue—it seems that most people have unadventurous taste. It all goes to show that no two people are exactly alike when it comes to perfume.

So why should we listen to Luca Turin and Tania Sanchez? Aren't their opinions just that—opinions? That's true, but theirs are a hell of a lot more informed than the average human's. Luca Turin is a biophysicist whose work in olfaction has been incredibly influential; Tania Sanchez is a well-respected perfume writer and blogger. These two live and breathe (heh) perfume. They're practically the patron saints of the stuff, and their work here doesn't disappoint.

Perfumes: The Guide is essentially a collection of alphabetized perfume reviews. Some are poetic, some are more than a little acerbic (their review of cK In2 U His reads only "IM IN YR BOTTLE, BORIN YR GF"—perfection!), many are riotously funny, and all are impeccably written. Turin and Sanchez have a real way with words; it's immediately apparent that they're not some two-bit bloggers selling their hack writing for thirty bucks.

That's not to say their opinions are always trustworthy. On the contrary—Turin and Sanchez (who are married, by the way) dump on Creed throughout the book, which I find absolutely lamentable. Creed Aventus is one of my favourite fragrances, and if there really is such thing as a chick magnet, I think Aventus is a serious contender for the title. Furthermore, the authors sometimes accord too much praise to boring, stodgy fragrances. The highest-rated perfumes are often things I would never wear, like Chanel No. 5 and the like. You can't blame Turin and Sanchez for admiring the Old World of perfumery, but a little more adventurousness now and then might be appreciated.

Perfumes: The Guide is a valuable resource if you're looking to explore the world of perfumes but don't have a thousand dollars to drop on full bottles right away. If nothing else, it's worth reading for the hilarious put-downs.

(Nota bene: "perfume" is not exclusively "for girls"; neither is "cologne" for boys. Many scents marketed to the female demographic can be easily worn by men (I often wear Elie Saab Le Parfum); likewise, stereotypically "guy" scents can smell great on women too. I have a female friend who wears Dior Fahrenheit and it smells awesome. "Eau de parfum", "eau de toilette" and "eau de cologne" are specific terms that refer to the amount of aromatic compounds in the fragrance. There ought not to be any weirdness associated with a guy wearing an "eau de parfum"—it's just a more concentrated fragrance than an eau de toilette.)