17th April - What Will You Be Doing?

[Lalwendë]

Time for a thread that allows some release of excitement and sheer silliness about What Happens Next Tuesday.

Are you going to any fancy schmancy parties or launches?

Anyone going to London?

What are the chances of Sean Bean taking part in a lauch day event in a Sheffield bookshop (please, please, oh, please....)?

Will the Downs be a deadzone next Tuesday?

Who will read it first?

Who is going to savour every last word and not rush it? Me...

Who is being almost sick with excitement?

[Thinlómien]

I will lurking at the two biggest bookshops' door here in Helsinki, trying to get a copy before it's sold out... Wait... April 18 is my nameday (or my saint's day), I wonder if i could get a present....

[The Sixth Wizard]

I was wondering if anyone knew a site that told of IT's release date in Australia. I might just go down to the local book store and ask about IT.

[Lalwendë]

Good News if you live near Cambridge!

Wednesday 18th April at 6.30pm

Alan Lee will be signing copies of The Children of Hurin and giving a talk and slide-show at Michaelhouse Cafe (Trinity Street, Cambridge) on Wednesday 18th April at 6.30pm. This is a ticketed event ONLY. Tickets are £2.00 each and available from Heffers Bookshop, 20 Trinity Street, Cambridge or by contacting Richard Reynolds on 01223-568532 or by email: literature@heffers.co.uk. If you are unable to attend the event please contact us if you would like to reserve a signed copy.

:smokin:

Blackwells Events (http://bookshop.blackwell.co.uk/jsp/bobuk_editorial/whats_on.jsp#Sheffield)

[Macalaure]

... impatiently wait for Amazon to deliver. :rolleyes:

It might be difficult to get hold on an English one in local bookstores here.

[The Might]

Same as Mac
The next bookstore with the book will probably 20 kms from here, and since I have school next day, I'm relying on Amazon

[Eomer of the Rohirrim]

Experiencing Viking metal gods Amon Amarth live in concert, myself. Can't understand all this excitement over a book featuring a story we already know. :p

[Selmo]

I assume that, if I'm granted the time, I will eventually get my hands on the new book but I'm not experiencing the same excitement I felt awaiting the publication of The Silmarilion.
.

[Child of the 7th Age]

Selmo,

I'm kind of feeling the same way. Calmly looking forward to reading the story and seeing how it compares with what's already in print in other sources.

I'll pass on the bookstore but will still be waiting by my mailbox. For those of us who aren't anywhere near the places where the signings are occurring but who would like a copy signed by the artist, ADC Books has a pretty good thing going. They are taking preorders for copies autographed by Alan Lee. The "regular" signed edition is $37 if you order through ebay....slightly more on Abebooks. They also have the deluxe edition signed by Lee, which is the one I'm getting as a birthday gift. The downside is that they won't ship out till April 20-24, which is when they're having a four-day Tolkien festival at Moreton in Marsh with both Lee and Nasmith present (promoting his CD) to sign.

[Folwren]

I'm out of the loop. What is the It that you're all talking about?

-- Folwren

[Lalaith]

Many happy returns, Child!

I will presume that amazon will deliver on time so I will get my copy on the 17th. Once it arrives, I will look at all the pretty pictures, and see what Christopher does with the ending, which is really what I'm most interested in. Does Hurin die in despair, or not? Does he return to Doriath, or not? Or will it just end with the death of Turin?

Then I am ashamed to admit, I will put on my glad rags for a most interesting yet entirely non-Tolkienesque evening out - a reunion of a now-defunct organisation I once worked for. The questions I will be seeking answers to are rather more frivolous than my literary agonies over the Narn. Will I have aged better than my former colleagues? Will the cute men still look cute? Who has turned to drink, who has run to fat, who has made a roaring success of their subsequent careers?
Oh I am so shallow. :Merisu:

[ninja91]

Ah... I'm broke. I guess I'll have to break out my baseball bat before I go and hope for the best.

[Aganzir]

There's an essay I have to write. Usually I hate writing essays but this time I've found something good in it. If not for the essay, my school would start at 8 am. Fortunately, the teacher promised we don't have to attend the lessons as long as we are working on the essay. That means my school starts at 10 am, so I do have the time to run to the nearest book shop (which opens at 9 am) and see if they're already selling The Children of Húrin.

Of course, it's possible, and even probable, that they haven't received the book so early in the morning, but it's nicer to imagine that I could be among the first people in Finland to get a copy. :cool:

[dancing spawn of ungoliant]

I will lurking at the two biggest bookshops' door here in HelsinkiI just might join that lurking party. Being too young to have been around during the time when Tolkien's other works were first released, I'm quite excited about this one. Besides, the gorgeous cover art alone is tempting enough to make me fetch a copy as soon as possible. Salsa dancing and Tolkien on the same day; life doesn't get much better from that. :D

[Farael]

I just might join that lurking party. Being too young to have been around during the time when Tolkien's other works were first released, I'm quite excited about this one. Besides, the gorgeous cover art alone is tempting enough to make me fetch a copy as soon as possible. Salsa dancing and Tolkien on the same day; life doesn't get much better from that. :D
How about this... last exam and THE Tolkien event of my lifetime. Yeah yeah yeah, you oldies will say "oh, it was so much more fun when the Silmarillion came out"... but odds are, this is the last time a "new" Tolkien book will come out... and man, am I excited about it.

Of course, right now that exam looms in the horizon like the shadow of a storm that's yet to come, so I'm not quite enjoying the prospect of writing it... yet, once it's done.... I'll have LOTS of time to dedicate to my new book... my own... my preciousssss.....

Oh yeah, I'm already going all Gollum-like over it.

[Nogrod]

I changed my avatar to the piece by the Finnish painter Axel Gallen-Kallela (the same painter as my last avvie) named "Kullervon kirous" - the Curse of Kullervo I might quess it is in English.

If there are copies of the book availalble later in the day I might try and purchase two of them. One to myself and another one to Lommy - as I know she will not be lining up there in earnest anyway in the morning (or then I'm mistaken as we didn't remember to discuss this as she was here during the weekend). :D

It's great that the thing we get like this is my favourite story - it was a really troublesome one when I first read the story of Kullervo before I went to school at 70's...!

[Maglor]

I'll probably be reading. Call me crazy, I know!

[Rune Son of Bjarne]

I think I will be doing the dishes. . .

I am with Eomer on this one, I just can't get all hyped up about it.

I'll probably buy it soon, but still. . .


btw I thought Maglor was LJ-Me due to the avy

[Maglor]

btw I thought Maglor was LJ-Me due to the avy

What's this you say?

[Lalwendë]

Seeing as I already have my De-Luxe edition in me mitts right now - I don't know what I'll be doing on the actual day of release now!

:p

[Macalaure]

What's this you say?
Rune has the same picture you have as an avatar as his userpic on his LiveJournal account.

I have to admit I mistook you for him several times already and wondered why Rune suddenly has so few posts. :D

[Thinlómien]

Now it's clear. I will go to by it at 10 am (the bookstore opens at 9 am) and hope I get it...! :D

By the way, I don't know why I'm so hype about this... I mean, there's still loads of unread Tolkien for me since I've only read two of the HoME this far...

[the guy who be short]

I will be doing a mock A level Psychology exam. Hurray!

Also waiting for whoever reserved it at my local library before me to finish. They've ordered 2 books, there are 3 reservations before me.

[Lalwendë]

Now it's clear. I will go to by it at 10 am (the bookstore opens at 9 am) and hope I get it...!

By the way, I don't know why I'm so hype about this... I mean, there's still loads of unread Tolkien for me since I've only read two of the HoME this far...

Don't be 'too cool for school' ;) This is a very exciting event for Tolkien fans!!

This is an actual story rather than a bok with edits and footnotes and whatnot. And I can vouch for the fact that it reads exceptionally well, having managed to sneak in a quick look this morning! It's got that nice narrative feel we get from Lord of the Rings! However, I'm going to savour every last word and read it sloooowly when I get home - see if I can make it last all week.

Bah :p to anyone who says they can read it from the fragments hither and thither. I always thought that the proof would be in the pudding, and I can confirm it's served with lashings of custard. :D

[Aiwendil]

Bah to anyone who says they can read it from the fragments hither and thither.

Call me an insufferable cynic if you must, but there's a limit to how excited I can get about the publication of a story I already own and have read many times.

I think that when I get a copy, I'll flip first to CT's appendix on "The Composition of the Text". Then I'll probably flip to the end of the story to see whether CT implemented the extension of the history of the Dragon-helm or followed his '77 precedent.

[davem]

Call me an insufferable cynic if you must, but there's a limit to how excited I can get about the publication of a story I already own and have read many times.

The form of the Narn in this book therefore differs in a number of ways from that in UT, some of them deriving from the far more thorough study of the formidable complex of manuscripts that I made after that book was published. This lead me to different conclusions about the relations & sequence of some of the texts, chiefly in the extremely confusing evolution of the legend in the period of Turin among the Outlaws, a description & explanation of this new text of the Children of Hurin......CoH Appendix 2

You old insufferable cynic, you....

[Sir Kohran]

Well I'm excited simply because this is the first time I've been building up to the release of anything majorly Tolkien-related...and also because this is probably the last time, too, so I want to make the most of it.

[Lalwendë]

You old insufferable cynic, you....

He knows he wantsssss it, precioussss.... ;)

Aiwendil - surely you want to get your mitts on the book just to see what sort of an editing job CT has made of it???

Anyway, I'm going to sneak off to me bed with the book soon as I've already started to read it and I shall continue from a recumbent position...
;)

[Lalaith]

Lal, davem....could one of you lucky people please let me know...does the story end on the death of Turin or does it end with the death of Hurin? Bloody amazon...I got the cheap version, this is why I am being punished....

[Farael]

Curse my exam tomorrow that will keep me away from bookstores until around 4 PM (or rather, curse my sense of responsibility that will not let me stop cramming to go buy the book ASAP) but I already stopped by the bookstore to ask if they'd have copies of CoH tomorrow. When the lady working there said they would, I think I did an awful job at hiding just how excited I am about it... I wanted to smile a little bit, but all of a sudden the two ladies working there were chuckling :p Can't help it!! I can already picture myself tomorrow, up until three in the morning (even though I'll likely be on six hours of sleep at the most) laying down on the couch with a hot cup of tea, enjoying every word. But I better finish CoH soon... I think it's time for a re-re-re-re-re-re-re reading of LoTR as well :p

[Aiwendil]

Aiwendil - surely you want to get your mitts on the book just to see what sort of an editing job CT has made of it???

Oh, I certainly do. To be honest, I am actually (quite irrationally) a bit excited about this. Just not as excited as I was, for example, when I first laid my hands on HoMe X. If my grading, fortran, and homework responsibilities permit me the time tomorrow, I'll probably stroll 'round to Barnes & Noble and pick one up.

Davem – thanks for that taste of the appendix! I do hope that he offers some further explication concerning the “different conclusions about the relations & sequence of some of the texts” that he has reached. (What? Surely I’m not the only person who really enjoys CT’s textual analysis?)

[Orominuialwen]

I plan on (finally!) using the Border's gift certificate I received for Christmas two years ago...I'd meant to spend it on music, but never got around to it, so tomorrow will be the perfect occasion for its use! After all, I was still in elementary school back when Roverandom (which as far as I can tell is the next most recent of the professor's works published) and music can be bought at any time! :D

[Thinlómien]

My new plan for April 17th: be in school, see friends, do homework and Spanish exercises, finish reading Stephen Law's The Philosophy Gym and wait, wait, wait and wait.

Yes, wait. They don't have CoH in any bookshop yet here in Finland. I was told that they'll get it within a week. A week? Well, then I'll just wait and grumble that I'll move to some more sophisticated country one day... Like Noggie remarked, f they have Harry Potter books why don't they have CoH?

[Legate of Amon Lanc]

My new plan for April 17th: be in school, see friends, do homework and Spanish exercises, finish reading Stephen Law's The Philosophy Gym and wait, wait, wait and wait.

Yes, wait. They don't have CoH in any bookshop yet here in Finland. I was told that they'll get it within a week. A week? Well, then I'll just wait and grumble that I'll move to some more sophisticated country one day... Like Noggie remarked, f they have Harry Potter books why don't they have CoH?

Don't worry, Lommy, you are not the only one. I was not sure whether I wanted to obtain it in both original and translation, just original, or just translation. Whatever the case, the Czech translation, though the translator said about a month ago in an interview that it's all finished, will be coming out on 1st June. :mad:

[Thinlómien]

Don't worry, Lommy, you are not the only one. I was not sure whether I wanted to obtain it in both original and translation, just original, or just translation. Whatever the case, the Czech translation, though the translator said about a month ago in an interview that it's all finished, will be coming out on 1st June. :mad:Well, as far as I'm aware, CoH is not even going to be translated to Finnish anywhere soon... :rolleyes: But I have no problem with reading the English version first, it will just feel more exciting! :D

[Brinniel]

Tomorrow (or I guess now today...I get confused when I don't sleep :rolleyes: ) I will be writing a seven page paper...

I actually really do want to read the book, but I have way too much stuff going on right now, and I haven't been able to do any reading for enjoyment all semester. Once summer break starts, I plan to do a lot of Tolkien reading. Perhaps re-read The Silmarillion and finally pick up Unfinished Tales. My suitemate gave me that book for Christmas (I love her to death for it), but I still haven't had time to even look at it. :o I'd also like to get started on HoME (I own one of them)....and of course, purchase CoH as soon as I'm able, as it is one of my favourite stories.

[davem]

Well, as far as I'm aware, CoH is not even going to be translated to Finnish anywhere soon... :rolleyes: But I have no problem with reading the English version first, it will just feel more exciting! :D

25th of May - according to Tolkien Library
http://www.tolkienlibrary.com/press/The_Children_of_Hurin_translations.php

[Thinlómien]

25th of May - according to Tolkien Library
http://www.tolkienlibrary.com/press/The_Children_of_Hurin_translations.php
Great! :D Funny I must have missed it - I'm sure it has then been mentioned somewhere. (Actually I was wondering why aren't they translating it soon since it's such a "major book"...) And I'm so glad Kersti Juva is translating it. Her translation of LotR is just awesome.

Thank you for the info, davem. :)

[davem]

Great! :D Funny I must have missed it - I'm sure it has then been mentioned somewhere. (Actually I was wondering why aren't they translating it soon since it's such a "major book"...) And I'm so glad Kersti Juva is translating it. Her translation of LotR is just awesome.

Thank you for the info, davem. :)

Well, I don't know Finnish at all, but I'd love to 'read' a passage of the translation - it being one of the languages Tolkien loved. Too many years since I read the Kalevala too
:(

[Thinlómien]

Well, I don't know Finnish at all, but I'd love to 'read' a passage of the translation - it being one of the languages Tolkien loved. Too many years since I read the Kalevala too
:(I promise to PM you some good passage once I have the translation... :)

[Estelyn Telcontar]

The question in this thread title is in future tense, yet the 17th of April is now past. That makes definitive statements easier!

Here in Germany, the translated version of TCoH was also released yesterday. However, I don't own any of Tolkien's works in translation, and I'm not about to start now, so I called a local bookstore which carries a number of English books (including LotR etc.) and asked if they have the new one. They didn't, but said they could order it within a day - and today I picked up my copy!

Admittedly, I'm not as excited about this as a lot of people, never having been as big a fan of Sil and UT as I am of LotR, but this is a one-time opportunity to own a first edition Tolkien book, so I certainly didn't want to miss it. I don't have time to read it right away, but I paged through to look at Alan Lee's illustrations, and they are gorgeous!

[Child of the 7th Age]

Esty,

That was also what struck me when I looked through the book. Lee's pictures immediately drew me in before I even began to read. I love that first plate (the same image seen on the back cover) that shows the Eagles flying towards the hidden city of Gondolin with Húrin and Huor on their backs.

[ElentariGreenleaf]

How did I not know this was coming out??

Has anyone read it yet? Is it written well, or is it like the Silmarillian? I don't think I could read it if its in too much of a factual style. Reminds me, I really should finish the Unfinished Tales. Started it, but ironically never finished it :D

[Child of the 7th Age]

Elentari,

Good to see you! I've just started reading mine. The blurbs all say that it's halfway between the style of the LotR and the Silm. From the small bit I've read, that's an accurate description. You might want to eyeball the link that davem put up, which will let you read the first chapter online and get a feel for the book.

I also left you a note on the Gold Perch thread about your RPG questions.

[ElentariGreenleaf]

Will do! Missed that link ^^; Still, it'd be a good book to own, just so I can say I have Tolkien's new book :D