Which volumes of HoME would you recommend?

[Mithalwen]

Yes, but he has already read that one .... don't put him off the others!

[Elmo]

Arrrgggggghhhh! I'm tired OK please forgive me

[Mithalwen]

Nothing to forgive ... and *whispers* it is my favourite too since it includes "LACE" as well .... but there is good stuff elsewhere.

[Sauron the White]

Skip should be forewarned that most of those books would be more accurately titled THE HISTORY OF THE WRITING OF MIDDLE EARTH. If somebody picks up all those books thinking they are going to get two feet worth of detailed information about actual Middle-earth events that were not in the standard HOBBIT and LOTR, they usually are greatly disappointed. These are great books if you want to know all the ins and outs of how they were written. As true history books, they are badly mistitled. Of course, I have always suspected that a series of books called THE HISTORY OF THE WRITING OF MIDDLE EARTH would have sold even fewer copies that did the HOME.

[Mithalwen]

Originally Posted by Sauron the White

Skip should be forewarned that most of those books would be more accurately titled THE HISTORY OF THE WRITING OF MIDDLE EARTH. If somebody picks up all those books thinking they are going to get two feet worth of detailed information about actual Middle-earth events that were not in the standard HOBBIT and LOTR, they usually are greatly disappointed.

Well if people pick them up and don't bother to examine either the back cover or flip through the insides then they deserve to waste their money especially if they buy they whole lot without finding out about them. It isn't like going to a film, you can see what you are going to get before you cough up the cash, or get them from the library.

[Sauron the White]

So that justifies the mistitling of the entire series? Let he buyer beware? Theres a sucker born every minute? Its your own darn fault?

[Ibrîniðilpathânezel]

For my own part, I've read all of the HoME series, and in terms of providing the most information about the world we see in LotR, the Hobbit, and the Silmarillion, I found Morgoth's Ring and The Peoples of Middle-earth most enlightening (especially as a researcher and a fan writer).

The books that cover the evolution of the writing of LotR are interesting, but, IMHO, potentially confusing (the same can be said for the books that cover evolving and alternate versions of the Silmarillion). Looking at the variations and Christopher Tolkien's commentary can set one's head spinning, because sometimes, they raise more questions than they answer (well, that was my experience, some of the time, and I'm not unfamiliar with in-depth literary analysis). Unfortunately, there are a lot of questions that only JRRT himself can really answer, and even he hadn't made up his mind about some of them before he died. This doesn't mean I consider the books worthless; they certainly offer glimpses into the mind and method of Tolkien and his imagination, which can be quite valuable in appreciating his finished work. But I don't think it hurts for one to approach these books with care, if one is looking for more definitive information about Middle-earth, its history and its inhabitants. Just my two cents, of course.

[The Might]

Now, now, StW, let's not get to hasty there.
I agree with Mith fully because a buyer always has to check what he is buying first.

It is your personal opinion that CT should have chosen a perhaps more fitting name for the series and I can see where you're coming from.
However, I find the title quite fitting, because we are not talking about M-e as the place with all the infromation or "lore" as you may call it that comes along with it but as Tolkien's creation and the changes it underwent during the writing process.

I remember a few times that I bought something that I afterwards regreted not having looked up first but that was my own fault.

[Mithalwen]

Yes they have only them selves to blame. It isn't mistitling ... a book is one of the few things you can judge pretty well before buying. It isn't sold in a sealed wrapper. You can browse through it before buying. Amazon has review which detail what is in it for online buyers. These are not cheap novels such as the ones that I might chuck in the shopping trolley along with groceries. If people buy a book without looking at it or researching it then they can hardly claim to be ripped off. An idiot not a sucker - And anyone who buys the whole lot without doing so has more money than sense. The complete set costs £100 - £120, I am certainly not in the financial league to spend that much on books unless I know I want them.

Presumably the publishers may have assumed a modicum of intelligence from potential publishers of such works. They cannot be blamed if people cannot be bothered to read even the back cover

I bought the first volumes of HoMe when I was a teenager and they represented serious expenditure. Some I have read more than others but I am glad I have them all, just as I am glad I have "The Road goes ever on" even though I can't play the piano.

[Aganzir]

I have made it to volume four by now, and it will probably still take me some years before I've read them all, but anyway, here we go.

I didn't enjoy the Books of Lost Tales that much either, for the same reasons you skip spence mentioned. There were many things that made me think "Oh that I'm happy he didn't leave them like this"...
But on the other hand, there are some good things as well that didn't make it to the Silmarillion - the Cottage of Lost Play for example, which was rather lovely.

My absolute favourite thus far has been vol. III: Lays of Beleriand. It's just so... different to read familiar stories in verse form. But, apart from good poems that give more insight to some minor details, a disliker of poetry doesn't miss much if he doesn't read it.