All Things Books And Reading Thread - 2018

[Margret]

Okay, I haven't finished actually reading The Adventures of Tom Bombadil, but it says it's a book of poetry taken from The Red Book (the book Bilbo was writing and passed on to Frodo, unfinished, who passed it on to Sam when he took ship for the West). The first two poems in it are the only ones about Tom Bombadil, and the claim is that they were written by hobbits, not Bombadil himself. The claim is also made (in a footnote at the end of the preface) that the name "Tom Bombadil" was probably given to him by the Bucklanders, since it's their kind of name. This is in keeping with Elrond's statement about the names other races have for Bombadil.

The first poem is entitled "The Adventures of Tom Bombadil" and is the full text of the poem Tom Bombadil chants or sings in Fellowship of the Rings, beginning with:

Old Tom Bombadil was a merry fellow;
bright blue his jacket was and his boots were yellow,
green were his girdle and his breeches all of leather;
he wore in his tall hat a swan-wing feather.

It is primarily the story of how Tom came to marry Goldberry. The only genuine new information I could find is that Goldberry is not just "daughter of the River" but is "the River-woman's daughter."

The second poem is named "Bombadil Goes Boating" and is a comical story about Tom going down the Withywindle to see Farmer Maggot for a night of fellowship, good food, beer, singing and dancing, and gossip. Along the way he's stopped by the Shire's border guards, who put six arrows into his hat before he manages to escape on foot. After spending the night at Farmer Maggot's house he ends up returning home without his boat, but it's later retrieved by his friends: the swan who gave him the feather for his hat, a kingfisher, a wren, and some otters (who do most of the work). Unfortunately, they leave the oars behind.

I did a search for the other names mentioned by Elrond, in both LOTR and Tales From the Perilous Realm, and turned up nothing; next step is an online search. What can I say? I've really got my curiosity up about this now.

Margret

 

[Mamanyt1953]

The only genuine new information I could find is that Goldberry is not just "daughter of the River" but is "the River-woman's daughter."

Shades of Philip Gregory!

 

[Mamanyt1953]

Although Tolkein came way, way first, as it were.

 

[Margret]

9. DON'T be black. I don't know why it is, but if there is ONE poor black guy in the cast, he's gone in scene one.

And it's not horror (unless you're in Security), but make sure your shirt isn't red!

Margret

 

[Mamanyt1953]

OOOOOOHHHHHH!!! FORGOT THAT ONE! Nope, no red shirts here.

 

[Margret]

Shades of Philip Gregory!

Huh? I seem to have missed him.

Margret

 

[Mamanyt1953]

Dang. I meant PhilipA Gregory. Wrote the Plantagenet and Tudor novels. The Woodvilles claimed to be descended from the Lady of the Rivers, a river goddess.

 

[Margret]

Dang. I meant PhilipA Gregory. Wrote the Plantagenet and Tudor novels. The Woodvilles claimed to be descended from the Lady of the Rivers, a river goddess.

Ah. That makes sense, then. (Not that I've read her books.) Thanks.

Margret

 

[Mamanyt1953]

They aren't bad books. More interesting than factual, but they are fiction so that's to be expected.

 

[Norachan]

I haven't read a lot of fantasy. I read The Hobbit in school, but I haven't read any of Lord of The Rings or Harry Potter or any Terry Pratchet.

I prefer non-fiction, but if I read fiction I like it to be "this world" rather than something completely from the writers imagination.

I'm enjoying Heart of Darkness. 50 pages in 9 days, which isn't a bad average. I wish I could read on the bus, that would give me an extra hour reading time three days a week, but I get travel sick too quickly.

 

[Margret]

I wish I could read on the bus, that would give me an extra hour reading time three days a week, but I get travel sick too quickly.

I wouldn't be able to read on a bus, either. When I was taking a bus regularly the vibration was bad enough to make me motion sick. I could control it, but not easily, and not at all without watching the road.

The only way I know of to read comfortably while traveling is with an audio book; you may want to check into those.

Margret

 

[jcat]

Is that the one that made Trump so mad at Steve Bannon? I've been trying to remember the name of the book so I could bookmark it on BookBub.

Margret

Yes, it is. BookBub has twice listed it at a somewhat reduced price, too.

 

[rubysmama]

I haven't read a lot of fantasy. I read The Hobbit in school, but I haven't read any of Lord of The Rings or Harry Potter or any Terry Pratchet.

I prefer non-fiction, but if I read fiction I like it to be "this world" rather than something completely from the writers imagination.

I'm enjoying Heart of Darkness. 50 pages in 9 days, which isn't a bad average. I wish I could read on the bus, that would give me an extra hour reading time three days a week, but I get travel sick too quickly.

I don't read much fantasy either. But I loved the Harry Potter books. The main characters are human, and they live in "this world", they just happen to be witches so there's also magic involved. I'm trying not to be spoilery in case you haven't seen the movies. The first book is very short, and written for younger children, but it's still enjoyable without taking a long time to read. At your 50 pages in 9 days rate, it would take you a long, long time to finish the last book. LOL.

I can't read in a car or bus either. Though I've never tried with my ebooks. Wonder if that would make a difference?

 

[Margret]

Yes, it is. BookBub has twice listed it at a somewhat reduced price, too.

Thanks! Bookmarked!

I can't read in a car or bus either. Though I've never tried with my ebooks. Wonder if that would make a difference?

Only if they're audio ebooks. The thing that you need in order to avoid motion sickness (short of taking dramamine) is to watch the road. That way your brain and inner ear are on the same page.

When I was a kid my dad got mad at us one day when we were driving in the mountains. He thought it was some kind of conspiracy that we always got car sick when he was driving but not when my mother was driving. Then we suddenly discovered that he was, in fact, alternately lightly tapping the brake and gas pedals in time to the music on the radio. He shut up about conspiracies when we pointed this out. (He also became a better driver.)

Margret

 

[catspaw66]

Audio books are the way to go if you get motion sickness. Try to get ones that are read by a human, not a computer.

I suggest going to Project Gutenberg to see if the computer read books bother your nausea. Find one you are familiar with, and download the audio format you need.

I have a set of Discworld books in mp3 format I listened to through my car stereo.

 

[rubysmama]

The thing that you need in order to avoid motion sickness (short of taking dramamine) is to watch the road. That way your brain and inner ear are on the same page.

Hmmm... interesting. I can read on both a plane and train. Obviously no road to watch on a plane. And the train runs on rails not the road. Maybe that's the difference?

 

[Mamanyt1953]

Yes, it is. BookBub has twice listed it at a somewhat reduced price, too.

LOL, I think I'm going to need that one in paper form...I'll be throwing it on occsion, probably.

 

[Margret]

I suggest going to Project Gutenberg to see if the computer read books bother your nausea. Find one you are familiar with, and download the audio format you need.

Yes, Project Gutenberg does have some audio books; I haven't really tried them. I have been downloading audio books from Project Librivox, however. LibriVox is a sister organization to Project Gutenberg. Project Gutenberg is trying to put all the public domain books into electronic format and make them available to all on the internet. Project Librivox is trying to put them into audio format and make them available to all on the internet. Librivox books aren't read by computers; they're read by people. Some by a group of people, with each one taking a few chapters, some read by a single person, and some read by what amounts to a voice acting troupe, producing what amounts to a radio play, with one reader for each part, including the narrator. As a general rule, the dramatic presentations are the best when you can get them, the books read by just one person are second best, and the groups read by multiple people are okay, except when you get one reader who invariably mispronounces a word (the one I'm thinking of invariably pronounces "Milne" as if it were two syllables: MILL-knee ).

Hmmm... interesting. I can read on both a plane and train. Obviously no road to watch on a plane. And the train runs on rails not the road. Maybe that's the difference?

With trains, the bumps (such as they are) come at regular intervals -- that's the rails; the main problem is curves. With planes, it's generally smooth flying so you don't tend to feel the motion. Yes, the plane banks for turns, but those happen primarily at the beginning or ending of the flight, not in the middle.

Margret

 

[catspaw66]

Margret , thank you for the tip on LibriVox. Somehow, I had overlooked that site. I just got Huckleberry Finn to listen to.

 

[catspaw66]

Nice recording of Huckleberry Finn. I finished the second book of the set I bought. The author is M.(Maggie)C.A. Hogarth. She calls them "Novels of the Pelted Universe" and has written many books.