J.R.R. Tolkien The Books, The Films, The Whole Cultural Phenomenon [Paperback]

J.R.R. TOLKIEN: THE BOOKS, THE FILMS, THE WHOLE CULTURAL PHENOMENON REVISED AND UPDATED, WITH NEW ILLUSTRATIONS A book exploring the world of J.R.R. Tolkien, Britain's premier fantasy author, in over 800 pages. New, updated edition. Part one of this book focusses on J.R.R. Tolkien's texts, principally those dealing with his 'secondary world' of Middle-earth. Part two explores the 2001-03 Hollywood movies of The Lord of the Rings, with a scene-by-scene analysis of the three films. Part of this book explores the influence of the Tolkien industry, in areas like computer gaming, pop music, merchandizing and cinema. Includes illustrations, bibliography and notes This book has been revised and updated. ISBN 9781861712806. 826 pages. www.crmoon.com EXTRACT FROM THE INTRODUCTION: In 1997, The Lord of the Rings was voted the top book of the 20th century by readers in a British bookstore's poll (Waterstone's). 104 out of 105 stores and 25,000 readers put The Lord of the Rings at the top (1984 was second). Around 100 million copies of The Lord of the Rings had been sold by the end of the twentieth century, and 60 million copies of The Hobbit, with sales of around 3 million per year of the two books combined. Readers just love reading Tolkien's books. It's that simple. You can't force people to buy books or go see movies; there's isn't a magic formula (or ruling ring) to hypnotize readers and consumers (if there was, it'd be worth billions). And the Tolkien phenomenon began with readers. Back in 1937, 1954 and 1955, the publishers Allen & Unwin did their bit, of course, with reviews, blurbs, advertizing and so on, promoting The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, and the critics too, but it was readers who first started the phenomenon that has become truly global. CONTENTS Introduction 11 PART ONE J.R.R TOLKIEN 1 Tolkien Biography 15 2 Sources and Influences 33 3 Language, Style, Humour 51 4 Fairy Tales and J.R.R. Tolkien 63 5 Religion in Tolkien's Fiction 81 6 Death and the lã_