{"id":23156,"date":"2024-09-18T13:15:03","date_gmt":"2024-09-18T12:15:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sebpalmer.com\/blog\/?p=23156"},"modified":"2024-09-19T07:01:23","modified_gmt":"2024-09-19T06:01:23","slug":"daze-in-books-aotrou-itroun-tolkien","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.sebpalmer.com\/blog\/?p=23156","title":{"rendered":"DAZE iN\/BOOKS: Aotrou & Itroun, Tolkien"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

This arrived today. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m currently bed-bound, after a mini-breakdown. I think it was Monday evening, I kind of, erm\u2026 snapped?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anyway, I\u2019d ordered the book that is the subject of this post a few days ago (see this earlier post<\/a>). And it\u2019s now arrived.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It seems eerily apt, for me\/us, as it\u2019s the sad story of a childless couple.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Cove near The Lizard<\/em>, Tolkien.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The above is the artwork that\u2019s also used on the cover. A beautiful thing. As is so much of Tolkien\u2019s creative work, be it art or literature. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The book is only a little over 100 pages. And easily read in a single day. I love it. It\u2019s fascinating to see how Tolkien evolves his ideas. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The book comprises the titular \u2018lay\u2019, two shorter Corrigan poems, and lots of other material, directly related to the lay and it\u2019s evolution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As well as Tolkien\u2019s own writing there\u2019s quite a lot of commentary, describing how the linked ideas that form these pieces arose; their sources, and evolution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

If you love Tolkien, and I certainly do, it\u2019s very absorbing and fascinating. It\u2019s often repeated herein that these works – the lay especially – are from the \u2018darker side\u2019 of Tolkien\u2019s creative oeuvre.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Well, yes. But at the same time I think they also underscore a deep vein of melancholy that characterises pretty much his entire output. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I think I also love Tom Waits and Jack Kerouac a great deal because there\u2019s so much wistful nostalgia for vanishing worlds in their work. And Tolkien, whilst ostensibly operating in a different milieu, I feel partakes of a very similar \u2018rear-view mirror blues\u2019 aesthetic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whether it\u2019s the loss of the innocence of one\u2019s own youth, or the changing of whole cultures, there\u2019s very often a deep sadness underlying a lot of Tolkien\u2019s work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

His work as a philologist in itself situated him in the citadel of academia, as the chill winds of history blew through the bones of the dead languages he studied.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This arrived today. I\u2019m currently bed-bound, after a mini-breakdown. I think it was Monday evening, I kind of, erm\u2026 snapped? Anyway, I\u2019d ordered the book that is the subject of this post a few days ago (see this earlier post). And it\u2019s now arrived. It seems eerily apt, for me\/us, as it\u2019s the sad story … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “DAZE iN\/BOOKS: Aotrou & Itroun, Tolkien”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paGwUa-61u","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.sebpalmer.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23156"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.sebpalmer.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.sebpalmer.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.sebpalmer.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.sebpalmer.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=23156"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"http:\/\/www.sebpalmer.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23156\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23184,"href":"http:\/\/www.sebpalmer.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23156\/revisions\/23184"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.sebpalmer.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=23156"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.sebpalmer.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=23156"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.sebpalmer.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=23156"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}