Expanding the canon

[serai]

News on the Tolkien front:

Christopher Tolkien has completed the Narn i Hin Hurin

A quiet huzzah. Reading that story in Unfinished Tales was one of the most supremely frustrating literary experiences of my life, because the expanded version of Turin's tale - intense, tragic, downright operatic - was so well-written, and yet there was this big chunk of empty right in the middle of it.

Now Tolkien's son has filled in the gap, using the version in the Silmarillion, drafts and notes written by the Professor, and his own long experience in annotating and reconstituting his father's writings. If anybody could do this, he's the guy to do it.

I'm really looking forward to reading it. I love that story to pieces. It's so star-crossed and tragic, it's positively Greek. That whole puppets-in-the-hands-of-the-gods feel is rife throughout the story, and I just love that kind of thing. So yay.

And of course, being as cinematically minded as I am, I immediately think that, what with LOTR having been such a huge franchise, there would be a lot of interest in optioning the book. (Not that that's going to bear fruit, the Tolkiens being as opposed to film projects as they are.) Having seen and been enthralled by the recent Malick film The New World, I can attest that the perfect actor these days to play Turin is Colin Farrell.

Really. Rent that film and behold just how damn profound he can be. It's a stunning performance. And most important of all for Turin, not only can Farell exhibit that dark, doom-laden drama, but he is wonderful at emoting without words; his eyes can take on a fathomless, emotive quality that at times gives him the feel of something wild, a wolf or hawk. And that's perfect for Turin. I could see him spending the majority of the film without speaking, with those operatic explosions that mark the character, and I can also see him going through that softening and melting of heart that happens when Niniel appears in his life again.

Eh, I could go on! But hey, New Tolkien! Now that's a lovely gift from the Professor on this Hobbits' Day, woudln't you say?

Comments

[mews1945.livejournal.com]

That's wonderful, isn't it? Is there any info about when it might be published? I'm sure it'll be a huge success.

[serai1.livejournal.com]

It's supposed to come out in 2007, but aside from that I don't know. I'm sure it'll be a huge success in Tolkien terms, meaning all the Tolkien fans will buy it and the general public will ignore it. Although, what with the movies being so big, there may be more interest. I think folks who've come to Tolkien from the films might be disappointed at the lack of hobbits, though.