Book Review: Meditations on Middle Earth

Reviewed By: Harriet Klausner

Meditations on Middle Earth     Amazon US TPB Amazon US HC Amazon Canada TPB Amazon Canada HC
Karen Haber
Class/Genre:   Fantasy   [Short Stories]
St. Martin’s, Oct 2002, $13.95, 256 pp.

MEDITATIONS ON MIDDLE EARTH is a collection of essays focusing on J.R.R. Tolkien’s works, especially the Middle Earth saga. Some of the more renowned fantasy authors of today evaluate the series that made fantasy a household name. Surprisingly, though everyone agrees that Professor Tolkien opened up the genre to the middle class, not all of the contributors are fans of the actual novels. Insightful and entertaining, each essay is well written with the writer’s particular spin. However, this anthology will be loved by those readers analyzing the various cultures in a way that cultural anthropologists would envy or by those fans who cherish Beowulf, which Tolkien felt is the forefather of the genre.

Harriet Klausner

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Harriet Klausner

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