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books

Invisible Man

Author
Ralph Ellison

Invisible Man is still as powerful and elegant now as it was when I first read it in school. I understand it better now that I am a bit more mature. I understand it better reading as an outsider looking back on my homeland. I understand it better as a member of the minority in my chosen home. I understand it less and less as a human.

Less because I cannot fathom the reality that lead to the situation Ellison’s nameless protagonist finds the world in. The idea of slavery, Jim Crow and everything about it causes me to question the human race.

Why? How? To what end?

It’s not a good feeling. Because looking back at history it is obvious that, in fact and despite what we want to think, slavery, Jim Crow and segregation are the norm. Humans are vicious and brutal to everyone who is not a member of their tribe… be the tribe based on race, religion, creed, nation, gender, sexual orientation, political views, the size of ones nose, the size of ones breast or any other trait, physical, mental or metaphysical two humans might differ in.

Invisible Man does not renew my faith in the human race, it destroys it and forces me to go out and seek to rebuild it on my own. To surround myself with like minded people. To attempt to do good in the world. To live an ab-normal life.

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books

The Silmarillion

Author
J.R.R. Tolkien
Editor
Christopher Tolkien

The Silmarillion is an essential reading for any hardcore fan of Tolkien. A true Tolkien geek knows who’s who in The Silmarillion. In this volume Christopher Tolkien collects and edits his fathers writings of the first and second ages of Arda and Middle Earth. From the creation of Arda in the music of the Ainur to the War of Wrath as the Valar take pity on the Noldor and cast Morgoth out of Middle Earth.

It is a long book, and hard, akin to reading Greek mythology, Biblical genealogy and Arthurian legend. But it is well worth the read if you really enjoyed the depth of Middle Earth in Lord of the Rings and want to know why it is the way it is. If you want to peal back a few layers of the mystery without removing the awe that is woven throughout the world of the Lord or the Rings.

The Silmarillion includes the the great stories of the first age: The Fall of Gondolin, Turin, Beren and Lúthien that provide the glory and tragedy of the world of the elves in the first age, the deep sorry that seeps through in the fading of the elves in LOTR. While also providing the backstory of the men of Numenor and the forging of the Rings of Power. So much is filled in and, at the same time, so much is left unfinished. The Silmarillion is an imperfect work like something pieced together from fragments in old libraries, half lost texts and different versions of histories. Which, in fact, is what it is. And that imperfection, like real history, makes the Silmarillion that much more authentic and great.

The Silmarillion is not for everyone. If you are looking for more of the Lord of the Rings, this is not it, if you are looking for more about the world of the Lord of the Rings, then this is for you. Most people don’t get through the Silmarillion the first time, but if you preserver you will be rewarded. For those that do find something in the Silmarillion, the road goes on; you can peel back even more layers of history and meaning in the 13 part History of Middle Earth.

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books

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

Author
J.R.R. Tolkien

The conclusion to The Lord of the Rings, the Return of the King might be short but a lot happens and the appendices are invaluable to anyone who wants to dive deeper into Middle Earth. The final book digs deep into the psyche of each character revealing their true self. The appendices open many parts of Middle Earth developing the languages, cultures and histories beyond the scope of the stories and are as interesting to read as the trilogy itself.

On Amazon.com

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books

The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

Author
J.R.R. Tolkien

The second installment of The Lord of the Rings trilogy picks up where the first left off, and follows the broken fellowship as they take separate paths to their goal of saving the world from the darkness of Mordor. This book is filled with more classic sword and sorcery fantasy, but continues the vivid creation of Middle Earth. New lands and new histories open up as the trilogy continues.

On Amazon.com

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books

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

Author
J.R.R. Tolkien

A readers pole a few years ago voted the Lord of the Rings trilogy the best books published in the past 100 years (meanwhile the editors picked James Joyce’s Ulysses, which having read I just don’t understand, but that’s another story.) This is the first installment of the Lord of the Rings, and my personal favorite of the series. The Fellowship is filled with the history of Middle Earth: it’s hero’s, it’s legends, it’s lands. It is all the stuff that is not important to the plot of the book that makes Middle Earth so memorable. Every little detail that Tolkien writes brings the land alive. You can read this one over and over again and find something new every time.

On Amazon.com