The best
European Literary History & Criticism books:
Reddit reviews
From 3.5 billion Reddit comments
The best of European Literary History & Criticism books by number of unique Reddit comments:
![Ulysses Annotated: Notes for James Joyce's Ulysses [Revised and Expanded Edition]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51NZ22J0AXL._SL500_.jpg)
Top Reddit reviews mentioning European Literary History & Criticism books:
Suggestions: Find yourself a map of Beleriand (Fonstad's "Atlas of Middle-Earth is the best thing ever), also consult the family tree of Finwë when needed.
I started reading this, made it about 30% through, and it was slow moving. Then I read some reviews, and discovered the Robin Buss translation in the Penguin Classics version. SO much better! It just flows.
It isn't free - actually it is a $9 ebook. But the difference is worth it.
And if you're going to read O'Brian, you need a copy of <em>A Sea of Words</em>, which is a dictionary created by rabid O'Brian fans.
"Marthambles", what a lovely name for a disease!
It doesn't hurt to be more knowledgeable about seafaring, because it will help to unpack some of the denser maneuvers and the like that are a big part of the battles and cutting-out expeditions, and suchlike. Luckily there are a number of companion volumes aimed at lubbers that will help. I picked up this one on my first run through, and it helped get a handle on things. It's still sometimes frustrating to have to look up a number of different terms all at once, but once you have a better sense of them the action flows a little smoother, imo.
But no, I wouldn't say the later books are overburdened with impenetrable naval terminology, or at least none that I remember as being particularly bad. There are some really terrific scenes that I remember vividly coming up for you, too.
Please please please: if you read Ulysses, do it with a friend AND a guide like this one. It will make the process a much more enjoyable one, and will make everything more digestible and comprehensible.
There is a book called Lobscouse and Spotted Dog: Which It's a Gastronomic Companion to the Aubrey/Maturin Novels, that not only describes all of the foods in the novels (and movie), even gives recipes.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/0393320944/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awdb_imm_HAAEEV3A5HE1ZH7E71NR
It's a fun book. I really want to try the Drowned Baby desert.
Speaking of maps, you'll probably be a very happy camper if you reward your new achievement (and prep for the Silmarillion) by spending around $20 for this atlas. Helps with not just locations, but populations, battles, journeys, and even timelines. Indispensable and so readable you'll sit with it just turning the pages, not only for reference.
And congratulations on completing your first read of Hobbit and LOTR! Be sure to check in here as you go while reading the Silmarillion. First-time readers have a special honored place here :-)
OP, this is the correct answer right here.
And even if you aren't looking for a whole book, you should still get Fonstad's Atlas. It's a bargain and gives you way more info than a mere book of maps. I once read it nearly cover to cover.
I don't know if you're aware, but there is a marvellous companion book to the series called "Lobscouse and Spotted Dog" containing recipes for every food mentioned in the series.
Amazon link here, obviously also available from other retailers.
Personally, I have made figgy dowdy (it's very similar to spotted dog) a number of sauces, Lobscouse and a sea pie following their instructions. Oh, and quite a lot of the cocktails.
It's a charming book, very much in the flavour of the novels, and I can't recommend it highly enough. As a bonus, there's an intricately worked out time line which will reveal just which Midshipman was responsible for the theft of Stephen's madder fed rats. (Yes, there is also a tested recipe for rat in onion sauce... Madder optional.)
Not exactly an Encyclopedia, but The Atlas of Middle Earth by Karen Wynn Fonstad is excellent.
Everything is incredibly well sourced (including showing you exactly where in the texts she gets her information) and I personally consider it the most accurate and "essential" book on Middle Earth not written by a Tolkien. It has a ton of information, and maps to accompany all of it. It is a lot more than just maps though.
Looks like you can snag it used on Amazon for less than $10 too. https://www.amazon.com/Atlas-Middle-Earth-Revised-Karen-Fonstad/dp/0618126996
Hermetics started with a Greek book called the Hermetica. You can find it with different amounts of scholarly commentary attached.
Kabbalah starts with the Jewish “Zohar”, and the same as Hermetica, there’s tons of scholarly commentary to be found on it.
Here’s links to the best versions of both (although I wouldn’t recommend actually buying this edition of Zohar unless you’re a collector, as it is 12 volumes— also there is probably a newer edition of the Hermetica done by the same people, I just know this one by its cover):
Hermetica https://www.amazon.com/dp/0521425433/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_O9cAFbPJKBFTQ
The Zohar: Pritzker Edition, Vol. 1 https://www.amazon.com/dp/0804747474/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_p.cAFbF70XV9V
Fun facts: Norwegian immigrants to Liverpool brought lapskaus to Britain, where it was Anglicized to "lobscouse" (British sailors may have also popularized the dish). Lobscouse’s association with Liverpool eventually resulted in the local accent and dialect being named the shortened "scouse" (with which non-Brits may be familiar from the Beatles).
Are you familiar with Tolkien's World from A to Z: The Complete Guide to Middle-Earth.
This is what I was hoping that the Companion would try to be. It has everything in it. Everything. Even the page listings for each entry! Robert Foster put a lot of time and hard work into it, and it shows. I LOVE this thing.
I was extremely disappointed that Jordan's work could not get the same treatment. Not even remotely close.
If he has enjoyed tales of the Count of Monte Cristo, he might love the true story of the real man who was biracial, born into slavery, freed and became the legend we're familiar with. It's a fascinating story and includes lots of resource material regarding the French courts, which were hearing cases from French slaves, granting them their freedom AND backpay for their years of labor. It gets into the French Revolution and Napoleon. It's a meaty book but fascinating, informative, and enlightening. It shines a very different light on American slavery just from the contrasts.
https://www.amazon.com/Black-Count-Revolution-Betrayal-Cristo/dp/0307382478
That's what the general consensus seems to be. Would this be the one to get?
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B002RI9KL8/ref=cm_sw_r_other_apa_.wL.ybM0GBBXG
The only thing I'm confused by is the page count. Amazon says this version is 396 pages, so I feel like it's abridged in some way. Maybe it's just a typo though.
This, OP. Buy it. It's cheap. It's indispensable. It's interesting enough to sit and read by itself.
As others have said recommended I'd start with Silmarillion first, though I'd also recommend picking up The Atlas of Middle-Earth to have close by so you can reference as needed when reading.
/u/italia06823834 mentions it in that post, but I just want to reiterate, if you're interested in maps of Tolkien's works I highly recommend Karen Wynn Fonstad's The Atlas of Middle-Earth. It's only $16 and it's well worth it.
>Also, after the Kybalion where do I go?
For sure check out the actual texts of historical Hermeticism. As the other poster ITT noted, The Kybalion is a New Thought book published in 1908 and not directly connected to Hermeticism. The best source material to read is the Corpus Hermeticm.
Dumas' father was amazing. There's a fantastic book about him, The Black Count: Glory, Revolution, Betrayal, and the Real Count of Monte Cristo, https://www.amazon.com/Black-Count-Revolution-Betrayal-Cristo/dp/0307382478. He was a general and commanded armies for France, and then he pissed off Napoleon, which did not go well for him.
You might enjoy the story. This would have been during POB's tour of the US, the time he had dinner aboard the U.S.S. Constitution in Boston with William F. Buckley and Walter Cronkite, 1999 maybe. I think Patrick Tull was there too. I was active then on the POB Usenet group and one of the members invited the others to his home near Boston for a party in celebration. I don't know how he got Patrick Tull to come.
I showed up with a couple bottles of sparkling wine and some homemade cheese straws and found myself in a very nice kitchen meeting the "amiable sluts", the mother and daughter team who wrote Lobscouse and Spotted Dog. Amiable indeed! They praised my cheese straws, which went straight to my heart. And then, wafting over our heads, there was The Voice. I followed it to its source and found Patrick Tull standing in a group of admirers and poured out on him a brief flood of fanboy geekieness. I had already spent so many hours with his voice.
Later he favored the company with a performance of the Off Hats! piece. Very moving, as always. The party showed what you know already, that POB fans are some of the nicest people.
It’s partial, utilize but don’t treat it as direct doctrine, this isn’t church. Get this book. and then get every book cited in it, study it until it hurts.
Seriously, just buy Fonstad's Atlas right now. Look how cheap it is! You won't have to do any printing and you'll get not just maps, but explanations of the maps. And SO MANY MAPS. All the maps. Maps of places, maps of populations, maps of battles! You will end up reading this thing on its own like a regular book. If you love Tolkien you need this book.
He should take a stab at the role, if only based on this more aristocratic look that he pulls off well:
https://www.amazon.com/Black-Count-Revolution-Betrayal-Cristo/dp/0307382478
Not only a good extension of the racial commentary that Gunn occasionally mused on, but a good opportunity for oft ignored historical narratives.
We're all obligated to chime in here because OP is a new reader and might not get the joke :-)
OP, avoid all the works of David Day like the plague, he will lead you astray. But do go ahead and buy the wonderful Atlas of Middle-earth by Karen Wynn Fonstad, you won't regret it!
You don't *need* it, but you might want Forster's Complete Guide to Middle Earth. It's handy for looking up obscure in-world allusions and references, keeping track of uncommon characters, etc. Theses days it's fairly easy to find a website or app that does the same thing (Encyclopedia of Arda is a good one) but I like old fashioned printed reference works.
Otherwise, welcome to Middle Earth! Enjoy your travels here!
I haven’t seen all editions of LOTR, obviously, but all of my copies have the same small maps. If you really want a good resource for tracking their travels, I’d recommend “The Atlas of Middle-earth” by Karen Wynn Fonstad.
The Atlas of Middle-Earth (Revised Edition) https://www.amazon.com/dp/0618126996/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_WV6A129ZBPV2JRDPXGEZ
This was made by Karen Wynn Fonstad, a geographer/cartographer and serious Tolkien student. It's from her Tolkien atlas, which is not infallible but is widely praised and seen as one of the best resources we have. She based her work on not just the published "canon" but also on the additional materials that came out in HoMe.