Questions asked whilst clearing out a bedroom to assemble a new bed

[altariel]

Does a household actually need three copies of Smiley's People?

Oh, four if you count the DVDs.

Mr A responds: Six copies. I have it on tape as well. Audio and VHS.

Comments

[glitterboy1.livejournal.com]

The short answer? No.

I hope the bed is going together ok.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Still fewer copies than there are of The Silmarillion.

The bed assembly is more what you'd call conceptual than actual.

[yonmei.livejournal.com]

I have four copies of Villette. Books. No one's ever done a film, not even a bad one, so I didn't have to make that choice. I'm staring wistfully at the Radio 4 dramatization even now, and reminding myself that I listen to talking-books once in a blue moon.

Some books you just need.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

I have to put in as much (sometimes more) effort to listening to talking-books as I do to reading the book itself, so I generally stick with reading. (The LotR adaptation being an exception - I know and love it as much as the book.)

I have never finished Villette. I'd love to hear why you love it so much.

[aervir.livejournal.com]

May I dare ask how many copies of The Silmarillion you have then?

[iainjcoleman.livejournal.com]

O, reason not the need!

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Anything I say will surely incriminate me. I can think of at least five off the top of my head. No, six.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Well you don't want to be caught without.

[aervir.livejournal.com]

O_O O_O O_O

Why? is probably the wrong question in such a case... :)

[qatsi.livejournal.com]

Yes, because you're intellectually subsidising all those households that don't have one.

[the-wild-iris.livejournal.com]

You'd need three if two of them were stolen. Or if highly literate burglars translated two of them into Norwegian.

[edge-of-ruin.livejournal.com]

A few extra books might come in handy as wedges should the bed assembly not go quite according to plan. I know from experience with an IKEA bed that it's all too easy to end up with a wonky leg.

[trixieleitz]

Need schmeed!

[altariel.livejournal.com]

And should any of the slats go in a trampolining incident, I can stick a few hardbacks in there.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Excellent point, persuasively put.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Aha - public service bookstoring.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Um, it just sort of happened. I had one, and inherited one, and then Mr A. had one in h/b and one in p/b, and then we got a limited edition with illustrations, and I've picked up a couple in different editions because they were only a couple of quid and I needed something for the bus ride home...

Oh, and it turns out to be 9 copies.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Or if a strange curse was placed upon the house and whenever I opened books all the words disappeared off the pages...

[aervir.livejournal.com]

A limited edition with illustrations?! Who was the artist, and where can you get that?

[altariel.livejournal.com]

The artist was Ted Naismith: mine copy is in a red slipcase, published by Harper Collins in 1998, signed by Ted Naismith and Christopher Tolkien, numbered 113 out of 500. I was given it as a present, but I imagine you could look around online book dealers...

merrymaia told me that there's a new deluxe edition coming out in the UK, but I can't seem to find it at Amazon.

[forodwaith.livejournal.com]

I think this is the one. Perhaps it's just a re-release? (The artist is Naismith again.)

[altariel.livejournal.com]

I strongly suspect my ltd. edition is that one, dressed for dinner.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Thank you, merrymaia, I was hoping you'd be reading this thread. I know what you mean about too pretty to read: I don't often take my illustrated hardbacks off the shelf, I usually stick with ancient paperbacks that I've been reading since I was a kid. I do read through the Folio editions sometimes - they have woodcut illustrations that are beautiful.

What do you think of Nasmith's illustrations?

Sometimes they can be a little too brightly coloured, and I'm not always keen on his figures. Having said that, he has done some of my very favourite Tolkien paintings (following links go to big picture files):

The Eagles of Manwe
The Ships of the Faithful
Luthien (possibly one of my favourite pieces of Tolkien art)


(I tend to dislike all illustrations not done by Tolkien himself, and think that LotR shouldn't be illustrated, ever.)

I like a lot of art - perhaps I should do some links to some of my favourite pictures.

[aervir.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the info! I checked out the links by forodwaith and merrymaia as well.

To buy or not to buy? That's a good question.
On the one hand, it would be absolutely marvellous to have an illustrated edition of Tolkien's works, but on the other hand, I'm not overly fond of Nasmith's style, and I even have trouble with some of Alan Lee's stuff.

[aervir.livejournal.com]

I like a lot of art - perhaps I should do some links to some of my favourite pictures.

Oh, please do. I think it's quite fascinating to see what kind of artwork comes nearest to the pictures in other people's heads, especially considering the fact that there are so many different Tolkien illustrators and fanartists out there.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

I'm a big fan of Alan Lee's art, although some of the choices of subject matter in the illustrated LotR are a bit odd - I think that's more to do with having to illustrate the scene that comes every thirty pages or whatever it is. I could do with fewer bleak and watery landscapes (although I suppose that's in keeping with the book). I adore the designs for the films.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

OK, I'll get cracking on a list. It's already quite long...

[aervir.livejournal.com]

Hm, I think most of Alan Lee's "bleak and watery landscapes" are quite lovely, but his design of the characters is sometimes a bit odd.

Of course, his artwork for the films was really simply gorgeous! One thing I did love about the EE:DVDs was the documentary on production design. It was so amazing to see Alan Lee or John Howe sit down somewhere with a pencil and a piece of paper and then come up with perfect sketches of Osgiliath or Hobbiton.