Mathew Lyons

I picked this up because of the name, of course, not really knowing what it was. What I found was a nice introspective piece about Tolkien, his work and how it affected the author. The beginning bordered on the edge of self-absorption, but did not linger there. As I say, it was interesting to read of his changing views on the Lord of the Rings as he aged.
I really became interested though as he began traveling to various points of England. He discussed Tolkien's experience with them, the history, landscape and names which possibly inspired Tolkien in his writings, and what the author saw when he arrived. Lyons has a poetic way with his prose so that it rolled gently in my mind. I also used Google images and maps to follow him in his travels. In fact, that is the one thing I found lacking in this book, no images, no photographs, no maps.
I am happy to have this beside my other works of Tolkien.… (altro)

This work takes a little patience to fully enjoy. Lyons covers a wide range of what he calls 'Impossible Journeys" to include: remarkable, but generally historical events; legendary events that may have a basis in historical events; myths and legends; and outright made-up voyages and voyagers. There is no apparent order in this collection of essays, and I found that the first one or two were not very engaging, but I enjoyed the collection quite a lot after I got into a bit more.

This work contains a lot that explains how places got their names, how and why maps evolved during the age of exploration, and why some adventurers are household names now while others are virtually unheard of. Well worth the read for any history buff, but not really light reading.

Os.… (altro)