{"product_id":"tolkien-for-beginners-9781939994820","title":"Tolkien for Beginners","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eTolkien For Beginners\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cb\u003e will introduce the reader to the multilayered depth and breadth of Tolkien's tales of Middle-earth, what critics, following Tolkien's lead, refer to collectively as his legendarium.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e J.R.R. Tolkien sweeps us away to a distant time and place that is at the same time, our own time and place. He takes us to a world where difficult choices must be made and are made, where character is defined by those choices, and where redemption is possible though not always embraced. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Lord of the Rings\u003c\/i\u003e taps a deep root in the human psyche. There is much death, destruction, and defeat in Tolkien's world, but there is even more friendship, courage, and hope. What one remembers when one finishes reading \u003ci\u003eThe Lord of the Rings\u003c\/i\u003e is not the vice of the villains, as strong and as well drawn as it is, but the virtue that empowers the heroes to resist it, even at the cost of their own lives. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e It will be the goal of \u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eTolkien For Beginners\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e to introduce the reader to the multilayered depth and breadth of Tolkien's tales of Middle-earth. To do justice to the full dimensions of that legendarium, author Louis Markos will speak in two voices: that of the storyteller who loves the stories he tells and that of the critic who seeks to identify and explicate key themes from those stories. In his telling and analysis, he will treat the legendarium both as a collection of secondary-world myths with their own integrity and as a reflection of Tolkien's Catholic worldview. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eLouis Markos\u003c\/b\u003e (www.Loumarkos.com) is a Professor of English and Scholar in Residence at Houston Baptist University, where he holds the Robert H. Ray Chair in Humanities. He teaches courses on British Romantic and Victorian Poetry and Prose, the Classics, C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien, and Film. Markos is the author of nineteen published books and two lecture series.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003eJeff Fallow\u003c\/b\u003e has been illustrating For Beginners books since 1999. Previous books include \u003ci\u003eStanislavski For Beginners\u003c\/i\u003e by David Allen and \u003ci\u003eFirst Amendment For Beginners.\u003c\/i\u003e Jeff has worked as illustrator for Glasgow Museums and graphic designer for the National Health Service. He is Scottish and lives in the Kingdom of Fife, an ancient part of Scotland and the home of golf (which he doesn't play).\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"For Beginners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50561968308498,"sku":"9781939994820","price":11.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_263e1ec8-28f5-4f61-a9f0-0e2f067f41b1.jpg?v=1731855776","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/tolkien-for-beginners-9781939994820","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}