The Children of Hurin: Book Review

"A man that flies from his fear may find that he has only taken a short cut to meet it."

Many of us have read ( or seen ) the Lord of the Rings. Most of us would agree that J.R.R. Tolkien was a genius. But it’s The Children of Hurin that will separate the true fans from those who have just put up LOTR among their list of favourite books and movies on Orkut. The Children of Hurin throws more light on the genius that was J.R.R. Tolkien.

The book is as different as it could be from The Hobbit and LOTR. First and foremost its set in the day of the Eldar or the First Age while the former are set in the Third Age. First Age was the period in Middle Earth when the original Dark Lord, Morgoth was the 'Great Enemy'.

The book had been written by J.R.R. Tolkien before LOTR or The Hobbit. It was conceived during that days of the First World War, and that’s perhaps the reason that the book is so grim and humourless. It has been edited by his youngest son Christopher Tolkien who had earlier presented us with arguably the best book on Middle Earth, 'The Silmarilion'.

The story starts on an optimistic note as Men and Elves assemble a huge army to overthrow the Dark Lord. However the optimism and hope soon end and the book follows the course of Hurin's son, Turin's joyless life. Hurin bravely tries defy the Dark Lord and is taken prisoner, a curse laid upon his children. Turin finds the curse laid upon him and tries everything from denying his identity to hiding in distant lands to evade it. But the curse somehow manages to catch up with him at every turn.

Despite all odds Turin refuses to be bogged down, to bow down to his doom, instead he assumes the name Tarumbar meaning 'the master of his doom' and his determination to fight on is evident. In what could be the last book on Middle Earth, Tolkien has painted a sombre picture and the book is not everyone's cup of tea.