Another bank holiday approaches for those in the UK! And also something about celebrating some sort of zombie vampire’s diamond jubilee… so I hear. So we might be taking a break until Wednesday while we sharpen our stakes and resurrect Peter Cushing to stop the foul beast!
So for our honourable mentions we have a collection of books about J. R. R. Tolkien and one about C. S. Lewis. These are simply fantastic and have all been sent in by Missie Kay so a big thanks to her!
Enjoy the covers and if you are benefiting from a long weekend, like me, I hope you enjoy it!
Click for full imageMissie Comments: That’s not what “high fantasy” means, guys.
Click for slightly large image
Missie Comments: Not a very clear photo, sorry, but Gandalf and Gollum are on his shoulder, and there’s hobbit in his vest pocket.
Click for full imageMissie Comments: Just hangin’ with some orcs.
Click for full imageMissie Comments: Gollum clearly finds J.R.R. more frightening than the giant cave troll staring at him. (back cover of the previous book)
Click for full imageMissie Comments: Bonus cover! C.S. Lewis looks a bit shocked that there’s a naked lady behind him.
(Average: 6.67 out of 10)
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June 1st, 2012 at 10:54 am
I always thought Tolkien was more for the kids myself, but according to that first book, he’s for septuagenarians.
The Lewis book definitely qualifies for the still unofficial BEHIND YOU! tag, and so do some of the Tolkiens. The Lewis really does require a flying sheep, because of the bare boobies… or is it that nipples must be evident to qualify for a modesty sheep?
I agree that Lewis’ face should be the new cover-up image wherever devil’s dumplings need concealment.
June 1st, 2012 at 3:10 pm
Maybe I’m mistaken about Lewis being a prude, but I’m surprised that cover would get approved by him or his estate. And yeah it’s only nudity, but I always thought he was an “if it might lead to sin, avoid at all costs” kind of guy. But maybe that’s just my uptight American standard vs. a more relaxed European attitude.
And a word of warning to the lady. If those swans starting calling you Leda, you better high-tail it out of there!
June 1st, 2012 at 3:58 pm
Yoss, Lewis’s estate wouldn’t have had any say in the matter. Those STARMONT GUIDES are academic studies of an author’s work (I have some others in the series), and don’t contain any material by the author under discussion.
…in which case, the slightly embarrassed expression on his face is probably quite appropriate!
June 1st, 2012 at 4:16 pm
Thanks, Phil. That makes sense. The look on his face is pretty funny. I keep imagining him saying “GAAARSHHHH!” like Goofy from the Disney cartoons when he’s embarrassed or amazed.
June 1st, 2012 at 4:20 pm
I like the ‘hunk’ tag here. I’m sure dear old J.R.R. didn’t think of himself that way, but he may have been secretly pleased even so.
June 1st, 2012 at 6:33 pm
We have the 2nd Tolkien one in the library I work at.
As for the Lewis, I don’t think modesty sheep are needed. (Never saw why they were needed on the others. After all, those are book covers that are in full view of the public all the time anyway. Not an issue of Hustler.) She looks more like a naked pre-molded on panties Barbie doll than a naked woman.
June 1st, 2012 at 10:44 pm
I think modesty sheep add to the hilarity. Long may they continue (or be supplanted by the embarrassed C.S. Lewis).
June 2nd, 2012 at 1:04 am
As far as I remember (and Wikipedia agrees with me) Perelandra involved lots of innocent Edenic lust-free nudity. None of that venereal “nastiness” that pagans associate with that planet or with nakedness. CS Lewis liked to rewrite history and myth as much as a Hollywood scriptwriter.
The look on CS Lewis’ look seems more like sanctimony than embarrassment.
June 2nd, 2012 at 1:06 am
One of those looks should be a face. I spent too much time on the first paragraph.
June 2nd, 2012 at 2:06 am
In the third one, Tolkien is actually reading aloud his little-known “Goodnight Pale Face.”
June 2nd, 2012 at 12:40 pm
I doubt the orcs will like the ending to Tolkien’s book, unless it’s Farmer Giles of Ham?
June 8th, 2012 at 6:08 pm
Pat beat me to it. That’s Perelandra and the woman is the second “Eve”, pre-temptation. She has every right to be nude, in other words, in Lewis’s world.
I’m not sure he would have chosen to put her on the cover, but he was pretty into mythology and medieval literature and had probably seen plenty of scantily-clad sculpture, so who knows? Maybe he was grownup about these things.
What really annoys me about that cover is that, to the best of my knowledge, the little dragon is only seen briefly in one scene. If it’s shown prominently, it should be prominent in the story, I think.
June 11th, 2012 at 7:22 pm
I’m fairly certain the Lewis cover has the Madonna in the background, what with it being a naked lady with a sceptre and a dragon.
So it’s religious imagery, though not one seen all that often now-a-days.