Something Has Gone Crack

"Something has gone crack," Tolkien wrote about the first death among his tight-knit fellowship of friends in 1916, and the impact of the war haunted his writing for the rest of his life. In his work, the Great War serves as a source of imagery, motifs, themes and of personal trauma to be worked out in meaningful symbolic form throughout his life.

How the First World War influenced the author of the Lord of the Rings Trilogy: “Very much the best book about J.R.R. Tolkien that has yet been written.” —A. N. Wilson As Europe plunged into World War I, J. R. R. Tolkien was a student at Oxford and part of a cohort of literary-minded friends who had wide-ranging conversations in their Tea Club and Barrovian Society. After finishing his degree, Tolkien experienced the horrors of the Great War as a signal officer in the Battle of the Somme, where two of those school friends died. All the while, he was hard at work on an original mythology that would become the basis of his literary masterpiece, the Lord of the Rings trilogy. In this biographical study, drawn in part from Tolkien’s personal wartime papers, John Garth traces the development of the author’s work during this critical period. He shows how the deaths of two comrades compelled Tolkien to pursue the dream they had shared, and argues that the young man used his imagination not to escape from reality—but to transform the cataclysm of his generation. While Tolkien’s contemporaries surrendered to disillusionment, he kept enchantment alive, reshaping an entire literary tradition into a form that resonates to this day. “Garth’s fine study should have a major audience among serious students of Tolkien.” —Publishers Weekly “A highly intelligent book . . . Garth displays impressive skills both as researcher and writer.” —Max Hastings, author of The Secret War “Somewhere, I think, Tolkien is nodding in appreciation.” —San Jose Mercury News “A labour of love in which journalist Garth combines a newsman’s nose for a good story with a scholar’s scrupulous attention to detail . . . Brilliantly argued.” —Daily Mail (UK) “Gripping from start to finish and offers important new insights.” —Library Journal “Insight into how a writer turned academia into art, how deeply friendship supports and wounds us, and how the death and disillusionment that characterized World War I inspired Tolkien’s lush saga.” —Detroit Free Press

Thirteen-year-old Eli Papadapoulous is worried. Even though he's part of in the most powerful family in the world. Even though his grandfather founded InfiniCorp, the massive corporation that runs everything in the bustling dome-cities. Even though InfiniCorp ads and billboards are plastered everywhere, proclaiming: DON'T WORRY! INFINICORP IS TAKING CARE OF EVERYTHING! Recently, Eli noticed there's something wrong with the artificial sky. It keeps shorting out, displaying strange colors and random, pixellated images. And though the Department of Cool and Comfortable Air is working overtime, the dome-city is hotter than it's ever been. Eli has been raised to believe that the dome-cities are safe and comfortable; that the important thing is to keep working, keep consuming; that InfiniCorp knows better than he, and he should leave everything in their hands. But now he begins asking questions.

J.R.R. Tolkien, one of the world's most beloved authors, was a World War I signaling officer who survived the Battle of the Somme, and two of his sons served during World War II. Such experiences and events led Tolkien to a complex attitude toward war and military leadership, the themes of which find their way into his most important writings. His fiction, criticism, and letters demonstrate a range of attitudes that would change over the course of his life. In the end, his philosophy on human nature and evil, and the inevitability of conflict, would appear to be pragmatic and rational, if regretful and pessimistic. Croft explores the different aspect of Tolkien's relationship with war both in his life and in his work from the early Book of Lost Tales to his last story Smith of Wootten Major, and concentrating on his greatest and most well-known works The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. This valuable consideration of war in the life of Tolkien is essential reading for all readers interested in deepening their understanding of this great writer.

The sequel to A Corner of White. “Mixed in with the regal intrigue is a complex, moving look at families, friendship, and loss . . . thrilling.” —School Library Journal (starred review) Picking up where A Corner of White left off, Elliot is more determined to find his father than ever, now that he knows he’s still alive. But first he must help Princess Ko find her own missing family, as the secret search for the royals of Cello begins. As part of the Royal Youth Alliance, Elliot will travel all over the Kingdom of Cello looking for any clue or detail or spell that could bring them (and maybe his own father) home. But once he learns that the royal family has been trapped in the World all this time, with no memory of their former lives, his real value to the Alliance becomes clear: He’s the only one with a connection to the World, through Madeleine. Together, through notes, letters, and late nights, Elliot and Madeleine must find a way to travel across worlds and bring missing loved ones home. The stakes are high, the writing both hilarious and heart-poundingly suspenseful, and the experience of reading it, sheer pleasure. “Madcap, whimsical, smart and even heartbreaking . . . By turns coming-of-age and wild adventure, this volume complicates the characters, expands the worldbuilding and sets things up for a grand finish in the trilogy closer . . . even better than the first.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred review) “Full of clever invention and intrigue, excellent surprises, and all the sophisticated wit Moriarty’s fans expect.” —The Horn Book (starred review)

“Iced is a powerhouse. . . . Ray Shell writes beautifully. The story is heartbreaking. I kept putting it down and picking it up again—it won’t let me go.”—Maya Angelou A timeless tale of one man’s decline into the depths of addiction that is at both a shocking study of the addict’s life, and a deeply compelling and often uplifting tale of human love and loss. First published at the height of the crack cocaine epidemic thirty years ago, Ray Shell’s “powerhouse” (Maya Angelou) of a novel is as timely and relevant today as it was in 1994. It is the story of Cornelius Washington, a young upper-middle-class Black man blessed with burning talent and ambition, who enjoys experimenting with drugs—a dangerous pastime that gradually becomes a destructive addiction. Now a middle-aged crackhead, Cornelius ponders his life and the choices that have led him here. Written as a series of immersive stream of consciousness diary entries, Iced captures the despair and dashed dreams of a man caught between the harsh realities of his present and the adventures and upheavals of his past—a youth marked by a host of characters both intriguing and terrifying. A complicated man both compelling and maddening, sympathetic and defiant, Cornelius tries desperately to break free from his addiction, a struggle that ends in defeat time and time again. Despite the thought loops that lead to his bad choices, this painfully realistic character elicits hope for his survival, even though he will likely meet a devastating end. Resonant and haunting, illuminating and heartbreaking, Iced paints a portait of being Black in America, and the ways in which marginalized communities are targeted and ignored, left to suffer the consequences of policies made by powerful people ignorant and uncaring of their lives. It is a novel that transcends time, offering a glimpse of the past that is present in our lives today.

An eclectic, multidisciplinary collection that explores the representation of war and its aftereffects in children's books and documentary film. Brings together internationally known contributors to examine the ongoing influence of violence and war on children's literature by studying the childhood experiences of authors writing for children, the children represented in war stories, and the experiences of children who make up the stories readership. From publisher description.

Sixteen-year-old Alaric discovers how to travel to an alternate reality, where his mother is alive and his place in the family is held by a girl named Naia.

The new edition of the definitive academic companion to Tolkien’s life and literature A Companion to J. R. R. Tolkien provides readers with an in-depth examination of the author’s life and works, covering Tolkien’s fiction and mythology, his academic writing, and his continuing impact on contemporary literature and culture. Presenting forty-one essays by a panel of leading scholars, the Companion analyzes prevailing themes found in The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, posthumous publications such as The Silmarillion and The Fall of Arthur, lesser-known fiction and poetry, literary essays, and more. This second edition of the Companion remains the most complete and up-to-date resource of its kind, encompassing new Tolkien publications, original scholarship, The Hobbit film adaptations, and the biographical drama Tolkien. Five entirely new essays discuss the history of fantasy literature, the influence of classical mythology on Tolkien, folklore and fairytales, diversity, and Tolkien fandom. This Companion also: Explores Tolkien’s impact on art, film, music, gaming, and later generations of fantasy fiction writers Discusses themes such as mythmaking, medieval languages, nature, war, religion, and the defeat of evil Presents a detailed overview of Tolkien’s legendarium, including Middle-earth mythology and invented languages and writing systems Includes a brief chronology of Tolkien’s works and life, further reading suggestions, and end-of-chapter bibliographies A Companion to J. R. R. Tolkien, Second Edition is essential reading for anyone formally studying or teaching Tolkien in academic settings, and an invaluable resource for general readers with interest in Tolkien’s works or fans of the films wanting to discover more.

This carefully edited collection has been designed and formatted to the highest digital standards and adjusted for readability on all devices. Novels The Adventures of Tom Sawyer Adventures of Huckleberry Finn The Gilded Age The Prince and the Pauper A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court The American Claimant Tom Sawyer Abroad Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc Pudd'nhead Wilson Tom Sawyer, Detective A Horse's Tale The Mysterious Stranger Novelettes A Double Barrelled Detective Story Those Extraordinary Twins The Recent Carnival of Crime in Connecticut The Stolen White Elephant The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg Captain Stormfield's Visit to Heaven Short Story Collections The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County and Other Sketches Mark Twain's (Burlesque) Autobiography and First Romance Sketches New and Old Merry Tales The £1,000,000 Bank Note and Other New Stories The $30,000 Bequest and Other Stories The Curious Republic of Gondour and Other Whimsical Sketches Alonzo Fitz, and Other Stories Mark Twain's Library of Humor Other Stories Essays, Satires & Articles How to Tell a Story, and Other Essays What Is Man? And Other Essays Editorial Wild Oats Concerning the Jews To the Person Sitting in Darkness To My Missionary Critics Christian Science Queen Victoria's Jubilee Essays on Paul Bourget The Treaty with China Stirring Times in Austria The Czar's Soliloquy King Leopold's Soliloquy Adam's Soliloquy Essays on Copyrights Other Essays Travel Books The Innocents Abroad A Tramp Abroad Roughing It Old Times on the Mississippi Life on the Mississippi Following the Equator Some Rambling Notes of an Idle Excursion The Complete Speeches The Complete Letters Autobiography Biographies Mark Twain: A Biography by Albert Bigelow Paine The Boys' Life of Mark Twain by Albert Bigelow Paine My Mark Twain by William Dean Howells