Great Works Discussion at Baruch College

Tomorrow at Baruch, poet laureate Charles Simic, along with writers Antonio Munoz Molina, Fatou Diome, and Ma Jian, will be discussing works from Baruch College’s ‘Great Works’ courses. According to the PEN website, each writer ‘selected a classic work from those being studied in Baruch’s Great Works program and will discuss its resonance within his or her own life and work.’ It sounds like it will be a very interesting program; it’s also free and open to the public. It will be held in room 5-150 in the Vertical Campus at 2:30 tomorrow, May 1. It’s part of the PEN World Voices series taking place all over the city this week. Visit the website for more information and a complete schedule of events.

The Children of Hurin

This book is one of the best things I’ve read in the past few years. Granted, Tolkien is my favorite writer. But the book shows his versatility–it’s very different in tone from The Lord of the Rings. It is unrelenting in its darkness, a tragedy without redemption. It’s hard to read this book and not be moved. Tolkien uses very little sentiment in describing his characters, which makes their suffering even more sympathetic, in my mind.

The work centers mostly on Turin, Hurin’s son, and his sad wanderings. Hurin, after being captured by Morgoth, refuses to bow to him, dooming his family to Morgoth’s curse. His pride causes endless suffering. Turin’s life is covered in shadows; no matter what he does it ends badly for him and everyone he cares about. Hurin’s daughter Nienor and wife Morwen are similarly doomed to live as refugees, subjected to constant peril their entire lives. In this way the book has the feeling of one of the Norse sagas or Greek tragedy.

For Tolkien fans, this is an essential read. If you are interested in fantasy or enjoyed the Lord of the Rings, it doesn’t get much better than this.