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Few people have, I think. Camilla Send a noteboard - 01/12/2009 01:19:23 PM
Everyone has read Lord of the Rings. Most people have read The Hobbit. Quite a few got through The Silmarillion and Unfinished Tales unscathed. But how many have read Mr Bliss?

I got a facsimile edition of it for Christmas a few years back, and it is lovely. It reproduces a manuscript illustrated by the author.

The book itself is on the Children's Book end of the spectrum, and does not really delve deeply into the forces of good and evil. But it does contain a man with appropriate appreciation for tall headgear, a Girabbit (a cross between a Giraffe and a Rabbit, which should put Richard Dawkins into an early grave if he ever heard of it), a red-wheeled motorcar (which makes me rethink my abhorrence of that type of machinery), a Mr Day, a Mrs Knight, a poor donkey with a difficult life, and an Adventure of sorts involving sometimes luminescent bears.


Since you haven't already stormed out to purchase the item (as you are clearly still reading this), I expect you want more information. Writing style, perhaps? It is a little like a nonsensical, surrealism-tinged Wodehouse. I strongly suspect children's toys were part of the inspiration. Children's toys alone cannot account for it all, though. Like when Mr Bliss says "I am blessed and bothered ... if it isn't the Girabbit's head sticking out of my chimney; and he seems to be munching a carpet". I suspect it takes a very special sort of brain to make that happen.

To conclude: I really want a Girabbit.

So thanks muchly. I may have finally have something I can tell people I want for Christmas. That doesn't cost $1200. :P


Keep in mind it is a children's book.
You might also want to wish for The Gone-Away World, if you haven't gotten hold of it already ;)
*MySmiley*
structured procrastinator
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/Other Literature: Mr Bliss by J.R.R. Tolkien - 29/11/2009 05:01:34 PM 5198 Views
Haha awesome, sounds like a winner. - 30/11/2009 01:01:54 AM 1755 Views
Re: Haha awesome, sounds like a winner. - 30/11/2009 09:58:51 AM 1561 Views
Want! - 30/11/2009 02:35:02 AM 1523 Views
Re: Want! - 30/11/2009 10:01:42 AM 1554 Views
Something else for which to hunt I suppose. - 30/11/2009 01:57:34 PM 1637 Views
Re: Something else for which to hunt I suppose. - 30/11/2009 01:58:49 PM 1484 Views
I'm Ashamed to Say I've Never Heard of It. - 01/12/2009 01:17:32 PM 1533 Views
Few people have, I think. - 01/12/2009 01:19:23 PM 1503 Views
Yes, but Tolkien Is My Harkaway. - 01/12/2009 01:30:55 PM 1656 Views
Oh, I adore Tolkien - 01/12/2009 01:34:58 PM 1639 Views
Still the Master, IMHO. - 01/12/2009 02:12:43 PM 1422 Views
Re: Still the Master, IMHO. - 01/12/2009 02:19:28 PM 1558 Views
You Wanted Me to Read Pratchett and Now I Have. - 01/12/2009 02:56:06 PM 1607 Views
Re: You Wanted Me to Read Pratchett and Now I Have. - 01/12/2009 03:20:25 PM 1417 Views
In Context It Makes Sense, I Think. - 01/12/2009 03:28:37 PM 1481 Views
Re: In Context It Makes Sense, I Think. - 01/12/2009 03:30:18 PM 1610 Views
Re: In Context It Makes Sense, I Think. - 01/12/2009 04:41:07 PM 1479 Views
Re: In Context It Makes Sense, I Think. - 01/12/2009 04:43:01 PM 1440 Views
I Suspected As Much. - 01/12/2009 06:13:25 PM 1617 Views

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