A review by nuffy375
Anything You Can Imagine: Peter Jackson and the Making of Middle-earth by Ian Nathan
5.0
4.5 stars bumped up to 5 for the sheer giddy joy I felt reading this book. For true LOTR fans.
It’s not perfect - as other reviewers have commented, the organization is a bit flawed. I wasn’t confused ever while reading it, but a couple anecdotes seemed repetitive as timelines were established for context. Nathan’s word choice can get noticeably confounding and I stumbled occasionally, trying to decipher his meaning, but ultimately the genuine love the author feels for the movies shines through and is contagious. The book is jam-packed with information (granted, most of it is known by die-hard fans already, available on the internet or the extensive volumes of behind the scenes features offered on the extended DVDs, but it’s nice to have them collected in one place so lovingly), and I genuinely felt elated while reading this book. I fell in love with cinema and LOTR/Tolkien since I watched The Fellowship of the Ring in theaters - and I now might have a Tolkien book problem as I slowly fill a whole bookshelf with only Tolkien books - and this book tugged at those fan-strings so exquisitely. Now I must go watch my DVDs!
This book did reinforce to me that the movie business is not for me though. All that insecurity and lack of a sure-footing? No, thank you.
It’s not perfect - as other reviewers have commented, the organization is a bit flawed. I wasn’t confused ever while reading it, but a couple anecdotes seemed repetitive as timelines were established for context. Nathan’s word choice can get noticeably confounding and I stumbled occasionally, trying to decipher his meaning, but ultimately the genuine love the author feels for the movies shines through and is contagious. The book is jam-packed with information (granted, most of it is known by die-hard fans already, available on the internet or the extensive volumes of behind the scenes features offered on the extended DVDs, but it’s nice to have them collected in one place so lovingly), and I genuinely felt elated while reading this book. I fell in love with cinema and LOTR/Tolkien since I watched The Fellowship of the Ring in theaters - and I now might have a Tolkien book problem as I slowly fill a whole bookshelf with only Tolkien books - and this book tugged at those fan-strings so exquisitely. Now I must go watch my DVDs!
This book did reinforce to me that the movie business is not for me though. All that insecurity and lack of a sure-footing? No, thank you.