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The Marvellous Land of Snergs
This beguiling tale has everything: runaway orphans, kings, knights, an evil witch, and a lovable, table-high Snerg named Gorbo who leads children from one fantastic adventure to another. Tolkien called this forgotten classic a "sourcebook" for The Hobbit — and it's a must for any Rings fan. 51 black-and-white illustrations.
Paperback, 224 pages
Published
September 22nd 2006
by Dover Publications
(first published December 10th 2004)
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I read this aloud for my little niece Kaitlyn, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
This is a delightful fantasy centered around the adventures of Joe and Sylvia (both removed from their abusive/neglectful homes by the benevolent Society for the Removal of Superfluous Children and relocated to a magical island) and their friend Gorbo, a Snerg, who finds through the course of the novel that he is far less a fool than he (and everyone else) thinks he is.
It features classics of the genre (an ogre, a witch,...more
This is a delightful fantasy centered around the adventures of Joe and Sylvia (both removed from their abusive/neglectful homes by the benevolent Society for the Removal of Superfluous Children and relocated to a magical island) and their friend Gorbo, a Snerg, who finds through the course of the novel that he is far less a fool than he (and everyone else) thinks he is.
It features classics of the genre (an ogre, a witch,...more
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I found this book while browsing through a catalog. They had a quote from Tolkein that "this was his source book for the Hobbit" and that he'd read it to his own children. Okay, says me, we'll try it.
My kids loved this book. And my husband loved reading it to them. Every night I'd hear them laughing away and then they'd be talking about it the next day.
It has a very Tolkein/Narnia type feel to it and was just plain fun. The language is a bit difficult but not so much that they couldn't understan...more
My kids loved this book. And my husband loved reading it to them. Every night I'd hear them laughing away and then they'd be talking about it the next day.
It has a very Tolkein/Narnia type feel to it and was just plain fun. The language is a bit difficult but not so much that they couldn't understan...more
A entertaining story in the vein of the Chronicles of Narnia. The story follows to children in their adventures int he Land of Snergs (kind of a cross between Dwarves and Goblins) and beyond. The characters are entertaining and some moral lessons are present. How ever the story doesn't seem to have a specific direction and bounces from unrelated adventure to unrelated adventure.
I'll keep this book, but it will be many years before I ever pick it up again. Although I don't find it particularly engaging, I do appreciate the overall humor and plentiful silliness. If I had a bookshelf titled keep for my children, I would put this on it.
I read this in preparation for teaching The Hobbit, as this book is one of Tolkien's influences. I found it delightful and charming.
A very merry story about the adventures of two children, it filled me with smiles and I would love to befriend the jester!
forgotten classic
This is a very funny book! I've been thinking of the book as a Tolkien favorite and was not expecting the humor, although I should have known better - his gaggle of children really enjoyed it.
The Marvellous Land of Snergs is a lost classic which was thought to be the inspiration for Tolkien's The Hobbit. One can definitely identify analogous events between the two works. More importantly, I felt the same uplifting spirit from both. Snergs may be enjoyed as simply a fairy tale but may also be appreciated as a philosophical character-building adventure.
Ogres, witches, Dutchmen soldiers, and Snergs. Lots of adventure here. This book was apparently a favorite of the Tolkien family and after reading it with my 9-year old I can see why!
I came to this book through annotations in the Annotated Hobbit. One can, indeed, see the similarities between Wyke-Smith and early Tolkien. A fun little book that is enjoyable for its nostalgiac feel as well as the story itself and the fairy-tale sense of play it evokes.
A delightful fantasy tale. I gave it 5 stars not only due to my own enjoyment, but because I could see myself reading this book to my son at bedtime (if I had discovered it sooner; he is 18 now).
Oct 23, 2008
Evamarie
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
Anyone that loves fantasy
Recommended to Evamarie by:
Heather (through Goodreads)
I loved this book I can't beleive I never heard about it until I joined GoodReads.
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