In Revelations: Visions, Prophecy, and Politics in the book of Revelation, Elaine Pagels does a helpful job of putting the Book of Revelation in historical context.  It was written not long after the fall and destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans.  Out of distress over the state of his country, the writer uses dream-like images  to portray the forces of heaven coming down to destroy the evil doers.  Pagels says it conveys a message of hope, giving the message that as bad as circumstances are now, in the end the righteous will prevail.  Unfortunately, it has also been used over the centuries to label opponents as evil.  Her book goes on to describe a number of other books of revelation that were written in the first century c.e.

The first part of the film adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit, "An Unexpected Journey", opens this Friday in theaters.  No surprise - interest in the book has increased as evidenced by the amount of hold requests on our library copies (check out this edition if you still need a copy).  So, let's say you've read both The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings and you want more Middle Earth.  What's next?

The First Age of Middle Earth

Tolkien spent most of his career as a writer refining the mythology that would become the "back story" to the published "Rings" era (the Third Age) but these tales only saw publication following his death in the form of The Silmarillion.  This is very much "The Bible" of Middle Earth in both content and narrative approach.  It tells the epic history of the world from its very creation to the end of the First Age as Elves (and later, Men) struggle against the evil forces of Morgoth (the Lucifer figure) and attempt to regain the three holy jewels, the Silmarils, he stole from them. 

Despite its beautiful and ambitious scope, readers familiar with The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings can sometimes find The Silmarillion a bit hard to get into.  Because it covers a millennia or so, there is less dialogue, characters are less defined, and events are concise and compressed.  The narrative approach is rather similar to the historical Appendices at the end of The Lord of the Rings (you didn't skip those, right?).  The Silmarillion is also lacking a single overall protagonist; instead, characters come and go between chapters as they fall victim to the passage of time and frequent tragic deaths.  There are also no familiar cross-over characters or places from the Rings books (except briefly for Galadriel, and a small role for Sauron); in fact, most of the lands of The Silmarillion no longer exist by the time of The Lord of the Rings.

Tolkien does a lot of "name-dropping", and since everyone and everything tends to have multiple names, I found it useful on my first reading to constantly be double-checking every name reference in a companion book such as The Complete Guide to Middle Earth.  Yes, you get some spoilers, but it also helps keep you focused on the big picture - where things are going and which details you should pay attention to.

If you find yourself overwhelmed by The Silmarillion and want an experience closer to The Lord of the Rings, try the recently released The Children of Hurin.  This takes the Tale of Turin Turambar, a 28 page chapter in The Silmarillion, and expands it to a 200+ page novel (with big print, for a change).  Hot-headed Turin battles Morgoth's forces but is cursed to unintentionally carry out Morgoth's will, leading to the destruction of one of the three hidden kingdoms of the Elves and Turin's own tragic fate. The story is self-contained enough that it can be enjoyed without knowledge of its place in the greater scheme of events told in The Silmarillion.  Tolkien often attempted to tell stories of the First Age in longer formats like this, but The Children of Hurin is the only one that was complete enough to stand on its own, with a bit of patching.  (You can see the original version with holes intact in Unfinished Tales)

Stay tuned for more highlights of the First Age from Tolkien's incomplete and miscellaneous writings...

The Homeless Access to Recovery through Treatment (HART) Act (H.R. 4129) seeks to strengthen and expand substance abuse and mental health services to persons experiencing homelessness.

Among surveyed homeless people, 39 percent have some form of mental health problem, and SAMHSA estimates that between 20 percent and 25 percent meet criteria for serious mental illness. In addition, 38 percent of surveyed homeless people have an alcohol problem, and 26 percent report problems with other drugs. Untreated addictions and mental illnesses present serious barriers to employment and permanent housing, perpetuating an ever-worsening cycle of poor physical health, hospitalization, social dysfunction, incarceration, poverty, and homelessness. These are tragic outcomes for homeless persons and their families; burdens on healthcare, social service, and corrections systems; and costs to taxpayers as quoted on nationalhomeless.org/advocacy.

San Jose Public Library:

• Social Worker in Library
• San Jose Public Library Collections

Treatment Information:

• Mental health facility
• Suicide Prevention Awareness 

Additional Information:

• Project Christmas Feed
• Feed homeless
• Volunteer to feed homeless 
• Homeless shelter 
• More information for homeless

Biblioteca Latinoamericana and Washington United Youth Center will present the annual Posada de la Comunidad on Tuesday, December 11, 2012 from 6:00 pm until 8:00 pm.  

The entire community is invited to participate in this traditional Latino event, with folkloric dancing and other entertainment.  Refreshments, including delicious buñuelos will be provided free of charge.

Children and teens will receive a gift book while supplies last.  

This special event is co-sponsored by Los Amigos de la Biblioteca, Santa Maria Urban Ministry, Catholic Charities of Santa Clara County, RW Garcia Co., Brenda Lopez Folklorico Group, Grupo Folklorico Yolotly Guerrerente, Antonio Avalos, and other community groups.

Would you like to learn more about the celebration of Las Posadas?   Here are some books that you and your children may enjoy:

The Night of Las Posadas, written and illustrated by Tomie DePaola is a story about a community preparing for and enacting their yearly Posadas celebration.

Uno, Dos, Tres, Posada! Let's Celebrate Christmas, written by Virginia Kroll, and illustrated by Loretta Lopez is a story about a family preparing for a party at their house and welcoming the guests.

Carlos, Light the Farolito, written by Jean Ciavonne and illustrated by Donna Clair is another story about a Posadas procession with many fascinating cultural details.