Mr. Bliss
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| Mr. Bliss | |
|---|---|
| File:MrBliss.jpg | |
| Author | J.R.R. Tolkien |
| Illustrator | J.R.R. Tolkien |
| Publisher | George Allen and Unwin (UK) Houghton Mifflin (US) |
| Released | 20 September 1982 (UK) 17 January 1983 (US) |
| Format | Hardcover |
| Pages | 107 |
| ISBNs | 0048232157 0395329361 |
Mr. Bliss is a children's picture book by J.R.R. Tolkien, published posthumously in book form in 1982. One of Tolkien's least-known short works, it tells the story of Mr. Bliss and his first ride in his new motor-car. Many adventures follow: encounters with bears, angry neighbors, irate shopkeepers, and assorted collisions.
From the publisher
Tolkien’s illustrated tale about the eccentric Mr Bliss, a man notable for his immensely tall hats and for the girabbit in his garden, whose whimsical decision to buy a motor car quickly becomes a catalogue of disasters.
Professor J.R.R. Tolkien invented and illustrated the book of Mr Bliss’s adventures for his own children when they were very young. The book was handwritten with lots of detailed and uproarious colour pictures.
This is a complete and highly imaginative tale of eccentricity. Mr Bliss, a man notable for his immensely tall hats and for the girabbit in his garden, takes the whimsical decision to buy a motor car. But his first drive to visit friends quickly becomes a catalogue of disasters. Some of these could be blamed on Mr Bliss’s style of driving, but even he could not anticipate being hijacked by three bears. As for what happened next the readers, whether young or old, will want to discover for themselves.
Plot
Characters
Listed in order of appearance:
- Mr Bliss, a man resident in a white house with red roofs. He owned a large quantity of tall hats and a bicycle without pedal for he only rode it downhill. The story follows his misadventures following the purchase of a yellow car taken on a drive to visit the Dorkinses.
- Girabbit, a talking half-rabbit half-giraffe pet that lived in Mr Bliss's garden. It forecasts wet weather and Mr Bliss keeps it a secret to avoid paying a licence.
- Mr Day, a man driven into by Mr Bliss who was carrying cabbages. He ends up receiving the car as a wedding-present.
- Mrs Knight, a woman who owned a donkey and whose cart carrying bananas was smashed by Mr Bliss. She marries Mr Day as her third husband and set up a green-grocers called "Day and Knight's".
- Three bears Archie, Bruno and Teddy who Mr Bliss encounters and who then take Mr Day's cabbages and Mrs Knight's bananas. They insist on joining Mr Bliss on his trip to see the Dorkinses. They live in Bears' House in Three Bears Wood.
- The Dorkinses, also called the Fat Dorkinses, a group of four brothers who live at the bottom of the Hill and all bar Fattie own a horse. Their picnic is interrupted by the group, and their kitchen-garden is ravished by the bears.
- Fattie, the fattest with black curly hair, a white sleeveless shirt with yellow dots, and he wore no coat (for they always split).
- Albert, who had very short legs and the angriest of the Dorkinses.
- Herbert, who swallows a beetle that enters his soup
- Egbert, who wore a green jacket.
- Mr Binks, owner of the shop who sells Mr Bliss the car. When Mr Bliss recovers his bike from Mr Binks, Mr Binks wants Mr Bliss sent to prison.
- Sergeant Boffin, the local police officer who, after persuasion from Mr Binks, intends to arrest Mr Bliss.
Other named characters include Sam (Sergeant Boffin's son), Uncle Joe, Mrs Golightly, Mrs Simkins, old Gaffer Gamgee, Alfred, the Innkeeper, and Mr Banks (a builder).
History
The story was inspired by Tolkien's own vehicular mishaps with his first auto, purchased in 1932. The bears were based on toy bears owned by Tolkien's sons. Tolkien was both author and illustrator of the book. His narrative binds the story and illustrations tightly together, as the text often comments directly on the pictures.
Mr. Bliss wasn't published during Tolkien's lifetime. He submitted it to his publishers as a balm to readers who were hungry for more from Tolkien after the success of The Hobbit. The lavish ink and colored pencil illustrations would have made production costs prohibitively expensive. Tolkien agreed to redraw the pictures in a simpler style, but then found he didn't have time to do it. The manuscript lay in a drawer until 1957, when he sold it (as well as the original manuscripts of The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, and Farmer Giles of Ham) to Marquette University for 1,250 pounds.
The book was published in 1982, with Tolkien's difficult-to-read handwritten story and illustrations on one page, and a typeset transcription on the facing page.
Publication history
Reception
Adaptations
A group of Russian fans created an animated film of "Mr. Bliss" making use of the original drawings by Tolkien. The film was shown at both Tolkien Thing 2006 and Ring*Con 2006.
As part of Tolkien Reading Day 2017, The Tolkien Society hosted a live reading of Mr. Bliss by the storyteller Lucy Walters at The Story Museum.[1]
See also
References
- ↑ "Tolkien Reading Day 2017", The Tolkien Society (accessed 27 March 2017)
