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Originally Posted by HerenIstarion
I'm up to half of the first page, but lest I forget to do it when I read it through and (if) find myself disposed to longer post, I'll post the link now - Tolkien - Enemy of Progress. Seems relevant. With regards to pulling critics of that kind to see for themselves - Mr. Brin was personally invited by yours truly to come and see for himself, but, as far as my knowledge reaches, never appeared. |
Very interesting article - and the one from which Johann Hari quoted too. Brin has at the very least considered the issue and not simply thrown out random unpleasantries like so many of the critics seem to have done.
Though I am quite at a loss as to say exactly what Brin is railing against in Tolkien's work; it seems to be the very idea that it is set in a kind of world that has passed. If this is the case then I cannot fathom why this is such a 'bad thing'. There are reams of historical novels available, many of them in the literary fiction genre; just to pick one which has a nostalgic view of the past - Ishiguro's
Remains of the Day. Regret and looking back are major themes in fiction. Perhaps the critics then do not like Tolkien's use of historical images as he does not use them ironically? To suggest decay?
Or does he? Decay, as we know, is one of Tolkien's most
important themes. I think that if critics could for one moment get over the fact that in Tolkien's work there happen to be horses rather than Porsches, swords instead of guns and kings instead of CEOs then they may begin to see some of the worth in the writing. I am not sure what some people
expect to be honest, after all, Tolkien's work is fantasy, so of
course it is not full of modern things! But if they could get over themselves and their self-congratulatory feelings that they live in
such an enlightened age (debatable to say the least) then they may find that in fact Tolkien's work raises incredibly modern questions. And no, I won't list them here again...that would take forever...