[The Squatter of Amon Rûdh]

My view is simple:

I The Big Read is intended to get people to read good books. I already read good books, and can describe them a little better than an assortment of soap stars and stand-up comedians. Also it will give people a useful resource to enable them to choose which of their books to place on the most prominent display, not to mention a list of books that 'normal' people may be assumed to have read. If you want that sort of thing, this will be great for you. Otherwise it'll be a curiosity at best.

II It doesn't matter whether or not Tolkien wins. Sad, but true. If he gets the top spot fairly it will confirm that he's very popular, which we knew already. It will do nothing to make The Lord of the Rings more acceptable in literary circles; in fact it will probably reinforce the view that we, Tolkien's fans, are obsessive, emotionally stunted and intellectually blinkered. To help you to understand why, consider how likely it is that Thomas Hardy's fans have been cheating to try and get Jude the Obscure into the top spot.

III This sort of thing is inherently inaccurate and basically pointless. One cannot quantify art, and therefore it must follow that one cannot rank works of art either. All this survey is trying to do is to establish which book is most people's favourite, so whether or not Tolkien gets even into the top six should be a matter of supreme indifference. It will change nothing. The big battle is for Tolkien's official acceptance as an author of classic literature, which can be won only through intelligent, well-informed and scholarly debate.

[ October 27, 2003: Message edited by: The Squatter of Amon Rûdh ]