The Barrow-Downs Discussion Forum - View Single Post

Lalwendë · 12-17-2007, 02:43 AM

I have to laugh. It's yet another person who puts Tolkien down as some archaic figure who cared not for the modern world. News. He did.

Now I can't say "Has this guy never read the Companion and Guide?!" as it wasn't even out then and I doubt a Guardian reviewer is also a Time Lord, and even if he was then I also doubt he'd bother reading that weighty tome, not being a fan. But that reveals the truth of what Tolkien was all about. He wasn't stuck in some ivory tower only ever reading Anglo-Saxon texts, nor did he wish to retreat from the world. Tolkien was known to love a beer, a smoke and a practical joke, he was quite the extrovert, and most of all he was widely read. He did in fact read the Latin and Greek classics, he devoured sci-fi, he read modern fiction and poetry, he even took The Observer on a Sunday.

And why is Tolkien's work always lumped in with Lewis? Just because they were friends? The work of the two men is worlds apart...you know who I think is the better writer just by me being a member of a Tolkien forum I think

12-17-2007, 02:43 AM	#2
Lalwendë A Mere Boggart Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: under the bed Posts: 4,737	I have to laugh. It's yet another person who puts Tolkien down as some archaic figure who cared not for the modern world. News. He did. Now I can't say "Has this guy never read the Companion and Guide?!" as it wasn't even out then and I doubt a Guardian reviewer is also a Time Lord, and even if he was then I also doubt he'd bother reading that weighty tome, not being a fan. But that reveals the truth of what Tolkien was all about. He wasn't stuck in some ivory tower only ever reading Anglo-Saxon texts, nor did he wish to retreat from the world. Tolkien was known to love a beer, a smoke and a practical joke, he was quite the extrovert, and most of all he was widely read. He did in fact read the Latin and Greek classics, he devoured sci-fi, he read modern fiction and poetry, he even took The Observer on a Sunday. And why is Tolkien's work always lumped in with Lewis? Just because they were friends? The work of the two men is worlds apart...you know who I think is the better writer just by me being a member of a Tolkien forum I think __________________ Gordon's alive!