Quote:
Originally Posted by Morthoron
I think Tolkien was totally unprepared for the type of celebrity worship that is a hallmark of the American Experience (an aspect of Americana that has always been a bit embarrassing for me). In addition, writers prior to Tolkien most likely never experienced such status as a cultural phenomena (perhaps Dickens, but he's about the only one who comes to mind), so there was absolutely no precedent for the deluge that hit the conservative and introspective professor.
Had Tolkien lived and became popular in a later generation, his cult status most likely would not have been an issue.
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Maybe not even then, unless America had taken up his cause. One of the more odious traits of us Brits is that we do like to knock the successful down once they attain their success. So he may have had good reviews and sold books at a good pace, but pretty soon people would have been muttering about 'selling out' and being 'populist' and whatnot and trying to find something more obscure to get into for five minutes before knocking that down too...
