Iarwain, your original post was:
Quote:
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Lord of the Rings is of a completely different quality than nearly all other fantasy in bookstores. For the most part, other fantasy novels and series are mere copies, whose authors have used Tolkien as a template. I for one don't really think that our beloved belongs with all the rest. Perhaps a separate genre should be developed?
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I have to disagree with the final two sentences for the simple reason that Tolkien's works are fantasy works. They involve fantastical races and creatures living in a fantasy land. They are by definition of the fantasy genre.
I think that we can all agree that there are some dire examples of fantasy writing. Equally, there are very good examples. And, yes, the works of JRRT to my mind (and presumably most if not all here would agree with me on this) stand head and shoulders above other fantasy works. But they still fall within the fantasy genre.
The problem, I think, is the general disdain with which the literary world views fantasy. It seems to be a generally held view amongst academics that works of the fantasy genre cannot have literary value in the same way as, for example, the works of Dickens.
But I see no reason why this should not change over time. For example, although Bram Stoker's
Dracula and Mary Shelly's
Frankenstein are of the horror genre, they are generally regarded as great literary works, certainly moreso than, for example, the novels of Stephen King. But they still fit into the horror genre.
So, I do not see why books such as LotR and the Silmarillion should not in time come to be generally accepted as the literary masterpieces that they are, while still remaining within the fantasy genre. Indeed, given the amount of literary analysis devoted to JRRT's works, compared to those of other fanatsy writers, it seems to me that this process is happily well underway. [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]