People who thought the movie stunk!

[Tirinor]

Literature in the broad sense includes a vast variety of genres, but Literature as a classification is much more refined and exclusive. Any trip to the bookstore can prove that to you. <P>For many years LOTR has been swallowed up into the fantasy genre, but recently it seemed to be gaining its rightful respect in literary circles. I fear that the "new popularity" of Tolkien due to the movies will undercut the progress the books have made in becoming recognized as canonical. Just as the "fantasy" movement that was spawned by the books did to undercut it's potential originally. <P>The Odyssey, the Iliad, the Aneid, the Inferno, and Paradise Lost, all contain fantastical elements but are not considered fantasy. LOTR belongs in their company, and if they are to be called fantasy books, then all the rest should be called something else.<P>Time will tell. Someday the LOTR will be put in its proper place.