Did JRRT encourage new ME stories?

[davem]

Originally Posted by Raynor

Well, while we are at it, I nominate Valandil, moderator at www.entmoot.com . ]

Well, the links are incredibly slow, but I'll keep trying.

For now I'll just ask, is it worth it? Once the Estate authorises a new M-e novel the floodgates will be open. M-e will no-longer be Tolkien's creation, but a franchise. There will be a stream of novels, as with the Star Wars/Star Trek franchises, some good, some bad, accepted by some, rejected by others - & all of them, ultimately, unnecessary.

Originally Posted by STW

However, comparing the writing of a drama about the First Age with the ridiculous possibility of aliens and Bush transforming into a chicken is simply absurd and demeans your own intelligence. One is a very real possibility given the realities of the world we live in. The other is just you being silly.

Reductio ad Absurdam & all that......

What you're suggesting (a 'genius' appearing to continue Tolkien's work, & enhance & deepen his creation) is just as 'absurd'. You only think its a real possibility because you've convinced yourself this 'genius' is out there, just waiting to start writing.

[Raynor]

Originally Posted by davem

Well, the links are incredibly slow, but I'll keep trying.

Sorry to hear that; the links still work for me.

Reductio ad Absurdam & all that

Reductio ad absurdam means that you derrive an absurd outcome from the premise, which indicates that the initial premise was wrong. I don't see any absurd conclusion in this case.

[davem]

Originally Posted by Raynor

I don't see any absurd conclusion in this case.

I think it was Frank Herbert (author of the Dune Books) who said "The beginning of knowledge is the discovery of something we do not understand."

[davem]

Interesting in this context:

http://www.epinions.com/content_374810250884

The Fantasy Disconnect

Tolkien is often credited for inspiring the modern genre of fantasy literature, and in many ways his influence is inarguable. But The Children of Hurin reemphasizes the fact that what Tolkien was about was something very different from what fantasy has become.

While the express purpose behind publishing this book was to give the story an opportunity to stand alone, something it accomplishes only with a significant introductory note, it is always clear that the mode has more in common with history or legend than it does with the adventures found in today's bookstore aisles. This can be felt in the amount of context and trivia surrounding the story, the use of elevated language, and the narrative tone, which insists the book be read as the summary of events ancient and wonderful, as opposed to a full and neat telling of a story with the immediacy and involvement we've come to expect from fantasy.

Do not come looking for a child of prophecy, called to free his people, slay the dragon, save the princess, and defeat the dark lord. In The Children of Hurin those tropes are all twisted to evil parodies, and the hero's theme is failure and defeat. It is a far cry from the eucatastrophies of popular fantasy, or even of The Lord of the Rings.


Provident Evil

The victory of evil over the fading flower of a more glorious age is central to Tolkien's elegiac ethos, his inheritance from the Northern literature he studied as a preeminent philologist. A central mystery in The Children of Hurin is whether Morgoth truly has the power he claims: "The shadow of my purpose lies upon Arda, and all that is in it bends slowly and surely to my will."

[Lalwendë]

You have to question just how any writer would cope with the enigma that is Tolkien and his style. He continues to confound us from beyond the grave. Children of Hurin is a whole new thing as far as he's concerned. In stark contrast even to some of the darkest points of Rings, in that work we see a wholly different Tolkien - one who does not think of Light, of Hope or of Joy. Then you read some of the more esoteric writings such as Osanwe Kenta and you realise he had some incredibly peculiar ideas hidden away. What else is there?

Then you also have his incredibly mercurial character - for every bold statement in a letter there is another which refutes it. He was at once a serious academic in a closed world and at the same time, a wicked joker given to ASBO-inducing pranks. He loved ancient literature and at the same time gorged on contemporary fiction. He read both The Times and The Observer.

How would another writer cope with this unique author's wildly varying tone, vision and style? Could a non-British writer cope, given the subtle native nuances which his work is infused with? Would the new writer's personal vision deeply affect any new stories?

And finally, are we being just like Tolkien's stagnant, decaying Elves, wanting to constantly go back to the past and read more stuff about Middle-earth, when if we have learned anything from reading his work, surely we should all be forging ahead and founding new worlds?

[Raynor]

Originally Posted by Lalwendë

Then you also have his incredibly mercurial character - for every bold statement in a letter there is another which refutes it.

How many examples of letters contradicting each other can you provide? Or would you like me to challenge you with 10, 20 such statements, and you find where they are contradicted? The letters only reflect the stage of the work in progress, and ocasionally we may find some pen slip -but that happens even with the final work.