Popularist or Literati?

[Rimbaud]

...and a good one. There is some good, and occasionally excellent, discussion of the topic here. The "Are There Any Valid Criticisms' thread so linked raised a number of the same points you make.

It will be interesting to see how this thread develops, but for now I'll restrain myself to a couple of points. Firstly, not to become too immersed in labels. Competitions and booksellers adore labels because they allow them to easily categorise, rate and better sell books. Before accepting or positing a label on a book, it's important to take a step back and think about your own, genuine, reaction to it.

Yet, and thoroughly against the grain of what I have just said , there are easily identifiable 'genre' novels in the world. The lower rungs of these have similar plots, often shallow or predictable characterisation and often sell pretty well. There are higher grades of quality within each genre, but they often follow a path oft-travelled.

There are also excellent, unclassifiable novels that stretch boundaries and refuse to sit within a 'label' as such. We need not concern ourselves with these now. Certain of these are singled out for awards and praise but more often they are being shifted to one side in favour of a nefarious new breed...

And additionally, as you have astutely pointed out, and rather sadly, there are books written (I used to refute this notion, but it's too commonplace now), the only purpose of which is to impress the reader (or rather, fellow authors and judges) with the writer's technique and controlled talent. These books have often had the passion of writing neatly excised. Newpaper and magazine critics, like myself, often enough, sporadically decry them, always review them, and occasionally read them.

It is not to my belief that Tolkien falls into anything other than the middle of these three categories. Although LotR has identifiable sources and age-old themes, it ties them together in a manner unique and rather wonderful. The latter-day apists of Tolkien I personally place in the genre category, and these are also of variable quality (the two you mention being near the top imho, incidentally).

Blithely provocative,

Rim

PS Enjoy the link to Kalessin's rant above. Worth a good read.