Tolkien Compared to Contemporary Authors - The Barrow-Downs Discussion Forum

Bêthberry · 12-22-2009, 09:41 AM

Interestingly, there's another writer aside from Byatt who mines the old veins of Victorian literature for her work, Susanna Clarke. Her Johnathan Strange and Mr. Norrell might be called fantasy or it might be called an alternate history but she does for the myriad styles of the nineteenth century what Tolkien does for the style of the old Northern epics and like Byatt she uses the tools of scholarly style to instill a sense of verisimilitude. (Is that too Victorianist a word to use here? ) She's particularly good at naming names, another Tolkien trait. Her exploration is with magic and fairie and it's both scary and macabre. Also filled with a few historical anachronisms too, although hers is a bit more significant than Tolkien's umbrellas.

Lush · 12-22-2009, 04:11 PM

Agree wrt Strange & Norrell. Great, great book. I think having read Tolkien before helped me appreciate it that much more. Once again, there are certain writers whose scope and ambition you have to hang back and admire, before you even get into the details of why you love them.

Guinevere · 12-22-2009, 04:39 PM

Since I discovered The Lord of the Rings (at the age of fifty!) I have been “hooked” by very few other books.
Among these are Mary Renault’s historical novels set in ancient Greece. She evokes this distant time and place in a way that I feel transported there.(Similar to the way I feel transported to Middle Earth.)
Her characters speak and act fitting to their time and culture, they are vivid and plausible. (there’s much historical fiction that doesn’t succeed in this: just contemporary characters and attitudes promenading before superficial historical settings.) My favourites are "The Persian boy" and "The last of the Wine" but I also love Renault’s “The charioteer” which is set during WW II.
Renault’s books are compelling and moving. Same as with Tolkien’s works, I can reread them several times –and often discover things I have previously overlooked, for Renault is very subtle, and some things are just hinted at.

(By the way, Mary Renault was one of Tolkien’s students and he himself read and liked at least some of her novels!)

Someone here on the Downs recommended A.S.Byatt’s “Possession” to me and I started reading it, but sadly didn't get really into it, so I never finished the book.

Thinlómien · 12-30-2009, 02:34 PM

I have yet to read Atwood in a large scale (only read The Handmaid's Tale and The Penelopiad this far), but I believe she might be one of the authors we're looking for.

And even though she writes fantasy, I just have to nominate Ursula Le Guin, because she's so much more than your average fantasy writer. Her books are full of wisdom, and there is a certain simplicity in her work which reminds me of Tolkien. And she has, of course, written other stuff than fantasy as well - very critical science fiction for example, and her newest (?) piece of fiction, Lavinia, is a historical novel and homage to Vergil's Aeneis, but also a very intriguing and beautiful read for someone who has not waddled through the original epic (like me!). I liked it very much.

davem · 12-30-2009, 04:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Thinlómien

And even though she writes fantasy, I just have to nominate Ursula Le Guin, because she's so much more than your average fantasy writer. .

Me too - 'Always Coming Home' is one of the best examples of world creation in contemporary fiction.

Bêthberry · 12-30-2009, 05:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by davem

Me too - 'Always Coming Home' is one of the best examples of world creation in contemporary fiction.

I wouldn't contest that, but I wonder, davem, if you know Robert Holdstock's Mythago Wood series? It seems something you would be keen on. He has a fascinating depiction of the forest that makes the Ents just too tame while his study of ancient British folklore is fascinating.

davem · 12-31-2009, 10:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bêthberry

I wouldn't contest that, but I wonder, davem, if you know Robert Holdstock's Mythago Wood series? It seems something you would be keen on. He has a fascinating depiction of the forest that makes the Ents just too tame while his study of ancient British folklore is fascinating.

I do - I mentioned in a thread I started on the 30th November http://forum.barrowdowns.com/showthread.php?t=16022 about Robert Holdstock's untimely death that I read Mythago Wood & the sequel Lavondyss a few years back. I intend to return to them at some point, & maybe the rest of the series too if I find the time.

12-22-2009, 09:41 AM	#1
Bêthberry Cryptic Aura Join Date: May 2002 Posts: 6,003	Interestingly, there's another writer aside from Byatt who mines the old veins of Victorian literature for her work, Susanna Clarke. Her Johnathan Strange and Mr. Norrell might be called fantasy or it might be called an alternate history but she does for the myriad styles of the nineteenth century what Tolkien does for the style of the old Northern epics and like Byatt she uses the tools of scholarly style to instill a sense of verisimilitude. (Is that too Victorianist a word to use here? ) She's particularly good at naming names, another Tolkien trait. Her exploration is with magic and fairie and it's both scary and macabre. Also filled with a few historical anachronisms too, although hers is a bit more significant than Tolkien's umbrellas. __________________ I’ll sing his roots off. I’ll sing a wind up and blow leaf and branch away.

12-22-2009, 04:11 PM	#2
Lush Fair and Cold Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: the big onion Posts: 1,770	Agree wrt Strange & Norrell. Great, great book. I think having read Tolkien before helped me appreciate it that much more. Once again, there are certain writers whose scope and ambition you have to hang back and admire, before you even get into the details of why you love them. __________________ ~The beginning is the word and the end is silence. And in between are all the stories. This is one of mine~

12-22-2009, 04:39 PM	#3
Guinevere Banshee of Camelot Join Date: May 2002 Location: Switzerland Posts: 5,830	Since I discovered The Lord of the Rings (at the age of fifty!) I have been “hooked” by very few other books. Among these are Mary Renault’s historical novels set in ancient Greece. She evokes this distant time and place in a way that I feel transported there.(Similar to the way I feel transported to Middle Earth.) Her characters speak and act fitting to their time and culture, they are vivid and plausible. (there’s much historical fiction that doesn’t succeed in this: just contemporary characters and attitudes promenading before superficial historical settings.) My favourites are "The Persian boy" and "The last of the Wine" but I also love Renault’s “The charioteer” which is set during WW II. Renault’s books are compelling and moving. Same as with Tolkien’s works, I can reread them several times –and often discover things I have previously overlooked, for Renault is very subtle, and some things are just hinted at. (By the way, Mary Renault was one of Tolkien’s students and he himself read and liked at least some of her novels!) Someone here on the Downs recommended A.S.Byatt’s “Possession” to me and I started reading it, but sadly didn't get really into it, so I never finished the book. __________________ Yes! "wish-fulfilment dreams" we spin to cheat our timid hearts, and ugly Fact defeat!

12-30-2009, 02:34 PM	#4
Thinlómien Shady She-Penguin Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: In a far land beyond the Sea Posts: 8,093	I have yet to read Atwood in a large scale (only read The Handmaid's Tale and The Penelopiad this far), but I believe she might be one of the authors we're looking for. And even though she writes fantasy, I just have to nominate Ursula Le Guin, because she's so much more than your average fantasy writer. Her books are full of wisdom, and there is a certain simplicity in her work which reminds me of Tolkien. And she has, of course, written other stuff than fantasy as well - very critical science fiction for example, and her newest (?) piece of fiction, Lavinia, is a historical novel and homage to Vergil's Aeneis, but also a very intriguing and beautiful read for someone who has not waddled through the original epic (like me!). I liked it very much. __________________ Like the stars chase the sun, over the glowing hill I will conquer Blood is running deep, some things never sleep Double Fenris