Tolkien the Metafictionist

[Bêthberry]

Originally Posted by Inziladun

Do admirers of Alice debate the merits of its film adaptations? Is that any sort of barometer of how deeply a book moves its audience?

I do know that my daughter was extremely disappointed with Tim Burton's 2010 Alice film. It's not a topic I raise often in our house. Some members of the fandom condone very arch and post modern interpretations, I think in part because the adapters make clear these are their own personal interpretations and not a "faithful depiction" as PJ had once claimed for the first trilogy, and also in part because they move the Alice character into contemporary but similarly bizarre or nonsense contexts.

Originally Posted by littlemanpoet

Nevertheless, there is a qualitative difference between LotR and AiW The term "snarky" rather well encapsulates the spirit of AiW. "Reminiscence of a primal past" rather well encapsulates the spirit of LotR. Well done, Bethberry!

Thank you, but that difference does not mean that the effect for readers is any less profound or meaningful. Maybe you and others here don't read AiW that way, but then, there are many people who do not appreciate or accept the concept of 'reality' which you propose for your experience of LotR.

My interjection has taken the thread off the topic of metafiction. Sorry.