I found the “Tolkien and the Polls” section of Shippey’s forward most interesting. I could not believe that so many (as they call themselves) “literati” disliked, and even hated Tolkien’s work!! Given the fact that so many polls all yielded the same nearly-unanimous results that the public liked Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings, it makes me wonder whether the “two or three literati” were just jealous that they had not been able to merit the same public reaction to their work as Tolkien did…
It is also fascinating to me how dedicated Tom Shippey is to J.R.R. Tolkien. He writes, “The Road to Middle Earth was to some considerable extent a work of professional piety – using piety in the old sense of respect for one’s forebears or predecessors.”, and that he wrote this book to follow because “I still feel that the piety was justified, and that the point needed to be made.” What that meant to me is that he holds the utmost respect for Tolkien and his work, and this second book was necessary to properly “make out the case for his importance.” I don’t feel the same way about Tolkien, but there are others I do – so I can understand and admire Shippy’s dedication.
Joseph Bella? October 18, 2008, at 06:19 PM
