This is too short — try expanding your ideas a bit! Exactly what did you find interesting? Lydia Fish October 16, 2008, at 08:53 AM
On the Introduction of J.R.R. Tolkien: Author of the Century
I find it very interesting that Tom Shippey questions, in his introduction, what Tolkien meant to accomplish through the production of the Lord of the Rings.
“There is an Old English proverb that says… Everyone who cries out wishes to be heard…Tolkien wanted to be heard, but what was it he wanted to say?”
It is said that Tolkien, during his time served as a soldier in WWI, would scribble down ideas that would eventually turn into the trilogy as we know it, but did Tolkien ever really believe that he would create such a book, especially when death could come any time on the battle field? In addition, His publisher and himself even after the completion of the book did not anticipate much if any success. This leads me to believe that The Lord of the Rings was just as much written for his own internal purposes, as it was for the reader.
Another interesting point Shippey makes is the abundance of “traumatized authors” and their success in writing fiction because of how they have brushed shoulders with evil. Capturing these experiences and creating stories out of them provide readers with entertaining yet insightful books. Tolkien is not writing about the War in the Lord of the Rings but rather is enforcing what he has witnessed concerning good and evil.
Shippey indicates that he will dedicate a portion of the book defending Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings from critics. I have always wondered about this and what their reasons are for not taking it seriously. I was very surprised to read that a critic on live TV was smashing Tolkien without ever having read the book. I can’t imagine how frustrating that must have been for Tolkien supporters. Shippey raises the issues that the problem may lie with what genre the Lord of the Rings is filed under. Apparently Fantasy phylum is not popular with critics or a book trying to establish themselves as a piece of great literature. But what these critics cannot deny is the popularity of Fantasy with readers. Shippey sites many polls in which the Lord of the Rings is the best seller in Europe (second only once to the bible) and sites the long duration of good sales. I wonder if any other book with this type of market success has not been made into a classic.
Sarah McNutt
