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Title: J.R.R. Tolkien: Author of the Century by Tom Shippey ISBN: 0-618-25759-4 Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Co Pub. Date: 08 September, 2002 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.63 (30 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Tolkien Criticism for the New Millennium
Comment: Starting with Shippey's opening claim that "The dominant literary mode of the twentieth century has been the fantastic," this is a fascinating study of Tolkien, what influenced him, and what he in turn influenced. Shippey discusses the concepts of Evil and Myth, and places Tolkien in a group of "traumatized" authors, mostly veterans, who wrote non-realistic fiction (Orwell, Vonnegut, Golding, CS Lewis, TH White, Heller, and (stretching it a bit) LeGuin). Shippey also continues his examination of the pagan roots of Tolkien's concept of courage from his 1983 "The Road to Middle-earth," and includes a useful chapter on the often-neglected shorter works. His examination of the critics who dismiss Tolkien offers excellent insights into the failures of modern criticism. This book is a good place for the novice reader of Tolkien criticism to start, and there is an extensive bibliography of other critical works. The copy I borrowed on interlibrary-loan is full of post-it notes awaiting transfer to the copy I have on order!
Rating: 4
Summary: Very uneven, but still quite insightful
Comment: Tom Shippey's first book on Tolkien, _The Road to Middle-Earth_, was a profoundly insightful work. His philologically informed background provided keen insight into the linguistic backdrop (both real and imaginative) of Tolkien's fiction, showing the complex verbal play taking place within the story. It still stands, in my opinion, as the single-best scholarly book yet published about Tolkien.
By comparison, _J.R.R. Tolkien: Author of the Century_ is a disappointment. Why? Several reasons, the first of which is the fact that many of the points Shippey makes here have previously been made in his first book. Much of the material here is a rehash of _Road to Middle-Earth_; this is true both in the general nature of Shippey's approach (i.e. emphasizing Tolkien's philological inspiration, and in particular his Anglo-Saxonist bent) as well as many specific and detailed philological points.
Even more disappointing is the fact that the writing in parts of this book has a scattered quality. The introduction, the "Re-Inventing Middle-Earth" chapter (about the Hobbit), and the greater part of the first chapter on Lord of the Rings ("Mapping Out a Plot") are solid and well-organized, but after that, one can't help but get the feeling that Shippey got a bit rushed and just started throwing things together in an increasingly slapdash way in order to get the book out before the first of the Lord of the Rings movies appeared. The end of "Mapping out a Plot" starts to lose focus, and while the second Lord of the Rings chapter (on evil) still holds together reasonably well, the third Lord of the Rings chapter (on Tolkien's mythology) is particularly disorganized, with little sense of any intellectual or methodological focus whatsoever. The Silmarillion chapter and the chapter on Tolkien's minor works are pretty much pointless, while the two appendices (one on Tolkien's critics, and one on Tolkien's literary decscendants, like Donaldson), seem like hastily tacked-on additions that aren't fully developed.
In spite of all that, there still is a lot of merit in this book. Though much of it is rehashed, the fact remains that Shippey's philological observations are still as insightful here as in _The Road to Middle-Earth_, and anyone who has not read that book, will still learn much from this one. Also, there are a few moments of specific analysis that are quite solid examples of thorough scholarship. Shippey's account of Tolkien's writing process in "Mapping Out the Plot" is solid and critically thoughtful, while his close analysis of speakers and language in the "Council of Elrond" chapter is nothing short of brilliant.
Shippey's attempt to redefine the literary context of Tolkien is also suggestive. Too often, it has been the convention to lump Tolkien in with his friends C.S. Lewis and Charles Williams-- or more broadly with a larger romance/fantasy tradition. In the chapter on Evil, Shippey suggests (quite rightly, I think), that Tolkien ought more properly be compared with other 20th century writers (like Orwell, Golding, Vonnegut, and even T.H. White) who have been distressed by the seemingly unlimited human capacity for *evil* that modernity has enabled us to unleash and found that this question could not be meaningfully approached except through the creation of 'fantastic' worlds and scenarios. (I'm not entirely sure that I agree with Golding and Orwell being called 'fantastic' here, but I think the basic point holds well enough). Unfortunately, this idea requires greater development and complexity than Shippey gives it here-- but it still is a very suggestive beginning. IMHO, Shippey should have devoted all the time he spent rehashing material from _Road to Middle-Earth_ to developing *this* idea further, making it the central argument of the book.
All in all, I have to say that _J.R.R. Tolkien: Author of the Century_, in spite of its many flaws, is a worthwhile and insightful book-- and it's still better than most of the fluff that passes as 'Tolkien scholarship'. Still, it's no _Road to Middle-Earth_, and anyone expecting this book to rival that one should prepare to be disappointed.
Rating: 4
Summary: A great companion through the trilogy
Comment: The title of the review is "A great companion to the trilogy" ... (this book is loyal as a Sam, but wise as a Gandalf) because it literally inspired me to finish the books. Additionally, this guide illuminated the layers of genius engraved deeply in Tolkien's masterpiece. An ardent fan couldn't have written a more elaborate and lavishing criticism, one that borders scholarly depths but which remains entertaining to read as well. I even read an interesting theory of Tolkien's view of good and evil which sent me reeling into the artifice of a contrastual Boethius & Machiavelli comparison. Tasty!
So why did I give it only four stars? Well I suppose that it was the mood of the entire book... the author's to blame for the relentless defence of Tolkien versus the literati... one that I couldn't care less about. Why do I need to know that Tolkien isn't as bad as some intellectual circles claim? Well anyway, except for that little irritation, ... not bad, not bad...
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Title: The Road to Middle-earth : Revised and Expanded Edition by Tom Shippey ISBN: 0618257608 Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Co Pub. Date: 24 June, 2003 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
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Title: The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien by J. R. R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien, Humphrey Carpenter ISBN: 0618056998 Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Co Pub. Date: June, 2000 List Price(USD): $15.00 |
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Title: J.R.R. Tolkien: A Biography by Humphrey Carpenter ISBN: 0618057021 Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Co Pub. Date: June, 2000 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
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Title: A Question of Time: J.R.R. Tolkien's Road to Faerie by Verlyn Flieger ISBN: 087338699X Publisher: Kent State Univ Pr Pub. Date: December, 2001 List Price(USD): $18.00 |
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Title: The Tolkien Reader by J.R.R. Tolkien ISBN: 0345345061 Publisher: Del Rey Pub. Date: 12 November, 1986 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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