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Title: Celebrating Middle-Earth: The Lord of the Rings As a Defense of Western Civilization by John G. West, Jr. John G. West ISBN: 1-58742-012-0 Publisher: Inkling Books Pub. Date: June, 2002 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $10.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.25 (4 reviews)
Rating: 2
Summary: Using Tolkien to buttress their own views
Comment: This is a short collection of essays given as papers at a conference at Seattle Pacific University. The conference was sponsored by a C.S. Lewis Institute, and some contributions are reminiscent of the aggressive polemical style of that author's apologetics. The opening two essays, by the editor and Peter Kreeft, are not concerned with discerning Tolkien's views of western civilization, but with using Tolkien to buttress their own views, a distinctly different approach. And their definition of western civilization, for the purpose of their essays, is strictly confined to Biblical morality, with dire references to September 11 as proof of the reality of evil, and plenty of random bashings of anti-Tolkien critics, moral relativists, and other harbingers of the bad. Kreeft claims that Theoden's virtue lay in avoiding Denethor's sin of acquiring too much knowledge, and that Gollum speaks in the plural because the singular, as in "I Am That I Am," is associated with God. Some may find such claims seriously off-base: I certainly do, and had to grit my teeth through both his and West's essays.
The third and longest essay, by Janet Leslie Blumberg, is a quiet discussion of the literary influence on Tolkien of Anglo-Saxon and Middle English literature. Three very brief essays conclude by taking a more specifically theological and sacramental approach to Tolkien's morality. Of these, Phillip Goggans follows Kreeft and West, but Joseph Pearce and Kerry L. Dearborn are more interested in exploring Tolkien's views than in using Tolkien to defend their own. They and Blumberg provide workmanlike essays which, though they only skim the surface of their topics, can be useful as introductions.
This book is a thin softcover with large print, narrow margins, and numerous typographical errors.
Rating: 4
Summary: Good but needs expansion
Comment: This is a vey good book but perhaps too focussed on Christian values for the title to be fully correct. Hal Colebatch's "Return of the Heroes: The Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, Harry Potter and Social Conflict," which I have reviewed on its own page, does a much more comprehensive job in looking at the relationship between TLOTR and the whole of Western as well as specifically Christian values. Both, however, are full of interest and recommended.
Rating: 3
Summary: A decent little book--but be aware...
Comment: To keep this review short and sweet, I'll get right to the point: the sub-title of this book should, in my opinion, read "The Lord of the Rings as a Defense of Christianity." Not that defending Christianity is necessarily a bad thing; but I, for one, was led to believe (both by title and by the [non-user] reviews given on this site) that this was an explication of the pro-Western views (whether of culture, or religion, or morals, or war, etc., etc.) embedded within Tolkein's texts. Instead, a substantial portion of the book was dedicated to a rather pedantic style of critique wherein lines of quoted material were trotted out and then favorably compared to Christian idea(l)s, preceded or followed closely by the particular author's hearty agreement with said material, and possibly supported by their own personal brand of apologetics.
However, I should hasten to add: all of this is not to say that "Celebrating Middle-Earth" is not informative or otherwise valuable to the Christian philosopher or apologist, or even to the non-theist Tolkien fan...because it is. Though not a Christian myself in the traditional American sense, I have nevertheless learned a good deal here about the motifs behind the story and the mind-set behind the man, and have enjoyed doing so. But, again, as I've implied: if your preference is for a purer form of literary critique, or for a slightly more "neutral" analysis of Tolkien's themes, then look elsewhere.
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Title: J. R. R. Tolkien's Sanctifying Myth: Understanding Middle-Earth by Bradley J. Birzer, Joseph Pearce ISBN: 1882926846 Publisher: ISI Books Pub. Date: November, 2002 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
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Title: Following Gandalf: Epic Battles and Moral Victory in the Lord of the Rings by Matthew T. Dickerson ISBN: 1587430851 Publisher: Brazos Press Pub. Date: October, 2003 List Price(USD): $14.99 |
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Title: The Gospel According to Tolkien: Visions of the Kingdom in Middle-Earth by Ralph C. Wood ISBN: 0664226108 Publisher: Westminster John Knox Press Pub. Date: October, 2003 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
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Title: Splintered Light: Logos and Language in Tolkien's World by Verlyn Flieger ISBN: 0873387449 Publisher: Kent State Univ Pr Pub. Date: November, 2002 List Price(USD): $19.00 |
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Title: The Lord of the Rings and Philosophy: One Book to Rule Them All (Popular Culture and Philosophy Series) by Gregory Bassham, Eric Bronson ISBN: 0812695453 Publisher: Open Court Publishing Company Pub. Date: September, 2003 List Price(USD): $17.95 |
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