In a message dated 2/17/2004 11:14:30 PM Pacific Standard Time,
[log in to unmask] writes:
Patronizing Tolkien won't advance Spenser and certainly doesn't
address the reason why he appeals across a very broad spectrum of
readers, including a large body of literate, sophisticated and
philologically-adept scholars.
I was wondering when someone would say this.
The irony of a critical, academic discussion of Tolkien is that Tolkien
wrote in defiance of critics and was a part of a literary circle that
deliberately chose to write well, no matter what critics might say.
If one is to measure literary importance by a writer's impact upon the
lives and thoughts of huge numbers of people, then Tolkien towers so high as to
make his critics sound very petty...comically hobbit-like, in fact.
There is a certain temptation to build up Tolkien by tossing bombs at
Sidney and Spencer. It is a large and easy target, and oh so ripe for satire.
A house of self-righteous glass...a snooty bubble just begging for a needle.
Consider the deep deep irony of Sidney/Spencer scholars sneering at
Tolkien.
But I am not a college professor. I am a high school teacher. I
measure the impact and power of Tolkien by how many of my students...including those
who are otherwise non-readers...have picked up Tolkien and read his books
cover to cover. Tolkien's writings are compelling in a way no other work in
English has come even close to matching, and these students know it.
They will soon be your students. Consider well what bombs you throw.
Mark R. Shipley
