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The Mirrorball Man · 01-31-2002, 04:59 AM

I'm a little puzzled by some of the posts in this thread.

Richard Jenkyns article was written in reaction to the book "JRR Tolkien: Author of the Century". Claiming that any writer is "the author of the century" is a huge leap of faith, extremely hard to prove and probably too ambitious.

This claim should spawn some heavy criticism; it is only natural, because elevating any writer to the position of "author of the century" is a very fragile theory. Think of all the authors of the 20th century Tolkien should have bested to wear the crown. Critics owe to these writers to at least try and find out if this claim has any validity. In my opinion, Jenkyns did that with tact and sensitivity, and his article doesn't seem particularly biased against Tolkien.

And anyway, if the book's theory is credible, if Tolkien really can be called "the author of the century", then his writings will of course be able to withstand all the criticism that anyone throws at them. Heaven knows that Shakespeare has had to endure far worse than that.

In other words: if you don't want criticism, don't write. No writer is above the judgement of literary critics. Or readers.

01-31-2002, 04:59 AM	#9
The Mirrorball Man Haunting Spirit Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Switzerland Posts: 57	I'm a little puzzled by some of the posts in this thread. Richard Jenkyns article was written in reaction to the book "JRR Tolkien: Author of the Century". Claiming that any writer is "the author of the century" is a huge leap of faith, extremely hard to prove and probably too ambitious. This claim should spawn some heavy criticism; it is only natural, because elevating any writer to the position of "author of the century" is a very fragile theory. Think of all the authors of the 20th century Tolkien should have bested to wear the crown. Critics owe to these writers to at least try and find out if this claim has any validity. In my opinion, Jenkyns did that with tact and sensitivity, and his article doesn't seem particularly biased against Tolkien. And anyway, if the book's theory is credible, if Tolkien really can be called "the author of the century", then his writings will of course be able to withstand all the criticism that anyone throws at them. Heaven knows that Shakespeare has had to endure far worse than that. In other words: if you don't want criticism, don't write. No writer is above the judgement of literary critics. Or readers. __________________ "It was only a glimpse then, but you might have caught the glimpse, if you had ever thought it worthwhile to try."