Quote:
Originally Posted by Thinlómien
It has always amazed me how Christopher Tolkien has devoted his life to his father's work. Yes, we all know J.R.R. Tolkien's creations are awesome and unique. And yes, JRRT was CT's well-loved father. But it still baffles me - the kind of humility of it - that someone devotes his life to someone else's (rather unfinished) imaginary world. It is kind of admirable.
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Interesting perspective. As a Tolkien fan, I'm certainly grateful to Christopher for bringing so much of his father's unpublished work to the public. On the other hand, I've always thought there was something a little bit sad -- especially now that I am myself a father -- about the fact that he has spent his life sorting, deciphering, and organizing his father's clutter. Very interesting clutter, granted, but still. If Tolkien had been working in the age of computers, sorting through his stuff would have been the work of a couple of years at most, and then what would have Christopher done with himself?
But I guess few of us will ever know or really be able to understand the challenges of living in a shadow as long as the one cast by JRR. Christopher has certainly performed a great service for hardcore Tolkien fandom, and Thin's take about the humility of that service is one I hadn't really considered before.