Quote:
Originally Posted by Aelfwine
As I expected, and this is not a criticism, I see much discussion about "what" everyone's chord is rather than "why" Tolkien strikes a chord with so many people. This leads me to believe that I was unclear. I will clarify after I briefly discuss my chord...
...I think that there are broad and perhaps nearly universal reasons for this beyond our personal reasons for appreciating LoTR. What do you all think they are?
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*Morth goes questing for the lost chord*
Why, as opposed to what? Well, there are several reasons why, but let's look at what it is not, compared to other great novels of the last century:
1) It is not indecipherable like Joyce's 'Ulysses' or 'Finnegan's Wake'.
2) It is not perceived as having objectionable material like Henry Miller's 'Tropic of Cancer' or some of the works of D.H. Lawrence or William Faulkner.
3) It is not dated like F. Scott Fitzgerald or topical like Steinbeck's work.
4) It is not brutal in its depiction of violence or warfare like 'A Clockwork Orange' or 'Lord of the Flies'.
5) It is not so damn depressing as the works of John Irving, Saul Bellow or Nabokov.
6) It is not as bleeding dull as Cheever, Waugh, Henry James or Virginia Wolfe.
Having described what it is not, Tolkien's work is:
1) Suitable for an extraordinarily wide age demographic.
2) Has a depth both linguistically and chronologically that endears itself to the research-minded.
3) Uplifting, humorous and sad all at once.
4) Epic, but there are heroes that are not so tall as to require a ladder to see their lofty brows.
5) Escapist literature that allows us to leave the mundane and menial for a trip to a hauntingly beautiful and extraordinarily well-defined world that mirrors ours, yet is decidely different. To paraphase Treebeard, 'it is but it aint.'
6) It is a story of many different facets, and means different things to different readers: it is a coming of age tale, it is a war epic, it is a fantasy steeped in traditional folklore, it is a morality play, and it is an allegory even when the author flat-out says it definitely is not.