Has it all been said?

[Azaelia of Willowbottom]

I don't have a problem with all the Tolkien-centered analyses being published...but they're really not my thing.

To a point, it is interesting to read peoples' opinions on where or what his inspiration for various things came from...But much of that is just theorizing, and nothing will ever be known for certain. And after a while it begins to feel like "who cares?"

I own and have read a few volumes of HOME, and mean to check the others that I haven't out from the library this summer (since buying the whole thing would be rather expensive, even in paperback). I find it fascinating and occasionally funny (Strider as a hobbit who wore shoes?!), because I enjoy watching LOTR evolve on the page, and because it fills in some blanks. I also mean to find a copy of Letters somewhere (I can't find it through the library, so I'll probably wind up buying it). I have read a few biographies of Tolkien, but that list there is about as far as I'll probably ever go into the field of Tolkien scholarism.

Originally Posted by davem

Yes, but they'll make it serious. It will be a subject for study, a chore, something to get 'points' for doing, in order to get a career.

I almost can't find the words to express how terrible I think that would be.

I honestly hope that LOTR never becomes one of those books that is required to be read and analyzed in classrooms. The reason for this is that through middle school and the four years of high school, I have had to read and then write on many so-called classics that I just plain didn't like. I am an avid reader (which is how I came upon Tolkien), and something about having someone else's opinion of Literature being forced upon me just rubbed me the wrong way.

I understand that some kids may never read unless required to for class (and some not even then), but I have always hated the way that books were taught--tests, pop quizzes, and essays that if not done properly would cause you to fail. Through school, I was force-fed and consequently hated many books that, if left to my own devices, I may eventually have discovered for myself and loved.

I don't want Tolkien to be forced on kids. Writing about his books here and elsewhere is something I do out of love for the story, out of trying to fill some gap inside myself, rather than trying to earn a grade and get out of school. I don't want people to lose that. I don't want to be required to compare and contrast Tolkien and other authors of his time. I don't want to be required to write an essay on the "theme" of LOTR, because it would turn out to be mostly fabricated into what I think will get me a good grade based on the teacher's preferences, rather than what I truly believe. The only reason I'd like to be given a test that contains identifying which quote was said by whom, and difficult-to-find facts is because I'd get an easy A. I don't want any of that...unless I choose to do it myself, from my heart, just for fun.

And I did just that... When I was in 10th grade (I was 15-16 years old, for international 'Downers), my main subject of dread on a state-issued standardized test was the essay section. To my absolute joy and triumph, the question that year was about heroism in literature. It was an immediate adrenaline shot. I wrote about Sam. It's a pity I couldn't keep my essay because it was definitely the best thing I have ever written, especially under pressure with little planning. The graders thought so too--I got the highest grade possible. And my parents took me out for ice cream for supper. Prior to turning to LOTR, I had swiftly gone through, in my mind, a list of possible books, all of which I'd read for school, on the premise that perhaps writing about a so-called "classic" would get me a higher grade. I ruled every single one of them out, in one fell swoop: who wants to write even more about a book that they'd already been forced to analyze? Had I been required to read LOTR, I may have rejected that one, too, on the basis that I'd had waaaaaaay more than enough of that book.

I read LOTR with joy in my heart and pure excitement at having discovered for myself a new world, a truly beautiful book. I don't want anyone to lose that wonder. I do not want students to grumble about having to read some dumb book for homework, when they could be watching TV or playing video games. I don't want them to skim and skip in order to get it over with. I don't want them to leave their essays to the last minute because they have to write *gasp!* three whole pages on the theme of some 1,000 page book that they didn't want to read in the first place. I want them to cheer for Eowyn, cry with Sam, celebrate simple joys in life alongside Bilbo, watch the stars with the Elves, and ride with the Rohirrim. I want them to fall head-over-heels into Middle-earth. I want them to enjoy the journey.

I'm sure some of these hypothetical students would come out of reading LOTR with a new love for Middle-earth, but that would be a very small percentage. But for the majority, it would be relegated to that space in the back of the mind also used for the storage of outlandish chemistry formulas, confusing math equations...or whatever other schoolish things that each student found particularly frustrating and inapplicable to later life and/or was particularly reluctant to learn.

I come to the 'Downs because I want to talk about LOTR, because I feel the need to discuss the more obscure things to be found within Middle-earth. I read and write long, drawn-out posts like this one because I want to. Not because I have to. Discovery of LOTR should be for everyone what it was for most of us: a breath of fresh air, something to be read and enjoyed and loved. Not something that is to be suffered through for a grade.

Ok, that may not have been particularly on-topic. Sorry about that, but that particular rant has been lurking darkly inside me for a long time.

[HerenIstarion]

Yes, but they'll make it serious. It will be a subject for study, a chore, something to get 'points' for doing, in order to get a career.

That being the fate of many things else. Take Formula 1 racing, per instance.

But everyone would be still free to assume their own approach, won't they? Besides, approaches can be combined.

I almost can't find the words to express how terrible I think that would be.

Do not panic yet (at all?), Big Brother haven't come upon us to force us into reading essays on Kipling's influence on Tolkien. Let them who will be. Most modern readings of Plato are for 'serious' reasons, but I do personally know a chap who reads Plato for fan as a bedtime reading. (And his 'fan' fascination with Plato did not hinder his 'expert' dissertation on Plato, I believe it rather helped him to get his PhD)

[Lalwendë]

The whole business of doing a degree in English is designed to make you almost hate literature. I wouldn't recommend the subject to someone who finds a lot of 'magic' in their leisure reading, as you will be required to pull apart and analyse everything you read, and you will also have to read a lot - not just the primary texts (AKA the novel, story, or poem, in human language) but also many critical works and articles. You will be required not just to analyse but to apply types of critical analysis, maybe doing a feminist criticism or a marxist one or a post structuralist one.

An English degree can be very nice and relaxing and enjoyable with its lack of classes, but to do well, you may risk learning to hate reading.

I once worked in a school in Barnsley and asked another English teacher what she made of the books up for the Booker prize. She asked me what the Booker prize was, and being shocked I asked if she didn't read much these days. "Oh," she told me, "I've never read a book since University. I don't like reading." That kind of attitude was, I'm afraid, very common among the people studying English with me.

davem knows I don't bother reading all these critical books from cover to cover. I will pick one up and skim through to see if there is anything of interest, and if there isn't, then I won't waste my time. I also skim read articles. If any points come up that are of interest then I'll go back and read more deeply. I do this as this is what I learned to do at University. It would have been impossible to get any work at all done otherwise!

What I think the profusion of articles and scholarly works tells us is that there are a large number of fans who read everything. They must know every last fact and opinion and they measure themselves against the Tolkien yardstick of perfection. I wonder if scholars of Jane Austen or Shakespeare do this?