What would the books be like if Tolkien had lived in this age. - The Barrow-Downs Discussion Forum

drigel · 05-23-2003, 01:21 PM

Hey TY - I am touched! I love this site and sorry - I dont mean to offend (but i got to admit its fun enticing people to gush forth their opinions on something i love such as this)! But hey, I take my Professor personally so my opinions here are definately from the heart! OK- here is my point. I think people forget that when the LOTR/HOBBIT was published... what like late 40's early 50's? So, at that time:

One could argue CS Lewis a contemporary author on something like the same "genre", although for me the Narnia stuff is allegory set in fables.

There were a few odd science fiction books that were "out there" enough to be considered possibly in the fantasy universe.

The pulp fiction stuff like Wierd Tales was close - Howard's Conan series, etc. Although most were really simply historical fiction with some bizarre twist to the plot.

No "fantasy" fans out there because there was no "fantasy" industry.

It wasnt until the baby boomers who (in the 60's, oh say about the 2nd or 3rd edition of the work) picked up JRRT's work, got inspired, put the bong down ( [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img] ), and began to write "fantasy novels" did the "fantasy" genre come into existence. Come on people - didnt the maps and the different races and the ungodly lengths and the inane dribbling ring a bell with anyone??? lol

05-23-2003, 01:21 PM	#12
drigel Ghost Prince of Cardolan Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: commonplace city Posts: 518	Hey TY - I am touched! I love this site and sorry - I dont mean to offend (but i got to admit its fun enticing people to gush forth their opinions on something i love such as this)! But hey, I take my Professor personally so my opinions here are definately from the heart! OK- here is my point. I think people forget that when the LOTR/HOBBIT was published... what like late 40's early 50's? So, at that time: One could argue CS Lewis a contemporary author on something like the same "genre", although for me the Narnia stuff is allegory set in fables. There were a few odd science fiction books that were "out there" enough to be considered possibly in the fantasy universe. The pulp fiction stuff like Wierd Tales was close - Howard's Conan series, etc. Although most were really simply historical fiction with some bizarre twist to the plot. No "fantasy" fans out there because there was no "fantasy" industry. It wasnt until the baby boomers who (in the 60's, oh say about the 2nd or 3rd edition of the work) picked up JRRT's work, got inspired, put the bong down ( [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img] ), and began to write "fantasy novels" did the "fantasy" genre come into existence. Come on people - didnt the maps and the different races and the ungodly lengths and the inane dribbling ring a bell with anyone??? lol