Tolkien in General

[Iolanthe]

What a wonderful quote! Tolkien fulfils everything Wilde is hoping for. Wouldn't it be something if we could have had his comments on LotR? I didn't know Wilde was such a romantic.

[Merry]

I think Oscar Wilde was such a set of huge contradictions that it's hard to tell whether he would have seen Tolkien as an example of his aesthetic ideal or not. I suppose it would have depended on what stage of his life he considered the question. He did have a life-long interest in Catholicism which was, ironically, rekindled during his imprisonment, during which he immersed himself in the Bible and Catholic reading. Ultimately, he was received into the Church on his deathbed. So the two authors did have that in common, although I don't think they would have liked each other very much!

[Iolanthe]

I didn't know that! But I think you are right - whatever Wilde might have thought of Middle-earth, I can't imagine the two of them ever getting on .

[Philipa]

Happy Birthday Aragorn!

[Merry]

I've been reading about this 'Game of Thrones' miniseries and have heard the author of the books called 'the American Tolkien'. Could this be true? Has anyone read these books? Would we like them?

[Philipa]

I have not Merry but am curious to know what you think about the HBO series. I don't get the network but seen so many adds on other channels.

[Merry]

I don't pay for HBO either, Philipa, so I don't know. I watched a couple of the short clips at TOR.n and it looks a bit cheesy. I've just ordered a set of the first four books, though--looks just about right for summer reading!

[Philipa]

Let me know what you think of them Merry. I'm always up for good new fantasy reads.

[Merry]

Speaking of fantasy reads, TOR.n calls our attention to an NPR poll which provides a list of the top 100 fantasy/sci fi reads and asks us to vote for our favorites:

http://www.npr.org/2011/08/02/138894873 ... es?sc=emaf

I usually don't vote in these kinds of things, but I find the list interesting!

[MICHKA]

Il y a une prolifération de ce genre depuis la sortie de 'LSDA', mais tous ne sont pas aussi bons et n'atteignent pas le talent, l'imagination, l'aspect poétique de Tolkien; je trouve que ce sont des copies, des imitations un peu pâlotes, ou des romans trop foisonneux, avec une profusion de situations compliquées à l'extrême, pour tenter de séduire le lecteur mais surtout le troubler, le gêner , en pleine confusion de personnages plus invraisemblables les uns que les autres!

[Merry]

I agree totally, Michka!

[Merry]

There is a beautiful article at theonering.net about how reading Tolkien helped to heal the emotional and psychological wounds of a U.S. soldier. I've always thought that there was something therapeutic about these books, even for me.

[Philipa]

I did see that Merry. I can totally understand the message he found in the book. It was a moving story.

[MICHKA]

Je viens de terminer la lecture de la biographie de Tolkien par Carpenter, et je m'aperçois que le conteur était quelqu'un de difficile à suivre, un caractère compliqué, trop perfectionniste, avec des idées arrêtées, ce qui ne transparaît pas dans ses écrits si imaginatifs, spirituels et poétiques. Je préfère les romans à l'homme proprement dit, mais je comprends le culte dont il a fait l'objet(encore aujourd'hui?) alors qu'il n'aimait pas celà. Je poursuis les lectures de ses oeuvres ,elles ont un attrait spécial pour moi, je ne résiste pas au plaisir de les redécouvrir chaque fois

[Merry]

Ah, but the books came out of the man and are a perfect reflection of him. He put everything he loved into those books. I don't think they can be separated. I also think that much of his imaginative life was interior and not open to someone like Carpenter who, it turns out, didn't really like the books!

Do you know the book The Five People You Meet in Heaven? Tolkien is on my short list!