tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5723077228948447528.post8977880911599123526..comments2024-03-27T19:07:19.133-04:00Comments on The Silver Key: Why Tolkien needs defending: A classic Camp 3-er at workBrian Murphyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05563309422791320114noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5723077228948447528.post-15856014941280318982011-09-20T16:12:34.660-04:002011-09-20T16:12:34.660-04:00Mother of God, first we have the argument that Lor...Mother of God, first we have the argument that <i>Lord of the Rings</i> isn't "literature," now claiming it isn't a <b>novel</b> either? Am I the only one who finds such hair-splitting utterly preposterous, or am I mistaken in thinking that the definition of a novel is to do with word length as opposed to subject matter?Taranaichhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02176999342965850175noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5723077228948447528.post-60349808198952375662011-09-19T19:21:11.077-04:002011-09-19T19:21:11.077-04:00There. Now you've heard the only bit of litera...<i>There. Now you've heard the only bit of literary criticism worth hearing :)</i><br /><br />You're probably right. <br /><br /><i>I'm rather struck by how easily this superficial 'analysis' could be applied to another work that is fresh in my mind due to recent reading - 'The Brothers Karamazov'.</i><br /><br />I haven't read TBK in close to two decades, but I agree. <br /><br />I just can't believe the gall of the article: It begins with a big middle finger aimed squarely at the literati for being overly rigid and proscriptive about the definition of literature, then it proceeds to tell us what literature <i>really</i> is, and why LOTR doesn't qualify. Sigh.<br /><br /><i>All of Martin's criticisms, especially those of character and structure, could be applied to 100 Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, considering by one and all to be one of the great works of world literature.</i><br /><br />I've gotta get around to reading that.Brian Murphyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05563309422791320114noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5723077228948447528.post-81845158484824749212011-09-19T13:06:33.161-04:002011-09-19T13:06:33.161-04:00Anarchist is so right, though of course what he is...Anarchist is so right, though of course what he is referring to is "quality" criticism rather than scholarship (which of course doesn't reach people in the way that "book reviews" do).<br /><br />All of Martin's criticisms, especially those of character and structure, could be applied to 100 Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, considering by one and all to be one of the great works of world literature.Eric D. Lehmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06463816538253906019noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5723077228948447528.post-36415310536055475892011-09-19T10:56:15.225-04:002011-09-19T10:56:15.225-04:00I'm rather struck by how easily this superfici...I'm rather struck by how easily this superficial 'analysis' could be applied to another work that is fresh in my mind due to recent reading - 'The Brothers Karamazov'. Analyzed the same way, it is clear that this guy would emphatically declare that TBK might be an OK story, but is no novel, let alone great literature.<br /><br />Character development read to mean the characters change during the story? There is essentially none. Despite the world's best efforts, none of the brothers really change from the first instant we meet them, particularly Alyosha who undergoes the biggest change in circumstances, but remains the same person he was before before being thrust out into the world. Well, OK, Smerdyakov kills himself, I guess that's a change, he's dead, although within character.<br /><br />An "unsatisfying" ending? The trial ends in chaos and Dmitri flees, sailing across the seas to who-knows-what fate while the others simply remain..."home". <br /><br />And, of course, many readers are bound to skip quickly through the bits about the sick boy, the dog, the pining young girl, to get to the murder mystery and trial.<br /><br />This foolish and naive 'analysis' that sounds more like a grad student trying to impress self-important professors that believe they have all the 'correct' answers as to what literature is (and is not) by spewing back their own biases and preconceptions at them for a good grade could easily be written about bookcases of celebrated classic works, again TBK is simply fresh in my mind.<br /><br />Really though, reading that Frodo goes through no changes apart from becoming famous is enough to realize that the man cannot be taken seriously. Did he even read the books?<br /><br />PS: A few balrogs would have livened up TBK considerably.Falzehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13481333222029372752noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5723077228948447528.post-6103765243137523062011-09-18T23:38:00.219-04:002011-09-18T23:38:00.219-04:00"It's all down to personal taste really.&..."It's all down to personal taste really."<br /><br />There. Now you've heard the only bit of literary criticism worth hearing :)anarchisthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05546197561922726279noreply@blogger.com