tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5723077228948447528.post9173940346094199726..comments2024-03-27T19:07:19.133-04:00Comments on The Silver Key: Is The Lord of the Rings literature?Brian Murphyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05563309422791320114noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5723077228948447528.post-83409296864593991392011-10-03T20:04:22.919-04:002011-10-03T20:04:22.919-04:00Let me settle this once and for all, LoTR is a gre...Let me settle this once and for all, LoTR is a great piece of literature, a great work of our time, a delicious dessert, and an easy to use floor wax.<br /><br />There.<br /><br />All other arguments to the contrary are now obsolete.<br /><br />All that aside, you provide a well thought out response to the question - if one must use thoughtful logic and examples to convince others of your view point.<br /><br />BaradBarad the Gnomehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09511410827757898750noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5723077228948447528.post-66618227955948797162011-10-02T07:53:41.763-04:002011-10-02T07:53:41.763-04:00Sorry (well, not really)to act like the drunk uncl...<i>Sorry (well, not really)to act like the drunk uncle at the party, but somebody has to do it! :)</i><br /><br />I appreciate your honesty, myself (and your sense of humor!)Brian Murphyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05563309422791320114noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5723077228948447528.post-60110298728985261402011-10-02T04:56:49.292-04:002011-10-02T04:56:49.292-04:00Great post – I’m going to Tweet about your blog.Great post – I’m going to Tweet about your blog.Alexanderhttp://www.freescanonline.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5723077228948447528.post-91310257176614410882011-10-01T19:30:50.427-04:002011-10-01T19:30:50.427-04:00Brian:
Oh, I know. Wasn't jumping your case a...Brian:<br /><br />Oh, I know. Wasn't jumping your case at all. It's just a hot button issue for me and after hearing that Franzen piece yesterday, I was primed to go off.<br /><br />Your endeavors are always interesting and well worth reading.<br /><br />Sorry (well, not really)to act like the drunk uncle at the party, but somebody has to do it! :)<br /><br />Jim Cornelius<br />www.frontierpartisans.comAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5723077228948447528.post-27151904193861629772011-10-01T15:02:50.467-04:002011-10-01T15:02:50.467-04:00Hi Jim, thanks for stopping by.
Just to clarify, ...Hi Jim, thanks for stopping by.<br /><br />Just to clarify, my purpose with this article was not to elevate The Lord of the Rings into some stuffy, academic class of fiction, but rather to demonstrate that the criteria critics and academics commonly use to identify "great works" are characteristics of The Lord of the Rings. That's why I wrote it the way I did.<br /><br />As I noted in the intro, I believe it is possible to talk about the quality of a piece of art, and what makes it such, even if the borders are hazy and ill-defined.<br /><br />I also wrote the piece to combat the oft-cited claim that works have to be realistic and concern real events in order to be taken seriously (the notion of any type of fiction being "real" is also of course an inherent contradiction).Brian Murphyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05563309422791320114noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5723077228948447528.post-52659335286968421992011-10-01T12:38:41.280-04:002011-10-01T12:38:41.280-04:00The Lord of the Rings is a great work that has had...The Lord of the Rings is a great work that has had significant impact on many lives. It does not need validation as "literature."<br /><br />The meditation on the nature of Power and its tendency to corrupt even those with the best of intention is by itself evidence of the work's "seriousness" and it certainly is relevant to the 20th Century world in which it was written. Shippey deals with this well.<br /><br />Determination of what is "literature" is often pretty arbitrary anyway. Cormac McCarthy's "Blood Meridian" is regarded as a literary masterpiece, yet it is fantastical (though historically deeply rooted) and I defy anyone to show me character development. McCarthy's work is mythic and weird and yet it's hip in literary circles. Whatever. I don't hold it against him. And I don't think he's too interested in being part of the club.<br /><br />I piss from a great height on "literature." I don't want my beloved well-wrought tales associated in any way with the likes of Jonathan Franzen for instance. "Sprawling, satirical family drama" my ass. For family drama, I'll take a season of "Sons of Anarchy," please. Heard a story and interview on NPR yesterday about Franzen's brilliant examination of the soul of the middle class and it made my skin crawl. I had to listen to Waylon Jennings' Lonesome On'ry and Mean cranked to vehicle-shaking levels to make it go away. It worked.<br /><br />Thanks for indulging my low-brow pride rant. I feel in touchwith the spirit of Painbrush for some reason...<br /><br />Jim Cornelius<br />www.frontierparisans.comAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5723077228948447528.post-24051365899781595782011-10-01T09:02:50.274-04:002011-10-01T09:02:50.274-04:00'Literature' is either used as a synonym f...<i>'Literature' is either used as a synonym for 'fiction', or as a synonym for 'stuff I like'.</i><br /><br />While it's certainly a problematic term, I don't agree.Brian Murphyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05563309422791320114noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5723077228948447528.post-866201967260441512011-10-01T06:18:45.049-04:002011-10-01T06:18:45.049-04:00'Literature' is either used as a synonym f...'Literature' is either used as a synonym for 'fiction', or as a synonym for 'stuff I like'.anarchisthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05546197561922726279noreply@blogger.com