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Re: Tolkien's Place in the Canon

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  Posted by Aelmer on April 24, 2000 at 19:06:41
In Reply to: Tolkien's Place in the Canon posted by John D. on April 23, 2000 at 23:10:01:



: : There was some discussion earlier about whether Tolkien would have liked to find himself in the "canon" of great writers. I believe someone commented that Tolkien hated Shakespeare (no surprise there) and that if the good Professor were alive today he probably would have preferred to see his works considered together with the great classic myths such as the Iliad and Odyssey, Beowulf, etc. Fair enough.

: But here's some food for thought. I've noticed a strain in certain British writing which exhibits this incredible romantic view of life in the English countryside, particularly around the turn of the century. I'm not talking about E. M. Forster and Jane Austen -- alot of evil was afoot in their versions of rural (really, more aristocratic) England. But some of the Hobbiton scenes in The Hobbit and LotR are awfully remniscent of some of the scenes from the absolutely wonderful "Wind in the Willows," to mention just one example.

: Maybe some of our older British participants can help us out here. Did such a wonderful place as this ever exist?

While I am not British, I am one of the older participants. Yes, such a wonderful place did exist. We all have such a wonderful place. It is the place and best memories of our youth.

A place and time where we were free from the responsibilities of adulthood. A place and time where each day brought a new wonder to explore, or a new adventure to be had. A place and time where our imagination could turn something plain and simple into something grand and glorious. It is place and time unique to each of us, but a place and time that touches all of us.

That place and time may have been in the Edwardian English country side, London during the blitz or a small mid-western town in the States. However, when pen is put to paper that place and time becomes Never Never Land, the lands around Toad Hall or the Shire.


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