David Brin's criticisms

[tumhalad2]

Hey Tolkien fans

I was reading David Brin's critique on The Lord of the Rings recently and I have been having what one might call a 'crisis of faith'.

It seems to me that Tolkien himself was torn between different interpretations of his own story, though Brin seems to say that ultimately it the disastrous, 'genocidal' romantic view that held sway.

Can we really catagorise Tolkien's work like that, and can Brin allagorise it to the degree that he says that Tolkien's "good" side are not really good but only fighting selfishly for the preservation of the "old world" (ie agrarian etc) and that "evil" is simply a word used by the "victors" who win the War of the Ring to label Sauron's army which is the only that is composed of "all the races in middle-earth" (does he think there's Avari or something in Sauron's forces). Brin casts Sauron in the light of rebeller against the old world, against the uber-elves, against the evil Gondorians.

Can this really be the case. If I look at LOTR in that light I cannot, sorry, cannot enjoy it any more. As such I don't want to look at it in that light but Brin's argument is peruasive.

The way I take it, The end of the War of the Ring is no agrarian, back to old ways affair. It is a time of change, and by no means does the defeat of Sauron mean the 'defeat' of machines. Rather I take Sauron's defeat as being the defeat of an evil,an evil which is defined in Lord of the Rings, and which Brin fails to grasp.Sauron, ultimately, is no one's ally; indeed if he were victorious he would have consumed even the universe perhaps. Brin would say- "that's from the victor's point of view', to which I say-"no, its the reality. Indeed, The victors 'wrote' the Red Book, but nonetheless, was Sauron victorious no Easterling or Southron wouldh've been any better off.

Ultimately, the society that does win through the War of the Ring is an imperfect, indeed hierarchical one. But by no means does Tolkien envisage a return to such. There is enough evidence in his own writing that such an 'elitist' society is as terrible as any other (Numenor). Though there is elation with the victory of Gondor, and though it is not demcratic, it is, ultimately, better than Sauron's dominion.

Brin is right to suggest that there are instances in which Tolkien appears to critique his own writing and challenge his own ideas. However, Brin does not extrapolate on this and instead his article pushes his agenda. The Lord of the Rings should not be taken to either extreme, for there are many contradictions and paradoxes within tolkien' s own thought that make for a complex, and therefor very real-like, universe.

Thoughts on Brin and his critique?

here's the article:

www.davidbrin.com/tolkienarticle1.html