Why Do You Admire Tolkien's Writing?

[Merri]

I searched through 5 pages of the Novices and Newcomers' section and didn't find this topic, so I don't think it has been posted before, but if it has, someone tell me and I'll get rid of this topic.

Anyway, now that that's said, the whole point of this topic is: Why do you admire Tolkien?

Peter S. Beagle says it beautifully for me in the preface of the new edition:

"He is a great enough magician to tap our most common nightmares, daydreams and twilight fancies, but he never invented them either; he found them a place to live, a green alternative to each day's madness here in a poisoned world. We are raised to honor all the wrong explorers and discoverers- thieves planting flags, murderers carrying crosses. Let us at last praise the colonizers of dreams."

[mark12_30]

Merri, I like this topic. I admire Tolkien and his works for a vast number of reasons, but I think this one stands out:

Tolkien set out to create a myth, one which presented virtue, truth, beauty, goodness, and lots of other wonderful things in a palatable story form, but in such a way that we fall in love with beauty, truth, nobility, etc etc through his story. He tells the story in such a way that those who read the story can be called higher by it. I think he succeeded in what he set out to do. And I think nobility and purity and truth does, in fact, shine through his work, luminously, beautifully, and in such a way as for them to awaken the desire in our hearts to be, to do, and to know more beauty, truth, and nobility. He successfully calls us higher-- simply by telling a wonderful, enjoyable, "rollicking good" story.

Hence, he succeeded in creating an enduring, ennobling myth. And I so admire him for that. If one believes in heaven (which I do) then I think part of Tolkien's reward (biblically, "crown") is seeing how many lives he has enriched and transformed and ennobled-- simply by writing his stories.

[Elven-Maiden]

I admire Tolkien's writing because he is so meticulous, and everything is poetic in itself. He also created an entire world and a history that is so much more colourful than ours. I also love the way there are stories within stories in his books.

[Meela]

i like the background and detail, even if it swamps the actual story in a lot of places. i also like the way it seems so magical. if i knew the meaning of ethereal (sp?) i would use that word because it seems like the word im looking for. other fantasy books are much like our own world, with their towns full of thieves and taverns and whatever, but middle earth is so much more magical and airy fairy. it may be to do with the way they talk, or just the fact that its um... (having trouble explaining myself here...)
um... i cant explain that part... basically we know its all tolkien, and its his style... we cant put it in another book... does that make sense? ive tried writing in his style, as though its part of lotr... it doesnt work [img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img]

[Airehiriel]

I find his work engaging. It is intelligent writing. You have to take care when you read it. There is so much inside, that you could miss the smallest, yet important, detail by quickly reading it through. In some ways it seems so simple. In others, it is so very complicated. Yet all of it weaves together to make such a beautiful world.

Tolkien put a lot of care into his work. It wasn't just thrown together. There is a lot of love in it, and you can see it on each page. With such great detail, it's almost like he lived in Middle Earth, and then came to us, and set the story down so we could see what he saw. Sometimes his world seems more real then our own! I'm sure many Tolkien fans know the geography of Middle Earth better than the know our own earth!

He wrote something special, and therefore it is proper to view it as special. He took a lot of time and care to write it, therefore it is proper to take time and care to read it. I appreciate what he has created.

[ January 13, 2003: Message edited by: Airehiriel ]

[Airerûthiel]

In my opinion Tolkien knew exactly how to walk the metaphorical high-wire that all writers tread without losing his balance and allowing his tale to fall to rack and ruin, or leaning too far to the side by having too much narration and description and too little action and pace (or vice versa). He also mastered the subtle art that is describing people, places and objects without describing them too much. Every story and legend he refers to in his books led off somewhere into another wonderful part of his mythos that was just waiting to be discovered and explored, and all the while he told a tale that always flowed and, while embroidered with a detail as fine as that of a delicate tapestry, never derived from the heart of his work - the greatest story of the twentieth century, possibly of all time.

[ January 13, 2003: Message edited by: Airerûthiel ]

[Peri]

Tolkien is such a brilliant writer (and a brilliant man in his own right). The fact that he created all these languages himself totally leaves me in awe. He is an amazing man, and his writing is very academic. It's just too bad some people get pulled into the some of the newer author's writings (J.K. Rowling in particular) and don't even realize that there are these spectacular novels by Tolkien out there.