J.R.R. Tolkien: Author of the Century - Hardcover

Shippey, T. A.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 061812764X ISBN 13: 9780618127641

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2001

Synopsis

A world-renowned Tolkien scholar presents readers with a fascinating companion to the major works of J.R.R. Tolkien, offering a critical analysis of The Lord of the Rings as a linguistic and cultural map--a reaction to the origin and nature of evil.

About this title

About the Author

Tom Shippey taught at Oxford University at the same time as J.R.R. Tolkien and with the same syllabus, which gives him an intimate familiarity with the works that fueled Tolkien's imagination. He subsequently held the chair of English language and medieval literature at Leeds University that Tolkien had previously held. He currently holds the Walter J. Ong Chair of Humanities at St. Louis University in Missouri.

From the Back Cover

The Definitive Critical Study of J.R.R. Tolkien's Greatest Works -- An Indispensable Companion to the World of Middle-Earth

"Shippey succeeds brilliantly [His] exploration of Tolkien's themes, especially the nature of evil, power, and what one character calls 'the long defeat,' is superb Taking on the critics on their own ground, Shippey reveals Tolkien's use of a complex narrative structure and the flexibility with which he moved between different literary modes." --Independent

"Shippey's witty, combative book is illuminating the central chapters demonstrate the ingenious articulation of the trilogy, the profundity of its thought about suffering, and evil, both personal and institutional, cosmic and frankly devilish." Observer

Reviews

In a wonderfully readable study aimed at not just the Tolkien fan but any literate person curious about this fantasy author's extraordinary popularity, British scholar Shippey (The Road to Middle-earth) makes an impressive, low-key case for why the creator of Middle-earth is deserving of acclaim. (Recent polls in Britain have consistently put The Lord of the Rings at the top of greatest books of the century lists.) Having taught the same Old English syllabus at Oxford that his subject once did, Shippey is especially well qualified to discuss Tolkien's Anglo-Saxon sources, notably Beowulf, for the elvish languages and names used in the fiction. The author's theory on the origin of the word hobbit, for example, is as learned as it is free of academic jargon. Even his analyses of the abstruse Silmarillion, Tolkien's equivalent of Joyce's Finnegans Wake, avoid getting too technical. In addition, Shippey shows that Tolkien as a storyteller often improved on his ancient sources, while The Lord of the Rings is unmistakably a work of its time. (The Shire chapters, like Orwell's 1984, evoke the bleakness of late-'40s Britain.) In treating such topics as the nature of evil, religion, allegory, style and genre, the author nimbly answers the objections of Tolkien's more rabid critics. By the end, he has convincingly demonstrated why the much imitated Tolkien remains inimitable and continues to appeal. (May 16)Forecast: With the long-awaited part one of the Lord of the Rings, The Fellowship of the Ring, due for movie release later this year, this, like all Tolkien-related titles, will benefit from hobbit fever.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

*Starred Review*
Like J. R. R. Tolkien, Shippey is a philologist who believes that language and literature are inextricably related. Names, especially, carry meaning, and, proceeding from Tolkien's assertion that his fantasy fiction was "fundamentally linguistic in inspiration," Shippey demonstrates how Tolkien used names to generate the plots, moral concepts, and cultural resonance of his works, especially The Lord of the Rings. He argues that Tolkien's larger project was to re-create the prehistory of the Anglo-Saxons by writing the literature suggested by the relationships among old names. The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings were set near the end of the prehistory he constructed. Shippey maintains that, despite their backward glancing, Tolkien's Middle-Earth stories are essentially modern in their concern with the nature of evil, the hollowness of victory, and--though Tolkien characterized The Lord of the Rings as a Catholic book--deep religious skepticism. However academic such a proceeding may seem, it is keenly interesting because of Shippey's clear, if not uncomplicated, writing and because it substantiates "common" readers' great esteem for Tolkien. In several recent polls, British readers declared that The Lord of the Rings is the greatest book of the twentieth century, to the great dismay, the press noted, of the literati. Similar results of and reactions to polls in America are highly likely, which only makes this magisterial book more intriguing. Ray Olson
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Shippey, an expert on Old English literature and the author of The Road to Middle Earth, has written a critical appreciation of the popular creator of The Hobbit and "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy. The subtitle refers to Tolkien's ability to write about concerns of the 20th century (evil, religion, etc.) in stories that at first glance seem to be mere fantasy. Shippey examines Tolkien's published and many unfinished works (such as The Silmarillion), as well as the shorter poems and stories. He convincingly argues that Tolkien deserves to be ranked as a major literary figure. Shippey also castigates those critics, the so-called literati, for their vituperative and ill-informed attacks on Tolkien's reputation and achievements. This study is definitely not an introduction to the "Rings" books; because of the detailed readings on the major and minor works, it should be read by those who have already enjoyed the titles surveyed. Recommended for all public libraries, especially in the wake of the upcoming film version of "The Lord of the Rings"; undergraduate academic libraries will also want to obtain this fine work of criticism. Morris Hounion, New York City Technical Coll. Lib., CUNY
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
• Publication date: 2001
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 061812764X
• ISBN 13: 9780618127641
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 347