Tolkein is a bad writer - discuss

Smurfin

hmmm no, none of your analogies refer to pacing, characterisation, editing, engagement, which are LOTR's main issues.

EarthRod

Lord of the Rings is unique and has proven pedigree taken up by generations of readers all over the world.

One can nitpick over the little foibles within the story, but that is just personal preference. Everybody has their little likes and dislikes - even the characters in the story.

One of my dislikes is the portrayal of Sam, the servant to Frodo. Tolkien writes him up like a faithful dog rather than a person in his own right. Only towards the end is he portrayed as a character. But that is modern thinking about how things were in the 1930s and 1940s (as seen through the eyes of an old professor).

pringtef

Spot on.  Tolkien was one of a group of writers, most of them academics, who frequently met to discuss and share their writings, including CS Lewis and Charles Willams.   

So it's not difficult for the work to seem more of an academic piece that a flowing story.  Tolkien was most certainly not a bad writer though.

Sonic67

Which in my opinion, and a lot of others is fine:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/arts/bigread/top100.shtml

In April 2003 the BBC's Big Read began the search for the nation's best-loved novel, and we asked you to nominate your favourite books.

Below and on the next page are all the results from number 1 to 100 in numerical order!

1. The Lord of the Rings, JRR Tolkien

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/3317081.stm

JRR Tolkien's epic fantasy trilogy, the Lord of the Rings, has won the BBC's Big Read contest to find the UK's most popular novel.

logain

I read LOTR about a year before the first movie came out and admit I struggled through them.  The pacing was very slow and the songs really got on my nerves I started skipping past them after a while.  There is no doubt that LOTR is an amazing story and one which basically created the modern fantasy genre but it is a story I will always prefer on film rather than text.

EarthRod

Reading LOTR for the first time is difficult, especially if you are used to the modern literature style. The second reading (maybe a couple of years later) is easier.

It's like any historical novel (Dickens, Marriott, Bronte etc), one has to adapt to the old composition and meaning of those loooooong words!

Alan

Solomon Grundy

All I can say is "thank goodness they made the films".  The LOTR books are a complete pain to read through...I would go as far as saying they are boring.

Some walking...eating some bread...more walking...more bread eating...a two page song which I have no idea how the tune goes...more bread...more walking...another song, this time FOUR pages long...GOD DAMN IT, GET TO THE POINT TOLKEIN!

EarthRod

Your Avatar looks interesting Decadence - who is it?

sunnybacon

I first read the LOTR books when I was 8, as you can probably imagine I didn't understand much of it back then but I enjoyed it
I'm re-reading them now, and I have to say that I really do enjoy reading them. One thing that has struck me, is the similarity between Tolkien's characters, settings etc. and those of Paolini's "Eragon", which I read recently. It is almost as if Paolini has literally taken chunks of ideas from LOTR and used them in his writing (e.g. the dwarves and elves' characteristics)

Sonic67

Something struck me when I read LOTR for the third time. The first two reads were prior to me joining the forces. The third time afterwards. It struck me that the Hobbits early on were like civvies or raw recruits. Blundering along, starting fires etc. Later in the book they are like seasoned combat vets. They routinely wear armour, carry their kit in a pack and are professional soldiers. We also see the orcs having their own beliefs and values.

Tolkien didn't just write books, he created a living world in which we have only seen slices of its history. There is maps, languages, notes on pronunciation, and appendices on what happened next.

His influence has been massive. Publishers regularly get authors turning up with books, maps, spreadsheets, graphs, and whatever for their own worlds they have created. No other fantasy author has generated such interest. You can still buy Tolkien calendars, bestiaries, and books debating if the world can be described as religious or not. When I was a kid the big computer game was The Hobbit and the big thing on Jackanory was the reading of The Hobbit over ten afternoons.

LOTR has been done by films twice, and The Hobbit is set to be done again. Christopher Lee appeared in it as he is a huge fan of the book and Peter Jackson made the film because of his love for it.

Can you name another author who is so big? I’d say possibly Rowling though she has largely ripped off Tolkien and other authors, and Terry Pratchet who spoofed the whole genre.

Other than that I don’t think any other fantasy author has become mainstream.