JRR Tolken

[spellner]

Ok, this story isn't very thick and it's not the highest reading level or anything, but in the seventh grade my class had to read a pretty good fantasy book by J.R.R. Tolken. The book was Farmer Giles of Ham. It's about a series of event that occur to a farmer, who was just trying to get a giant off his property. It's not the most signifigantly written book, but it is definite fantasy.  

[NightIntent]

Um, this isn't a fan fiction guild. Fantasy. Not fan fiction. There's a difference. Fantasy is a genre. Fan fiction is stories based on books or anime or something by people who don't own the thing they're writing about. Fantasy you can copyright, fan fiction you can't. Which is why this is a fantasy guild, not a fan fiction guild.

On topic, I never liked Tolkien's writing. I read the first two Lord of the Rings books, and The Hobbit. All those books kinda bored me. They just had a boring style of writing, to me, and never particularly kept my attention. I couldn't bring myself to read the third Lord of the Rings books, the first two bored me so much. And I never finished The Hobbit. I got to where the dragon was defeated and then couldn't stand to read anymore.  

[Cassandra_the_Prophetess]

Um? Is it just me, or does this make no sense?

And Lord of the Rings is the ULTIMATE fantasy, have you noticed anything written after LotR has elements of it? Its like, the defintive fantasy novel.  

[NightIntent]

Maybe so, but I still say the way he puts things is boring. And not every fantasy book has elements of Tolkien's writing. Hell, plenty of my own stories have nothing like dragons and magic artifacts and elves and other things Tolkien put in his books. Tolkien was just one of the earliestmodern-day fantasy writers, and a lot of people admire his work and imagination. I'm not one of them. I'll admit that a lot of people like him, but his writing and books will never appeal to me. Now leave me to my opinion, and I'll leave you to yours.  

[FaeDreamer]

I'm actually inclined to agree with Night. I read the Hobbit and loved heart it. Read the Fellowship and though ehh, this is ok. Got halfway through the next book and haven't picked it up again since. It didn't enthrall me, it wasn't really that exciting, I liked the movies waaaaay better than the books, and I've never said that about any book. There was so many details, that instead of being enriching like I'm sure Tolkein intended, it gave me sensory overload, I was loosing the main story and also losing interest.

Now I'm not saying Tolkien isn't a wonderful writer and that he didn't have some really awesome ideas that birthed the fantasy genre...but he was a totally different generation, with a completely different style of writing. It's just not my kind of thing. sweatdrop

Ohh, and I'm curious, is Farmer Giles actually written by Tolkien, or just based on him?

Quote:

but in the seventh grade my class had to read a pretty good fantasy book by J.R.R. Tolkien. The book was Farmer Giles of Ham.

 

[Nuala]

Quote:

Um, this isn't a fan fiction guild. Fantasy. Not fan fiction. There's a difference. Fantasy is a genre. Fan fiction is stories based on books or anime or something by people who don't own the thing they're writing about. Fantasy you can copyright, fan fiction you can't. Which is why this is a fantasy guild, not a fan fiction guild.

Guys, it's actually written by Tolkien (I've read it myself), just like she said it was in the first place.

Did you think she was lying or something? It seemed a pretty simple post to me.

Sorry if I feel like a newbie treading on toes, but she's got every right to bring it up here. stare

Of Tolkien's shorter fiction, I have to admit to a soft spot for Roverandom and The Father Christmas Letters myself - Roverandom especially. It's nice to see a story where he's just concentrating on old children's literature devices like toys.  

[NightIntent]

...She said it was fan fiction, then later edited her post. I don't pick on people. Ever. And I also hate when people question things I do. In my own guild. Please never do so again, or I might get extremely angry. Do you think I make these things up? I don't correct people for no reason. Never suggest that I do so, please.  

[Cassandra_the_Prophetess]

I think that people struggle with Tolkien because of the language, i mean, it IS confusing at times. I remember i read The Hobbit in fifth grade, and enjoyed it so much that i went straight on to Lord of the Rings, which i should not have done! I slogged through it, slowly, (my incessant stubourness getting the better of me) and it took me a painful few months to finish it. I came out at the end thoroughly dissapointed! But then, four years later i thought i'd give it another try, to refresh my memory before the movies were released, and was pleasantly surprised! After the first few chapters i got into the flow of the language and absolutely loved it, polishing it off in less than two weeks. It's like Shakespeare, total gibberish at first, but once you get it, its wonderful!

Wow that was long winded!

But i must continue!

Not every fantasy book has elements of Tolien's writing, no, but most do, not because they admire him, or have even read his work, his formula for fantasy has just slipped in, this doesn't mean they are being unoriginal, far from it, just that he set the bench mark. When i say elements, i don't mean elves and dragons, thats only fantasy on the most basic, superficial level, i mean his world, fantasy is about creation, and Middle Earth is the epitome of that! It's a world so different from ours, yet so complete! That's what its all about!

Sorry that's so long, i get caught up in expressing my ideas!  

[Nebbie]

Ooo, I loved Roverandom! It was very cute, and I read it to my boyfriend. It was longer than I expected for a children's story, but then, it is Tolkein, and he does get a bit long-winded. But in a good way. ^_^  

[LamingtonQueen]

The only Tolkien books I've read are, of course, Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit. I enjoyed the Hobbit cos I used to listen to it on tapes on long car rides when I was little so it was no problem for me to read it again more recently.

Lord of the Rings was different though. DAMN that first book is so painfully boring. The stupid and unnecessary detail, the random background for characters that have no purpose and worst - the musical numbers... wtf? I read it and stopped for the longest time. But then the movie was coming out and I felt guilty that I was going to see it without having read the book so I read the next two like no one's business. They were good, the battles, interesting characters and all that jazz. The only thing I didn't like was how it didn't end... it just... drifted off. So many times I though 'and that's it!' only to have the book go... ".... AND THEN this happened..." I wish it just ENDED sweatdrop

Additionally, to all the people saying it's so good that every other book has stuff similar to it... er... you do realise that's because Tolkein ripped off (er... borrowed xd ) folklore from every single country he could find... he didn't invent half that stuff, he just used it in an epic novel first razz So they could try and steal it from the same folklore he used and people would say they got it from him :S  

[Empress_Kat]

Farmer Giles of Ham is an excellent book. I read it in fifth grade, when I was on my 'read everything JRR ever wrote' kick. That was quite some time ago, so I don't remember much of the book now, except that I very much enjoyed it.

As for the Lord of the Rings, well, they are without a doubt the most amazing series ever written. Some people find them dry or boring or too long, and I can't help but take that as a negative indicator of the individual's reading skills or comprehension, but I don't wish to insult anyone, so we won't get into that. Instead, we'll get into another subject that looks a bit touchy.

Yes, every bit of fantasy literature out there, from Harry Potter to Sword of Truth, and everything in between has been influenced by Tolkien's epic. Everything. Whether the author was influenced directly by reading Tolkien, or just influenced by someone who had been influenced by him, it all draws on Tolkien to some extent. Saying that that is not true is like saying that it wasn't influenced by anything.

True enough, Tolkien drew very much on all the myths and legends of various countries. 'Stole' is putting it much too harshly, just as it would be too harsh to say that comtemporary authors 'stole' from him. Takeing things from a work and being influenced by an author are totally different things.

Hell of a first post in the guild, I'd say. At least I tried very hard not to offend anyone too much.  

[Cassandra_the_Prophetess]

*Applauds* Thank you Kat! Someone finally agrees with me! You're the first person to grasp what i was saying!

Yes, he drew upon folklore for inspiration, but his originality is in how he wove those elements together, how he created a working society by combining all those bits of lore.  

[Hiitachin Kaoru]

Cassandra_the_Prophetess

*Applauds* Thank you Kat! Someone finally agrees with me! You're the first person to grasp what i was saying!

Yes, he drew upon folklore for inspiration, but his originality is in how he wove those elements together, how he created a working society by combining all those bits of lore.

Tolkein was trying to create a mythological society and obviously he is going to take some things from folklore. He's not the only author to do that either. I think he's one of the best.
I really love his books. I read the Hobbit in about 5th grade but I didn't read The Lord of the Rings until 7th or 8th grade, and I'm glad I waited because I don't think I would have really gotten LoTR as a 5th grader. I've also read the Silmarillion. That took me a couple weeks to get through. Its really challenging. I don't think many people like it because of that but I love it and have reread it(and all his books) many times.  

[Ex Obscurum ut Incendia]

I never liked Tolkein much. Don't get me wrong, I respect him as a writer for creating a genre of his own, but his writing style was far too bland to intrest me. As the story goes, it was written to put his kids to sleep... (Actually as a bedtime story but after I tried to read the fellowship and almost fell asleep from all the freaking walking... well you can guess the rest) As far as the other two books go, they are decent as far as any epic fantasy goes, and givin what he had to work with in the way of other authors in his genre to learn from... None, I'd say they were pretty good. But still I read AGoT before them and every other fantasy just seems dull and monotonous... Sorry for babbling...  

[the fuzziest llama]

Cassandra_the_Prophetess

I think that people struggle with Tolkien because of the language, i mean, it IS confusing at times. I remember i read The Hobbit in fifth grade, and enjoyed it so much that i went straight on to Lord of the Rings, which i should not have done! I slogged through it, slowly, (my incessant stubourness getting the better of me) and it took me a painful few months to finish it. I came out at the end thoroughly dissapointed! But then, four years later i thought i'd give it another try, to refresh my memory before the movies were released, and was pleasantly surprised! After the first few chapters i got into the flow of the language and absolutely loved it, polishing it off in less than two weeks. It's like Shakespeare, total gibberish at first, but once you get it, its wonderful!

Wow that was long winded!

But i must continue!

Not every fantasy book has elements of Tolien's writing, no, but most do, not because they admire him, or have even read his work, his formula for fantasy has just slipped in, this doesn't mean they are being unoriginal, far from it, just that he set the bench mark. When i say elements, i don't mean elves and dragons, thats only fantasy on the most basic, superficial level, i mean his world, fantasy is about creation, and Middle Earth is the epitome of that! It's a world so different from ours, yet so complete! That's what its all about!

Sorry that's so long, i get caught up in expressing my ideas!

Tolkein was a linguist. he excelled at language, and working with it, and even creating it. unfortunately, this makes him rather difficult to read at time (even i will admit to "slogging" through some of the LotR books...) he did so well with the languages though. i just learned some of one of the languages he created, Quenya (it's an Elvish language), and it's beautifully constructed and incredibly complex. makes me truly realise how great he was with words, and certainly lends a new appreciation of his writing.