Customer Reviews

The Lord of the Rings and Philosophy: One Book to Rule Them All (Popular Culture and Philosophy)

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This book, despite the ostentatious title which Tolkien himself might've disavowed (he might humbly have thought that the Bible and other works, not his own books, were the true "books to rule them all"), is well worth reading.
It covers many aspects of philosophy and thought, including Plato, Nietzche, existentialism, Eastern religion, etc., which do not always receive the discussion vis-a-vis Tolkien that they deserve.
One of the best essays is Alison Milbank's "'My Precious': Tolkien's Fetishized Ring", an analysis which resembles Brenda Partridge's (in)famous 1983-or-so essay "No Sex, Please, We're Hobbits: The Construction of Female Sexuality in The Lord of the Rings", in its commentary on Shelob's scary voracity. Milbank also mentions Karl Marx's "commodity fetishism" as a factor in Tolkien's work (and the Ruling Ring is certainly one hot commodity in Middle-earth, even before Frodo "gives Gollum the finger" on Mount Doom and the action heats up a bit)...though Milbank notes that Tolkien probably had no "People's Republic of the Shire" in mind when writing Lord of the Rings!!
Another standout essay is "Happy Endings and Religious Hope: The Lord of the Rings as an Epic Fairy Tale" by John J. Davenport. Of all the essays, it perhaps draws most deeply on a variety of Tolkien's works, including the Silmarillion and Tolkien's influential essay "On Fairy-Stories". Davenport, whose essay is the last in the book (and, significantly, at the end of the "Ends and Endings" group of essays), poses the hope that "Day will come again" ("Aure entuluva" in the Elvish spoken at a desperate battle in the Silmarillion) not only in Middle-earth but also on our own earth, at least from Tolkien's Christian point of view which hopes for eventual reward for those who strive for right throughout their lives.
Davenport ably invokes the Beowulf epic, the tales of King Arthur, and the Tolkien-favorite medieval story of "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight" in showing how Tolkien's goal of finding "joy, poignant as grief" is forwarded through The Lord of the Rings' combination of epic narrative with "eucatastrophe", Tolkien's brilliant term meaning more-or-less "a catastrophe of good" or "a surprise turn for the better, such as found in fairy tales". And indeed, as Davenport notes, the various "eucatastrophes" in Tolkien's trilogy do leave one with a taste of hope for something better in our futures, dark as the interim may be.

Back to the book as a whole: although the still photo of the resurrected Gandalf from the Two Towers film gracing the cover looks a little cheesy (though still impressive), the light-from-above in the picture does remind us that there is something gleaming or "eternal" caught in the mesh of Tolkien's work, not mere idle fantasy. Though lacking the coherence and focus that a book-length piece would have, as opposed to the various scattered and short essays in "One Book to Rule Them All"--and I was sorely tempted to give only 4 stars for this book, because of this scatteredness--, "One Book" does a fine job of reminding us of the genius of Tolkien not only for entertaining narrative but also for offering serious thought about the meaning of life, and "One Book" does so all the better by its drawing on his fellow geniuses throughout the millenia to illustrate or complement his points.

Two thumbs up (and any ring-fingers left on one's hand).

If you buy this book looking for what philosophical ideals Tolkien imbued his literature with, you may be disappointed with this book. While there are some essays I think Tolkien would certainly agree with, there are also many he wouldn't. This book is first and foremost about philosophy. What this book does is illustrate different philosophical ideas by using characters and situations from the Lord of the Rings as examples to help you understand. With this in mind, I think a lot of people can certainly enjoy this book.

the most disappointing so far in the 'popular culture and philosophy' series, these essays have little to do with either LotR or Philosophy in the traditional sense, instead attempting to cover everything from environmentalism to narrative structure. As a general format, the authors state their intentions to mold Tolkien's world to their own pet ideas and quote profusely while saying little that convinces. One of the essays even admits that the Buddist parallels it's spent the last few pages proposing are clearly "superficial" - why waste the print, then? Another oddity here is a collection of quotes by various noted philosophers that have nothing to do with either the themes in LotR, or, in many cases, the topics the essays address. Extremely discouraging.

In this Popular Culture series, this is one of the better editions. The mix of approaches to Tolkien gives a broad range of ideas, and most of them are well thought out and presented. The intent here is not scholarly exegesis, which you can get in many other books. This is Tolkien looked at from a more general viewpoint, which is still a valid way to approach the books of Middle-earth. I don't have any problem recommending this collection of essays.

If I were a junior college lit instructor who gave the assignment, "Write a paper on the philosophical implications of The Lord of the Rings", and received these papers, I'd give most of them solid B's. They're diligently researched, competently written, and show that the authors have grasped the nature of the problems they discuss. But the authors aren't college freshmen, they're professors themselves. They shouldn't look like children next to the scholars in "Tolkien the Medievalist", "Tolkien's Legendarium", or "J.R.R. Tolkien and His Literary Resonances", but they do. One expects them to do better than this, and to integrate their two subjects with subtlety instead of undergraduate bland awkwardness. One author who'd not get a B is Scott A. Davison, who completely messes up his summary of Tom Shippey's subtle but clear perspective on the nature of evil in Tolkien, as expressed in his "The Road to Middle-earth" and "J.R.R. Tolkien: Author of the Century", thus unfairly making Shippey out to be an idiot.

This book is definately a great book for people who have read the books and want a bit more. I recommend this book ONLY to people who have read the books. I got a friend of mine to start reading a bit of a certain chapter and she was completely bewildered. If you know enough to understand what they're talking about then this book is wonderfully enlightening. After reading the chapter about the elves, I felt a kinship with Galadriel that I had not felt before. This book is a great read that gives The Lord of the Rings much more meaning.

Some of the essays offer real insight into LOTR; others seem to be using LOTR as a convenient peg on which to hang the authors' special interest. However, all show that LOTR is a work of more substance than many would give it credit for.

"If you re a LOTR fan this book is a MUST read. Although we all know that Tolkein never wanted to write an allegory, when someone writes a book that reflects life as well as LOTR does then you cannot help but see the philosophical lessons to be learned.

As a fan I always wished for more LOTR books, unfortunately there arenā(tm)t any more. So, when you encounter something that is fresh and new concerning the book it is a special treat. In addition to pointing out things about the story that I did not know, as well as highlighting some of Tolkeinā(tm)s views on the subject, the book does well what it sets out to do. By using LOTR as an example there is a great deal to learn about philosophy here.

The Lord of the Rings and Philosophy is a interesting book which seems to come at the problem from two directions. One direction is to examine the books, trying to understand the ideas and reasoning of the different characters by taking examples from the history of philosophy and the great thinkers of philosophy.
The other way seems to be to take philosophy and explain certain ideas, for example from early Greek thinkers, by using characters and events from the books as examples.
In other words half the book is trying to explore the world of Middle-earth using philosophy are a road map while the other half the book explores our world of thought and ideas using understandable examples both adults, and some children, will know from Middle-earth. That IS the point of the series - using popular culture to help examine, explain and explore thought.
Questions about ethics, what does it mean to be good, why BE good, would you WISH to live forever, and is technology evil are all examined. Some of the answers ARE interesting and also add, I think, to Tolkien's works. The thing is I think if you are into the Lord of the Rings, either the books or the movies, you may have already gone over many of these questions in your mind. So you may find the book boring or, at least, somewhat limited in scope. There are no real surprises.
A good book to read during a snow storm in front of the fireplace IF you have no other new books around. Of course, I would suggest getting The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings if you don't already have it.

Came in a timely matter. Lovely condition. Everything I would hope it would be and more