The Rise of Tolkienian Fantasy [Paperback]

Jared C. Lobdell (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 16, 2005

When J. R. R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings appeared in 1954, it was hailed by readers but dismissed by critics as juvenile escapism. For many years both critics and professors of literature refused to take Tolkien seriously, yet today they reluctantly admit that he was indeed a great writer. Jared Lobdell claims that the literary achievement of Tolkien in fact represents a new mainstream of literary development. The future of fiction lies in fantasy, he argues, and Tolkien is part of a vital organic growth with roots in the past. Professor Lobdell surveys the predecessors of and influences on Tolkien, from Rudyard Kipling to William Morris and Kenneth Grahame. He explores the web of elements — Celtic revival, medieval revival, and "feigned history" — that make up Tolkienian fantasy. And he looks closely at the heirs of the master, modern fantasists Ursula Le Guin, Stephen King (for the Dark Tower series), and the J. K. Rowling.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Jared C. Lobdell Contributor residences (city, state or country if outside the US or Canada): Writer and editor Jared Lobdell lives in Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania, where he teaches at Millersville University of Pennsylvania and is Weekend College Coordinator with Harrisburg Area Community College. He edited A Tolkien Compass (1975; new edition 2003) and The Detective Fiction Reviews of Charles Williams (2003). He is the author of The World of the Rings (2004), a revised edition of his England and Always: Tolkien's World of the Rings (1981).

Product Details

• Paperback: 176 pages
• Publisher: Open Court (September 16, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0812694589
• ISBN-13: 978-0812694581
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,341,147 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Interesting but unconvincing, November 2, 2008

By 

Tolkienian (Pennsylvania USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Rise of Tolkienian Fantasy (Paperback)

The phrase "if you get anywhere near a point..." came to mind as I was reading Jared Lobdell's verbose The Rise of Tolkienian Fantasy. Lobdell fails to clearly lay out his argument that The Lord of the Rings is a late example of the Edwardian adventure story genre, and his evidence mainly consists of the fact that this genre preceded Tolkien and that Tolkien's works share some of its characteristics. The author apparently enjoys dropping the names of nineteenth-century writers and peppering the reader with obscure and often only marginally relevant asides while acknowledging at several points that he is only tracing the courses of some rather indirect "streams" of influence on Tolkien. Lobdell's style is suited to literary academia rather than to the literate and educated lay reader. And though the book description states that Lobdell "looks closely at the heirs of the master," he in fact devotes very few pages to any insightful analysis of how Stephen King and J.K. Rowling--not to mention any other modern fantasy writers--fit his criteria for defining the Tolkienian fantasy genre or carry on the Tolkienian tradition. Lobdell makes a few worthwhile comments in the appendix on the difficulties Tolkien faced in producing a continuation of his Middle-earth works after the publication of The Lord of the Rings, but otherwise this is not among the most coherent or essential works of Tolkien scholarship. (P.S. Lobdell gives away plot points from King's and Rowling's novels, so be cautious if you haven't yet read them.)