Customer Reviews

Tolkien: A Cultural Phenomenon, 2nd Edition

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A lucid, insightful, sympathetic discussion of Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings" as a 20th-century novel with the values appropriate to canonical 20th-century novels. To Rosebury, Tolkien has flaws but is a significant, though not great, literary figure with much to offer. His other work is also discussed, as is his place in literature.

Most of his argument is that there is no excuse for critics to dismiss "Lord of the Rings" as a bestseller and therefore bad: it has the literary qualities in conception and narrative that these critics should be looking for and appreciating.

Tom Shippey says much the same in "J.R.R. Tolkien: Author of the Century." But the books differ: Shippey is more concerned with broad cultural context, while Rosebury focuses more narrowly on the text as an object of literary art. He writes a cool analysis with only occasional touches of exasperation at wrong-headed criticism, where Shippey is a polemicist.

Rosebury is equipped to tell critics why they should be reading Tolkien. Ane he does his telling in plain English, so we may all follow him and learn a great deal.

I read this book in its previous incarnation (from the early 90's) and was put off by its sneering attitude toward the legions of fans who had embraced all things Middle-earth, assuming somehow that their devotion was lowering the standards by which Tolkien would or should be judged by those with higher taste and academic credentials. Anyway, some of that attitude is gone in this edition.

What I thought was a strength of Rosebury's study is still there and in some places elaborated on, namely, an actual study of Tolkien's writing style (as opposed to a study of his sources). Rosebury's discussion of the "high style" found in The Silmarillion and some passage of The Lord of the Rings is thought-provoking. I agree with his assessment of the writing in the story "The Fall of Gondolin" from The Book of Lost Tales, that Tolkien writes with "ruthless energy" and a strength that evokes "panic and disorder while maintaining narrative coherence."

I also found his chapter on the films interesting. I have to totally agree with his assessment of Galadriel's temptation scene - her transformation resembles a "roaring seagreen hellhag." Exactly my feeling about that not-so-special effect!

This new edition improves an already worthwhile book, but could have used one final proofing polish. You expect to find a few typos in any book on Tolkien because of the complicated spellings and names, but this edition seemes to have a bit more than its share.

Anyway, I do recommend this edition of Rosebury's book.

This is an excellent appraisal of Tolkien's work and its reverberance throughout contemporary culture. Just as remarkably, it is very distinct from the growing body of Tolkien scholarship, offering an original perspective and context for the evaluation Tolkien's complex and beloved works. That said, there are only two points I can add to the reviews already here, and they both might easily be worthless.

First, Rosebury expends a good deal of thought and energy articulating the manner in which the literary establishment categorizes, accepts or rejects "The Lord of the Rings". As in a similar attempt by Marjorie Burns, this opening chapter is excellent in its linearity, breadth of information and depth of context. But in the end it shapes up as either preaching to the choir or another apologia to the critics who refuse to apply their own attention to the work. I'm happy that Rosebury seems unable to admit that the only threshold to cross in accepting or rejecting Tolkien is, right or wrong, simply one of taste -- even though such acknowledgment does nothing to diminish Tolkien's accomplishment. And to be fair to those critics who do not grasp what a singular accomplishment The Lord of the Rings is, I have to confess that despite the esteem I have for that work it is possible to see the opposition's point. The analogy might be this: while much of 20th Century literature is safely viewed as the work of artists, Tolkien's work -- implicated as it is with his professorial status in language -- can be seen from that vantage as the accomplishment of a highly gifted engineer.

Just as some self-taught painters are categorized as "outsider artists" there is no shame in leaving Tolkien --to his credit -- an outsider. Take into account his late-in-life doubts about "creativity" (not to mention his willful addition of the prefix "sub") and we see a very Catholic doubt that was most recently repackaged and forcibly dragged into the 21st Century by no less a figure than Pope Ratzinger in his 2006 screed against this innately human pursuit. And I doubt the distinction would mean much to Tolkien personally -- we owe at least as much to the brilliance and creativity of engineers as we do artists and often the distinction can be artificial.

Second, Rosebury is manifestly at his best in evaluating the Jackson film version of the book. But there is another nagging nit here, and that is Rosebury's willingness to chime in with the conventional wisdom claiming dramatic necessity concerning some of Jackson's less questionable indiscretions with the text. Perhaps we all need to understand that the more questionable indiscretions were decided purely for reasons of commerce, not for drama. The amount of money involved in the production of Jackson's three films -- and the volumes of profit they were designed to generate -- is all you need to know about what shaped such decisions in making the film version of the book. There is certainly no legitimate cinematic reason for the distortions: you need look no further than the films which comprise the art house canon to see that cinematic form is more pliable than Hollywoodland would have you think. Resorting as Jackson's films do to overt and routine cliff-hangerism, the only explanation remains this: neither cinematic nor dramatic concerns but Popular Cinema and Commercial concerns were the guideposts. A book as eccentric and disdainful of contemporary forms as "The Lord of the Rings" does not demand to be made into a film of such nakedly conventional form. Place that in the context of Tolkien's own views on matters of either commerce or form and you can reasonably conclude that the only "Return" of importance here was good ol' ROI -- "Return on Investment" safely remains King.

Don't get me wrong: I love the books and I appreciate and enjoy the films. Rosebury makes a good argument in support of the idea that the film versions will not ultimately subsume the text, as has been the outcome in other cases where movies dumb down their sources. In the end, "Tolkien: A Cultural Phenomenon", is one of the clearest and most contemporary assessments of the works and their influence: highly recommended to anyone wishing to delve into the text and the cultural interactions with it.

Tolkein: A Cultural Phenomenon is a unique offering of literary criticism of Tolkein in that it includes and integrates recent cinematic and other media related criticism in its analysis.Even more intriguing to the game oriented youth set of Tolkein enthusiasts, Tolkein: A Cultural Phenomenon contains an exhaustive sampling and review of many Tolkein based computer and video games, as well as card and role playing games. These he categorizes under relabeling assimilation, imitation, and adaptation, and his reduction and analysis of the game phenomena is riveting, insightful, and direct. Rosebury's view at times seems almost hyperfocussed, not that this is a bad thing. Of very great interest to me and many other readers is his review of the Peter Jackson "Lord of The Rings" award-winning movie series. I would say his criticism is not all positive, but also not unjustified. He tends to give full credit for the work presented in the media itself, rather than only seeing it as a pale or incomplete version of the much richer literature upon which it is based.

However, I was also very interested in Rosebury's section on Tolkein in the History of Ideas (chapter 5, pp.158-192). In it he compares many other Tolkein critics' views, muses about his own previous analyses, and draws a pervasive conclusion that is only partially summarized by the following quotation:

'"Through all the crannies of the world we filled with elves and goblins, though we dared to build gods and their houses out of dark and light, and sowed the seed of dragons, 'twas our right (used or misused). The right has not decayed. We make still by the law in which we're made (from Tolkein's 'Mythopoeia')."'

'For Tolkein the fundamental derived human right is the right to create. The idea, with its romantic exaltation of the creative artist, its implied rejection of the classical notion of art as imitation, has its immediate roots in Coleridge, whose celebrated but cumbrous jargon of Fancy and Imagination Tolkein makes a bold attempt to improve upon in 'On Fairy Stories.'58 But Tolkein saw perhaps more clearly than Coleridge that creative power was as capable of corrupting its owner as any other gift. his view of artistic 'subcreation', both as a self-conscious artist himself and as a depictor of artists in his work, is at once a continuation of the romantic tradition and a critique of it. (page 191)." Rosebury then goes on to state he had changed his earlier view on Tokein's 'anarchist' element and was somewhat more sympathetic, understanding that Tolkein's "anti-political stance, like Tolstoy's, rests on a considered and consistent metaphysic, and is more than just the indulgence of a pious wish that everyone would act rightly without any need of politics (pages 191-192)"

There is obviously much more, the prose of Rosebury is challenging and relentlessly dense, but quite rewarding to take the effort to understand. Although Tolkein: A Cultural Phenomenon is definitely a scholarly work, it will translate well and appeal to a wider audience than purist Tolkein scholars and graduate students. Clearly it has its deserved place among these, but in this era of self educated internet students or non-students alike, works such as Tolkein: A Cultural Phenomenon have doubly lasting impact and educational value. Perhaps parallel to the impact of Peter Jackson's movie adaptation, Rosebury's work will send the serious reader to other possibly original sources and experiences for further education.