Tolkien warns us about gazing too deeply into the world’s darkness.
Tag Archives: J. R. R. Tolkien
Beware Gazing at the Palantir in 2010
John Noble as Denethor A palantir, as readers of J. R. R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings know, is a crystal ball into which one may gaze and see events occurring around the world. Although a seeming marvel, it can warp those who gaze into it. The palantir holds lessons for us on how we to […]
Discussing Literature without Teachers
My son Toby My son Toby, who is with us for two more days before he leaves for the University of California-Davis English Ph.D program, gave a lecture to the St. Mary’s College Tolkien society on Friday. I am the club’s advisor but it was first time I had attended a meeting for several […]
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Gerald Graff, literary societies, Literary Theory: An Introduction, Lord of the Rings, Professing Literature, reading groups, teaching literature, Terry Eagleton Comments closed
I Was a Secret Holden Caulfield
I contrasted Lord of the Rings with J. D. Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye the other day. It’s not a contrast that anyone other than I would make, and it’s all based on the fact that I loved the one and hated the other. In my post today I explore my dislike of the Salinger […]
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged adolescence, Catcher in the Rye, J. D. Salinger, Lord of the Rings Comments closed
Fantasy As a Roundabout Road to Truth
Viggo Mortensen as Aragorn I didn’t do entire justice in Monday’s post to the Tolkien essay of my son Toby. In correcting that here, I also open up a more complicated vision of fantasy in general, as well as Tolkien’s fantasy specifically. I was wondering if Tolkien had retreated into fantasy as a refuge from […]
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged fantasy, Lord of the Rings, Marion Zimmer Bradley, Mists of Avalon, Tobias Bates, war Comments closed
Fantasy: Help or Hindrance?
My friend Alan Paskow, who is struggling with cancer, queried me about my post on Alfred Noyes’ “The Highwayman,” wondering whether the poem wasn’t just an insubstantial fantasy. I’ve been writing about The Lord of the Rings as a fantasy perhaps indulged in by a World War I veteran who wasn’t willing to face up […]
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged adolescence, Catcher in the Rye, Charlotte Bronte, Emily Bronte, fantasy, J. D. Salinger, Lord of the Rings Comments closed
Tolkien’s Ring and World War I
Otto Dix, Trench Warfare (1932) I have gained some new insights into The Lord of the Rings since my son Toby wrote an essay about it for the University of Pittsburgh’s graduate English program. Toby informs me that there are a number of debates around the book, especially whether it should be considered great literature. The […]
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Alfred Hitchcock, All Quiet on the Western Front, Erich Maria Remarque, Lord of the Rings, Tobias Bates, war Comments closed
Aspiring to Be a Dwarf
Continuing the Lord of the Rings discussion, here’s an interesting insight passed on to me by my friend Rachel Kranz about my last entry. I was interpreting my adolescent fondness for Gimli the dwarf as an indication that I felt myself a dwarf, hunkered down and plodding. Rachel says that she was stunned by this self-description […]
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged adolescence, Flies, Jean Paul Sartre, Lord of the Rings, Lucille Clifton Comments closed
