Tolkien: A Cultural Phenomenon

ISBN-13: 9781403912633 / Angielski / Miękka / 2003 / 246 str.

Brian Rosebury

Opis

With the appearance of the remarkable movie version of The Lord of the Rings, the works of J.R.R. Tolkien have risen to new heights of popularity, but Tolkien's literary reputation is still bitterly contested. This comprehensive introduction to Tolkien aims to explain his work clearly, to analyse the mixed reception he has received from critics, and to suggest a positive but level-headed view of his importance as a literary figure. Written in a fluent and accessible style, it is designed for both students and scholars, and for the general reader.

It includes:

- an extended analysis of Tolkien's greatest work, The Lord of the Rings;
- critical appraisals of his other creative writings, from The Hobbit and The Silmarillion to a host of shorter narratives and poems;
- a discussion of Tolkien's life and career against the background of the twentieth century;
- a demonstration of the unity which underlies Tolkien's ideas about art, religion, morality and politics; and
- an analysis of the cultural 'after-life' of The Lord of the Rings, culminating in a discussion of Peter Jackson's film adaptation

Recenzje

'Brian Rosebury's book offers a compelling analysis of Tolkien as a thinker. Especially convincing are his accounts of Tolkien's views on free will, moral choice, and creativity, as these are woven into The Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion. Rosebury also deftly exposes Tolkien's often disregarded skills in narrative and description, and he does it, like Tolkien, in plain English. The chapter on Tolkien's reception and transformation into the movies is the best available.' - Dr Tom Shippey, Walter J. Ong, S.J., Chair, Saint Louis University

'In this revised version of a book first published over a decade ago, Brian Rosebury sets out to reclaim Tolkien from the bestseller lists and reposition him as a serious literary figure. It is an attempt both largely convincing and long overdue...The book offers a necessary corrective to decades of misplaced snobbery and belittlement.' - Jon Barnes, Times Literary Supplement

Spis treści

Introduction The Lord of the Rings: Conception The Lord of the Rings: Execution Shorter and Posthumous Writings Tolkien and theTwentieth Century Tolkien in the History of Ideas Reception and Adaptation Index

O autorze

BRIAN ROSEBURY is the author of Art and Desire: A Study in the Aesthetics of Fiction (Palgrave/Macmillan, 1988), and of articles in Victorian Poetry, Philosophical Review, Political Quarterly and the British Journal of Aesthetics. He is Principal Lecturer in the Department of Humanities, University of Central Lancashire.