Tuesday, October 04, 2005

Tolkein: A Giant among Giants

Fire of Liberty

National Review is currently celebrating its 50th anniversary this week and has decided to bless its readers with various flashback pieces from the magazine long tenure. Yesterday, the editors presented this dedication to J.R.R. Tolkein shortly after his death in 1973. People might think the great epic writer was just a writer but Guy Davenport and various others at National Review thought differently. I think that this pretty much sets Tolkein with the greats, take a look:
Of The Lord of the Rings we can say easily that it is the best book of the century though the greatest is Ulysses, and Lewis' The Human Age is the book we deserve most to be remembered for. Its vision of harmony and simplicity, of honor and heroism, is an articulate symbol of our inarticulate yearning. The dread Orcs, who look like the Chinese army, the Nazis, and our highways and streets, are what humanity looks like when deference has been replaced by power and civilization by efficiency.
So true. Bravo to Tolkein and for the folks of National Review for enlightening us with such a great piece.

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