Tolkien, J(ohn) R(onald) R(euel) (Vol. 2) - Tolkien, J(ohn) R(onald) R(euel) 1892–1973
Tolkien, J(ohn) R(onald) R(euel) 1892–1973
Tolkien, an Oxford don, is the author of the popular fantasy trilogy, The Lord of the Rings. (See also Contemporary Authors, Vols. 17-18.)
There are, to be sure, some details that are a little unpleasant for a children's book, but except when [Tolkien] is being pedantic and also boring the adult reader, there is little in The Lord of the Rings over the head of a seven-year-old child. It is essentially a children's book—a children's book which has somehow got out of hand, since, instead of directing it at the "juvenile" market, the author has indulged himself in developing the fantasy for its own sake; and it ought to be said at this point, before emphasizing its inadequacies as literature, that Dr. Tolkien is not at all pretentious in regard to his fairy romance….
Dr. Tolkien has little skill at narrative and no instinct for literary form. The characters talk a story-book...
[The entire page is 2948 words long]
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