Curse Him and His Delayed Adolescence!
I've been meaning to comment on Richard Jenkyns's article on The Lord of the Rings in the New Republic (it's a review of a book on Tolkien by Tom Shippey.) But Megan McArdle has done a far better job than I could ever do (though she seems to be under the impression that this review was written by Ben Soskis-- unless I'm crazy, Soskis had nothing to do with it. Hmm, all the comments refer to Soskis as well. Are Richard Jenkyns and Ben Soskis one and the same, and everybody knows all about it but me? I'm so confused...) Anyway, like a lot of criticism of Tolkien's work, a major part of this one is the complaint that there's no sex in it. This accusation (true, but hardly damning) was common from the moment LotR was published, leading Tolkien to write in his journal the above-mentioned curse upon a critic (whose name eludes me-- I just remember reading about it.) McArdle writes:
I am struck, while reading this, by how entirely modern criticism has come to view everything through the prism of sex. We expect to find subtle and nuanced evocations of sexual themes, yet everything else is supposed to be right out there, unambiguous and unexplored in any but the most superficial way. It strikes me also that this may be why so much modern "literature" has degenerated into increasingly violent and bizarre sexual themes coupled with increasingly dull political ones, laminated together with a thin veneer of verbal scrimshaw......Soskis undercuts his argument thoroughly in the final paragraphs, where he tells us why he is so hard on Tolkien: because he doesn't deserve to top the list of best book of all times. My question: why on earth should Soskis care? And what hill was he standing on when God handed him the list of the best books of all times?
update: At least I'm not crazy. Megan has indicated that the whole Soskis thing was some kind of mix-up. Occasionally, one doubts that one inhabits the same reality as everyone else; and even more occasionally, one is re-assured that on at least a few points reality coincides with what one sees with ones own two eyes. Anyway, the debate on LotR over at Live from the WTC is really hotting up, and it's fascinating. Check it out.
Posted by Dr. Frank at January 24, 2002 10:25 PM | TrackBack