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Tolkien: Man and Myth (Paperback)

by Joseph Pearce (Author)
4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)

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Product details

  • Paperback: 256 pages
  • Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers Ltd (6 Sep 1999)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0002740664
  • ISBN-13: 978-0002740661
  • Product Dimensions: 19.2 x 13 x 2 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 688,321 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Product Description

Review

'This fine apologia will certainly shift to some degree our polarised view of Ronald Tolkien... Pearce writes beautifully and with great depth... Even Germaine Greer, the great Tolkien-basher, might have second thoughts after reading him.' Ronald Blythe in 'The Tablet'

Product Description

Joseph Pearce takes a controversial approach to Tolkien's imaginative literature. Unlike the conventional view that his fantasy writing was an escape from reality, Pearce argues that Tolkien saw his great epics about Middle-earth as a leap into reality. Understanding Tolkien's view of life, faith and the supernatural is crucial to fully appreciating the deep levels of meaning in his three major works: "The Hobbit", "The Lord of the Rings", and "The Silmarillion". J.R.R. Tolkien had no more than seven books published during his lifetime, yet he became a towering literary figure round the world. This study considers him in the context of his time and also his beliefs. It examines his influence upon other story tellers such as C.S. Lewis and the influence upon him of the writers group called the "Inklings".
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28 of 31 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A study to find the real Man behind the Myth: Tolkien, 18 Oct 2001
The Lord of the Rings is of course a fundamentally religious and Catholic work" (Tolkien, in a letter to Robert Murray)

These words might not be to the liking of many Tolkien critics, analysts or pseudo-writers that have been trying to unravel the Tolkien Myth. I believe that many of them have been at least partially unsuccessful due to the simple fact that they underestimated or totally overlooked the main essence of Tolkien's life which was his spiritual faith as a Catholic.

Of course, this is by no means popular for a writer. Indeed , being a Catholic can mean instant "unpopularity" in certain cases; a paradox considering that Tolkien is by all means an extremely popular personality. Probably popularity has been helped by misunderstanding the man as a consequence of so many superfluous opinions by wrongly called "Tolkien experts".

It is thus with great enthusiasm that I read this essay by Joseph Pearce. It is a well documented and objective work that reaches on to the very deep roots of Tolkien's motivations and perceptions of the world which were based on his Christian beliefs and his life as a convinced Catholic.

The essay begins with a lively description of the turbulence caused when several reader polls established Tolkien as "The Author of the Century". Although this is an interesting (even fun) part, the most valuable comes from the rest of the book where we discover a proper view of Tolkien as essentially a Catholic author. Pearce , convincingly achieves this through an impartial presentation of documents, facts and original testimonials that permits us to glimpse the "Real Tolkien".
Written in an agile and practical style, it permits a clear and pleasant reading without falling into the usual dull academicism of many essays.

I consider this, along with "The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien" a most illuminating source to enjoy and truly understand the creator of such beauty as "The Lord of the Rings". Regarding beauty, let me end quoting Tolkien again: "...Our Lady, upon which all my own small perception of beauty both in majesty and simplicity is founded"

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16 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Tolkien: understanding the misunderstood, 27 Dec 2000
By A Customer
JOHN RONALD REUEL TOLKIEN was voted best writer of the 20th century, yet he also qualifies as the most controversial and misunderstood. At a very young age he moved from Africa to England with his mother and brother, where he spent the rest of his life giving his utmost reflection to the routes of development behind Aglo-Nordic language. This book tries to examine the relationship of the myth behind the man and the man behind the myth he himself created. It is an in-depth examination of the rapport between Tolkien and his surroundings; his friends, his family, his creations, and above all Christianity, the belief for the cause of which his mother had struggled for up to the point of exhaustion. TOLKIEN: MAN AND MYTH is a very powerful book that tries to put lines straight. Beyond doubt, an absolutely proper tribute befitting the great MASTER behing the MYTH of fantasy.
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9 of 28 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars Tolkien through a purely Catholic prism, 26 Aug 2001
The strongest part of this book is the review of critical reaction to the choice of "Lord of the Rings" as Book of the Century in a UK Booksellers poll. It certainly shows that the literati didn't exactly strain to understand what draws so many people to read (and re-read) "The Lord of the Rings".

Joseph Pearce picks a wonderful quote from Brenda Partridge, which has parts of the story deconstructed into a tale of male hegemony and sexual violence. The problem for atheist readers is that the shoe horning of any complex story into a rigid framework is just as obvious (and grating) when it's done from the perspective of the orthodox Catholic as from (say) a feminist. In the end, this is a book which has some pleasing insights, but never quite leaves the pages of The Tablet.
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