Posted by Brian Sams on November 02, 1999 at 16:22:38:
In Reply to: Re: What would happen... posted by Jessica on July 12, 1998 at 14:23:05:
: : I would like to know anyones opinion about what modern fantasy novels would be like if J.R.R. Tolkien had never written his epic novels.
: In my opinion, there would be no modern fantasy without him. So much in life depends on the people that have gone before, and writing is no exception. Tolkien did for fantasy what the television did for the average person when it came out: made people interested.
Tolkien obviously brought fantasy to a new level of detail and integrity. With Tolkien, for the first time, there was a true attempt a verisimilitude that is similar to a Beowulf. Instead of relying on a fairytale world of magic without explanation and readers who would be satisfied with a simple "flight of fancy," Tolkien treats his world and its characters with earnest concern for consistency and detail. Rather than comparing to Tolkien to television, (a previous response - please take no offense) I would compare compare what Tolkien has done for fantasy what what Shakespeare did for theatre - he created a cast of characters, some more believable than others and a few who are so compelling that they will leave a deep impression on anyone who meets them, not because they represent a type, but because they are a complete, well crafted and consistent character.
Another way to say this, hopefully clarifying it, is that Tolkien made his world three dimensional, more than just an analogy or a fairytale. It has a quality of depth and texture. Maybe you could even say that Tolkien did for fantasy writing what Star Wars did for science fiction movies. You could use Bradbury's definition of quality from Fahrenheit 451 for Tolkien and it would fit exactly. Without Tolkien, I don't know - perhaps we would have been spared the flurry of unworthy imitators and as a result lost some of the truly good writers that emerged from the mess. I suspect that eventually the world would have created something similar, but there is no doubt that Tolkien was a jump in the evolutionary process of fantasy. When that happens in science or art, we call the person a genius, and I wouldn't hesitate to use that term with Tolkien. I hope that he will yet be recognized by the establishment as a serious contributor to the literary canon.
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