num_pages: 382
description: It is a widely accepted point of view that J.R.R Tolkien was dismissive of the modern fiction of his time, and that ‘The Hobbit’ and ‘The Lord of the Rings’ were fundamentally medieval and nostalgic in their inspiration. “Tolkien's Modern Reading: Middle-earth Beyond the Middle Ages” takes this claim, coming from one of his first biographers, and reexamines it through new meticulous archival research.This groundbreaking Catholic script by Holly Ordway reveals how Tolkien, in fact, had a fantastic imagination and understanding of both the facts and the fiction of the modern world. In contrast to the widely accepted image of Tolkien, this influential book portrays him enjoying a broad range of contemporary works, engaging with them in detail and depth— And Even naming specific titles as sources for, and influences upon his creation of Middle-earth.This Christian book shows Tolkien admired authors such as James Joyce and Beatrix Potter, Rider Haggard and Edith Nesbit, William Morris, and Kenneth Grahame. Ordway further mentions how the forgotten works of S.R. Crockett and J.H. Shorthouse also made a significant impression on Tolkien's work.In an effort to show Tolkien’s genius in a new light, Ordway's painstaking scholarship portrays how Tolkien's book was connected with the literature of his own time and at the same time concerned with the issues of the contemporary culture. Ordway's ground-breaking study illuminates his views on topics such as technology, women, empire, and race. For Tolkien's genius was not simply backward-looking: it was intimately connected with the literature of his own time and concerned with the issues and crises of modernity.
language: English
title: Tolkien's Modern Reading: Middle-earth Beyond the Middle Ages
publisher: Park Ridge