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Aftersleep Books
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Celebrating Middle-Earth The Lord of the Rings AsThe following report compares books using the SERCount Rating (base on the result count from the search engine). |
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Aftersleep Books - 2005-06-20 07:00:00 | © Copyright 2004 - www.aftersleep.com () | sitemap | top |
Virtually every political and cultural movement of the past forty years, from free-spirited hippies in the '60s, to strident environmentalists in the '70s, to Christian conservatives in the new millennium. has tried to co-opt Tolkien books as emblematic of their particular concerns. It is a testament to the richness of his work that people from such disparate viewpoints see therein a reflection of their notions.
Those from the left side of the political spectrum sometimes refuse to acknowledge this, but their wishful thinking aside, the truth is that Tolkien was a staunch conservative, in every sense of the word. He attended Mass almost every single day of his life, and he frequently bemoaned liberal ways of thinking.
These essays are largely written by like-minded people who understand Tolkien's point of view. If you're interested in learning what really made Tolkien tick, read this book. Peter Kreeft's essay alone is worth the price. Tolkien was by no means a racist (he famously said in his valedictory speech at Oxford, "I have the hatred of apartheid in my bones" -- many years before that view became fashionable), but he didn't see the defense of Western civilization as synonymous with racism. He didn't love war, but he understood well the folly of burying one's head in the sand. (See the debate between Gandalf and the Saruman-enchanted Theoden in "The Two Towers" for a startling parallel to contemporary argument.)
If you're a liberal pacifistic atheist, you may not agree with what you read here. But then, Tolkien wouldn't agree with your point of view either.