The New York Times has published a remarkable collection of articles going all the way back to 1938 about J.R.R. Tolkien and his works.
March 13, 1938, the New York Times published its review ofThe Hobbit. Anne T. Eaton wrote: “This is one of the most freshly original and delightfully imaginative books for children that have appeared in many a long day.” Whereas today many authors are compared to Tolkien, he was compared by this reviewer to Lewis Carroll, who wrote Alice in Wonderland andThrough the Looking Glass many decades before The Hobbitwas published.
On November 26, 1950, Irene Smith wrote a brief introduction to Farmer Giles of Ham. “There is a rare flavor in this new tale by the author of ‘The Hobbit,'” she noted.
On October 31, 1954, the New York Times published W.H. Auden’s legendary review of The Fellowship of the Ring. “I think some readers may find the opening chapter a little shy-making,” he wrote, but “they must not let themselves be put off, for, once the story gets moving, this initial archness disappears.”
On May 1, 1955, Donald Barr followed in Auden’s footsteps with Shadowy world of Men and Hobbits, a review of The Two Towers. “This work is much admired by certain critics who have always practiced a highly conscious and proud intellectualism,” he observed. “Mr. Tolkien’s fantasy is not metaphysical like E. R. Eddison’s, nor theological like George MacDonald’s; his appeal to the intellectuals is therefore interesting.”
On January 22, 1956, Auden returned with a review of The Return of the King. After rambling on about choices, Auden concluded: “Mr. Tolkien is not as great a writer as Milton, but in this matter he has succeeded where Milton failed.”
All of Tolkien’s books are reviewed, but there are also contempory glimpses into the author’s life and career, such as“Oxford Calling”, from June 5, 1955, and “The Prevalence of Hobbits”, from January 15, 1967.
Articles extend well beyond J.R.R. Tolkien’s life into his son Christopher’s career as a posthumous collaborator, including“Middle-earth Revisited”, published in 1983.
The careful Tolkien researcher will note many errors of fact, and the classicist cannot help but note the irony of the firm attributions of medievalism to Tolkien by contemporaries who did not know he viewed himself as a classicist. Nonetheless, some of Tolkien’s less well-documented medieval sources are mentioned in passing, and his work as a scholar is often thrown in as window dressing on articles both devoted and superficial.
Early glimpses into Tolkienmania discuss the $3 million “Hobbit” television special as well as the Ralph Bakshi production of “The Lord of the Rings” and a 1986 stage production of The Lord of the Rings.
“Tolkien’s legions of fans have very precise ideas about how Middle-earth and its inhabitants should look and sound,” John Culhane wrote on November 27, 1977, the day “The Hobbit” was first broadcast on NBC. “–a fact which raises the question of whether or not any screen adaptation of his work can be truly hobbit-forming.” Culhane concludes a brief recap of Tolkien cinematic history as it then stood by noting “the Walt Disney Studio considered animating ‘The Hobbit,’ but decided against the project because the work lacked the kind of humor that audiences expect from Disney animation and because any attempt to alter Tolkien’s story to inject such humor might result in bad will and vocal resentment among Tolkien devotees.”
“I am not going to alter the story,” says Bakshi of “The Lord of the Rings.”
“In consequence, Boone may have been intimidated when the recording sessions began. ‘I kept saying, “Dick, you’re not broad enough,”‘ said Rankin. ‘Finally, he burst into flame. He hit Orson with the coffee and the music stand and the script. And we had our dragon.'”
Readers will want to bookmark The New York Times J.R.R. Tolkien featured author page, as it provides a fascinating glimpse of the author’s emergence, growth, death, and subsequent impact upon our culture.
Thanks to Michael Siminski for pointing us to the site.
