# LotR: Snobbery in the Big Read?



## Gary Gamgee (Dec 13, 2003)

*LotR wins the big read.*

The UK has chosen LotR as it's favourite book, in the BBC poll. It's not the first time we have chosen this book it also topped the millenium poll. It was obvious during the show that the BBC did not want LotR to win, but no matter coz it did. There were some incredibly nasty comments about the book, and almost none on the other top five contenders. And although they hate fantasy only one book in the top five wasn't. Snobbery is livid. It wanted Jane Austin to win.

Tolkien's grandson was on the show and in his acceptance speach he told how his grandfather had dreaded the book being published because he 'put his heart into this book' and was not ready for the shots to be fired at it. Simon Tolkien then said 'many shots have been fired but so has alot of love'. Amen.

Here's the top five list*in case your interested*

1. The Lord of the Rings
2. Pride and Prejudice 
3. His Dark Materials
4. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
5. Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire


----------



## Gothmog (Dec 13, 2003)

There you go. As promised your thread is back.


----------



## Inderjit S (Dec 14, 2003)

Yes, I feel there was a strong anti-LoTR attitude in relation to the panel of “experts” (or so they call themselves) reviews of LoTR and also the hosts mocking attitude of Tolkien’s masterpiece, seemingly unaware that he could never writ something with the breadth, beauty and depth of _The Lord of the Rings_.

It seemed to me that the female judge hasn't even _finished_ the book (She said something along the lines of "In this reading I got further then usual) and the judge who voted for Pullman's book, seemed more concerned with telling us that _His Dark Materials_ was better then LoTR. 

As usual, the same old arguments were spewed forth as the BBC jumped on the anti-LoTR bandwagon.

"Everyone is either good or evil, there is no middle"

Well, what about Boromir, Denethor or Gollum? Or even Frodo and his claiming of the Ring at Sammath Naur? 

"Not enough strong female roles"

Well, what about Éowyn and Galadriel?

I'm sure there were others, but it's been a day since it came on and I cannot remember the other anti-LoTR rhetoric.

But congratulations anyway, for LoTR, in deservedly winning the award! 

(On a side note, 1984 and Birdsong should have been way higher! Also where was Animal Farm?


----------



## Ancalagon (Dec 14, 2003)

I agree with you both completely, I was shouting abuse at the panel when they were commenting. Such arrogance showed a direct parallel to the dismissive attitude Tolkien recieved from Scholars when it was first published. Tolkien never intended the book to be a classic, it was an entity all of its own, a story for England, shunned by academics yet adored by all those who could free the mind enough to understand it.


----------



## Beleg (Dec 14, 2003)

yes, Animal Farm deserved to be in there.


----------



## Wonko The Sane (Dec 14, 2003)

I agree Ancalagon...and the panel shouldn't have been so biased...

But I don't see what's wrong with wanting Jane Austen to win...
What's wrong with Jane Austen?

It's not necessarily snobbery to prefer one kind of novel over another, and as loved as LotR is, not everyone is a fan of fantasy.

Some people prefer realism, and a LOT of people don't approve of the sort of "espacist" tendencies fantasy fans sometimes employ.
People who try to always live in "the real world" often prefer movies, music, books, etc. that reflect their view on "the real world."

That isn't to say that BBC-show presenters can't like Tolkien, just that there's nothing wrong with NOT liking Tolkien.

They shouldn't have necessarily expressed their bias against it, but they also weren't under any strict obligation to be completely objective. It wasn't a news program, where objectivity is important, neither was it a scientific study where it would have been bad for them to have possibly influenced voters with their comments...


It's sad that they said what they said...but they don't HAVE to like Tolkien...they don't have to think it should win. They can support other books, and they have a right to express those opinions.

Snobbery is wrong...but expressing an opinion isnt' necessarily so. It may have been wrong to say "nasty" things about LotR, but it's not necessarily wrong for the judges to promote one book over another. They're entitled to their own opinions...

I don't agree with them...but not everyone has to agree all the time.

The panel of judges don't represent everyone, they represent themselves.
Obviously LotR being as good as it is, helped it win.

But the movies also contributed...people who hadn't even read the book may have voted based on the success of the movies...

And that's something the judges perhaps wanted to combat?

I would if I were them...they may have felt threatened by LotR ONLY because The Big Read was meant to be about reading, and yet a book was winning POSSIBLY on it's cinematical merits rather than its literary merits.


And even if that WASN'T the case, I still maintain they have a right to their own opinions!


LotR is a GREAT book, but it doesn't have to be the best for it to still be great, and you don't have to appreciate it less just because others don't agree with you.


----------



## Eledhwen (Dec 15, 2003)

I watched David Frost on Sunday morning interviewing Clive Anderson (Big Read Presenter) and Simon Tolkien.

Anderson admitted that much of his own downtalking of Lord of the Rings was to stir up competition, because Tolkien's book was running away with it. This does not excuse the panel of "experts", of course!

I really envy Simon Tolkien, who apparently badgered his Grandad with endless questions about the unwritten parts of the book (he mentioned the other two Istari), and he should be plied for the answers he was given.

Simon T said that he felt The Big Read was definitely a "Book" thing, and that people who only watched the film wouldn't have been interested in voting, and probably ignored the whole thing.

By the way, I think Pride and Prejudice is a great book by a great author - way ahead of its time and beautifully crafted. But It didn't make me cry, and LotR did, and still does!

Faerie is like Marmite. You love it or hate it.


----------



## Wonko The Sane (Dec 19, 2003)

Well, Pride and Prejudice DID make me cry, and LotR did too.

But still, I don't believe that it's necessarily snobbery to talk one book down and others up.

It's opinion. Us die-hard Tolkien fans might SEE it as snobbery because of how much we love Tolkien's works..but that doesn't make the snobbery real.

Sorry...:-/


----------

