Are they meme books?
no, the meme books are good.
>>7462441
They're good; but they are not, as autists will sometimes tell you, the best books ever. I feel personally that if Tolkien could see what his novels have done to the literary world he would regret writing them.
>>7462442
/thread
>>7462441
I love them to bits, but it's not because they're the best books/movies ever. I just like the world and lore.
Best book series hand down. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise, they're just desenting for the sake of disent
>>7462459
He actually did.
"Novels were a mistake."
J.R.R. Tolkien
>>7462524
> they're just desenting for the sake of disent
the level of discourse of the people who enjoy this tripe.
>>7462459
Tolkien didn't have that much influence on fantasym, almost everything that you hate about it comes from Howard and Lieber.
>>7462441
let's just say they didn't age well
>>7462535
Do you think Tolkein would have been an Asukafag or Reifag?
The whole meme book thing is a meme.
>>7462595
Asukafag
>>7462441
I absolutely adore Tolkien with all my heart.
He inspired me to do so many things. Music, art language/script creation, writing.
All because of Tolkien. He's more creative than many entire nations.
>>7462595
asuka
>>7462491
this
>>7463090
>He's more creative than many entire nations.
See this is why people hate Tolkien
>>7463230
People on 4chan hate anything people obsess over. This whole site is a "How dare you like anything" meme.
>>7462441
*Is it
It's a single book of multiple volumes
>>7463245
Which is actually good because it discourages plebianism
>>7463486
>Which is actually good because it discourages plebianism
Too bad everyone here is basic as fuck. "lol dude Gravity's Rainbow lmao!"
You're not a special unique patrician snowflake
>>7462441
Not meme books. Shit books. If they were a meme, lit would obsess over them.
>>7463492
>using 'basic' unironically
>>7463492
I never said I was. I think being intentionally elitist is better than the alternative of discussing the same shit all the time. And sure, the board has favorites, but it's not as if those works are discussed non-stop. There are zero Gravity's Rainbow or Pynchon threads in the Catalog right now, so...
>>7463090
mah nigga
I've read The Hobbit and LOTR during the most horrible year in my life, and I was struck by the magnitude of his world and the power of his writing, and they provided me great escapism. It's not only a nostalgic sort of attraction I have to him, I read The Silmarilion as a "mature" person, and was excited just the same. Sometimes I listen to Summoning or to Howard Shore's score at night and fantasize about Arda.
>>7462441
Great story, told horribly.
>>7465061
spoken truly like someone who tried reading them in middle school and couldn't finish
Am I the only one that liked reading the Silmarillion more than LotR? I think his worldbuilding and lore was 10/10, but the main story was a slog at points.
>>7465100
This is exactly my feeling towards him. He was never a good author or a storyteller. He was a brilliant worldbuilder and made some incredible mythology.
>>7462441
Tolkien is possibly the best author.
Most "Tolkienesque" fantasy doesn't actually have much to do with Tolkien at all ; the goals and inspirations of his writing (that's to say, thoroughly Catholic and attempting to portray the true myth that leads to Christ) are still unique.
What "fantasy" authors do is borrow LOTR on its surface level - so you have men who are advanced and violent or whatever, dwarves who are assholes and elves who live a long time. All the symbolism is gone, all the richness and biblical lore.
So yeah, Forgotten Realms wants to look like Tolkien but is it, in any way, connected to his vision? Not at all.
>>7466029
Yes, but keep in mind that the allegory for was only for the series. He introduced badass fighting techniques into the literary world. Without him we wouldn't have the action and adventure dramas so many book series would not have been completed and fulfilled.
>>7466040
tbqh I rather read HP fanfiction than derivative high fantasy, it's mostly terrible. Worldbuilding for the sake of worldbuilding and masturbating over political complexity and magical systems.
>>7466060
It's more than that. It introduces new and interesting ideas in new ways. Many comic books and action movies do this, yet, are looked down upon for not being allegorical. The allegory doesn't need to be crammed in through the use of symbolism. That's what makes the Star Wars series so popular and compatible.
>>7466029
original D&D was influenced by Tolkien only a very small amount, interestingly enough.
It was mostly books like the Grey Mouser and Whateverthefuckhisnameis. Lankmar.
Conan and shit
The greatest worldbuilder is still Greg Stafford. Tolkien is aight, but he honestly doesn't match the fun and playfulness of Glorantha, nor the level of thought put into everything.
I think watching /lit/ play King of Dragon Pass would be hilarious.
>>7462595
>Strong teutonic hard-working girl
vs.
>Obedient asiatic mass-produced girl
Shit pham, I wonder.
>mfw reading the younger Edda and realizing how much Tolkien plagiarized from it
>>7467702
>names and images
Wow so much plagiarism
>>7467736
the whole thing about elves and dwarves (that live in the mountains), the magical ring, the exact names of the dwarves, the name of Gandalf, even the poetry (Theodens speech before the battle at the plains). I'm sure there's more.
>>7467736
Well...
>Considering the book is prAISED FOR IT'S WORLD BUILDING MORE THSN ANYTHING ELSE, I.E. ITS NAMES AND IMAGES....
plen
>>7467754
>>7467766
Okay let's organize things a little here though, the Dwarves and Gandalf were not characters originally meant to be in Tolkien's Arda, along with anything else from the Hobbit for that matter, so their names being taken from the Poetic Edda is excusable since they're not built but imported characters. The Elves are only like Norse Elves in that they're fair looking, otherwise they're totally different. I don't know where you're getting the whole dwarves that live in the mountains thing from because Tolkien's dwarves (excepting Mim from the Silmarillion who is way more in line with norse dwarves) do live in mountains but Norse ones don't necessarily.
The Ring is totally different from Andvari's ring in its properties except for the fact that they're both circles and gold, which is a common enough image.
On the poetry you can't call using a certain style or format that fits the assumed culture of the character plagiarism.
