John D. Rateliff's Blog, page 94

Hobbit Camp (1977)

So, thanks to Janice S. for the link to this strange, strange story.

http://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/hobbit-camps-fascism-italy

Essentially this tells the story of Tolkien's appropriation in the Italy of the 1970s by 'Traditionalism',
a counter counter-culture movement who even staged their own right-wing Woodstock. Which they chose to call "CAMPO HOBBIT", deliberately evoking Tolkien's character. The movement seems to have fallen apart after 1981, but it's disconcerting to see Tolkien's characters used in such a context and for such a purpose.

And equally disturbing to hear that in these days, with the resurgence of white supremacy here and abroad, that this past summer saw a new such gathering forty years on, "Campo Hobbit 40"

The author of the piece, John Last, concludes that

"Middle Earth remains an empty stage onto which ideologues of all stripes can project their politics."

Except, I wd say, it's not. Middle-earth isn't an empty stage: Tolkien has plenty of ideas, strongly and subtly presented, such as his championing of anarchism with the Ents and their Moot, or his critique of apartheid in Bree. You have to willfully misapprehend him, picking and choosing with deliberation aforethought, to get a White Supremacist tract out of THE LORD OF THE RINGS, much less THE HOBBIT.

Given the climate of our times, and previous attempts by various unsavory groups to claim Tolkien as one of their own,* I think we can expect to see more pieces like this. Unfortunately.

--John R.

current reading: ON EAGLES' WINGS by Anna Thayer (2016), a book on Tolkien's use of deus ex machina, and HUEY P. LONG: SOUTHERN DEMAGOGUE OR AMERICAN DEMOCRAFT? ed. Henry C. Dethloff (1967).


*e.g the notorious 'That Noble Northern Spirit'.

Tolkien Spotting: the Italian Princess

So, thanks to the good folks at the Archives (thanks Mark; thanks Bill), I became aware of the passing Tolkien reference in the October/November issue of NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC: TRAVELER. In the middle of a piece about Sicily, the author encounters Princess Vittoria Alliata di Villafranca, an expert on the Middle East with a doctorate in Islamic studies, author of several books, "including the Italian translation of The Lord of the Rings" (p. 49). A background in Islamic studies seems to be an unusual mix with translating Tolkien; just goes to show the wide array of interests among Tolkienists, here and elsewhere.

--John R.

I'm at Marquette

So, as of yesterday (after a far too early flight) I'm back in Milwaukee again for another research trip delving into the Tolkien manuscripts here at the Archives. Today was mostly spent reading through  my notes and comparing it against the material I've come to work with -- I have to remind myself where I was when I broke off last time; it takes a while to re-engage with such complex material.

This time rather than staying in on-campus housing I'm in a historic hotel not far from the lake, in a neighborhood with lots of cream city brick buildings all around. A beautiful place that's seen better days but has a lot of character (from what I've seen of them some of the clientele seem to be characters as well). Rather to my surprise, it reminds me of several of my old apartments during my grad school years at Marquette, especially the one on Walker.

So, here's hoping the project goes well, I get lots done, and I don't catch pneumonia like I did last time I came to Milwaukee (which played havoc with my ability to do the research I'd come to do).

--John R.
current music: Alan Parsons & his project, on the I-pod
current reading: THE FIRST FOSSIL HUNTERS, suggesting that legends of the titans and cyclops  and griffins were inspired by Greek and Roman discoveries of huge fossil bones.
current anime: CLASSROOM OF THE ELITE (wrapped up just before the trip)

Cat-Walking Wednesday

Just two cats in the cat-room this week, so we were able to give nice long walks to both.
Tiffany had both cats out and in a mellow mood when I arrived, each relaxed and sleeping curled up on or by the bench not far from each other in the outer room. 
We walked Avry first. And, as usual, at first she just kept making bee-lines from wherever I set her down back to the cat-room door. While good exercise, this didn’t seem the best use of her out-of-the-room time. So we carried her over to the far side of the store, setting her down in the training room. After exploring for a bit she did her usual little flirting game, rubbing up against things and weaving in and out among the stools and getting her leash tangled up. After a while we opened the door and she walked around that side of the store for a while. She was out for about forty minutes, maybe a bit more.
Then it was Tris’s turn. As usual she greatly enjoyed just being out of the room, rolling belly-up on the tiles. Then she had a good time walking around the near half of the store. She was very sociable, going up and rubbing up against people to get their attention. Be warned, however, that when she’s belly-up she may look like she’s asking for a belly rub, but she’s not. She was also out for a good long spell, about forty minutes or so.
One thing I noticed: either TIffany is a really good cat-walker, or the cats really like having two walkers to one cat, or both. Both cats were much less hesitant to venture into a new aisle or go into a new area than tends to be the case when I walk them one-on-one. 


Health concern: Tris has a lot of little scabs, especially around her neck. Got a few loose ones off; the rest shd come in time. Think she also has a little cat-acne on her chin, but she wasn’t at all interested in my doing anything about it. Her ears seem okay, at least on a quick check. Cleaned up her bottom some with a wet cloth, which was about her least favorite thing in the world.  Also used another wet cloth to remove some loose fur along her back — she wasn’t sure whether she liked that or not. 
Avry seems to be doing well. She definitely likes having the big cage all to herself, especially having the high ground so nobody can sneak up on her.]
—John R.

This Could Be For Real (Tolkien Biopic)

So, I've been on the record since about the time the HOBBIT films wound down, saying that the next Tolkien film we'd be seeing would not be anything from THE SILMARILLION (to which the studios don't own the rights) or one of Tolkien's minor works (much as I'd enjoy seeing a film of FARMER GILES OF HAM or THE FATHER CHRISTMAS LETTERS), but a film about Tolkien himself.

There have been rumors and announcements over the past few years about this person or that person's plan to make such a film, all of which have, so far as I cd tell, evaporated without leaving any trace behind.

The latest such announcement, however, sounds less ephemeral than most:

http://deadline.com/2017/07/jrr-tolkien-film-dome-karukoski-director-the-lord-of-the-rings-the-hobbit-1202134806/

Rather than just someone's announcing they'd like to do such a film, this has an actual director attached to the project (Dome Karukoski), and a pair of scriptwriters (David Gleeson and Stephen Beresford*), and even a production company (Chernin Entertainment, apparently with the backing of Fox Searchlight). Best of all, it has an entry in the imdb: 
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3361792/
The synopsis here reads: "J.R.R. Tolkien, a love lorn soldier, draws from an epic life on his return from the Great War to create one of the greatest works of literature in "The Lord of the Rings"." -- which makes it sound as if somebody owes Humphrey Carpenter and John Garth a credit. The imdb page also gives the film an alternate title:  A LIGHT IN THE DARKNESS.

The deadline.com announcement had a more detailed synop: 
"explores the formative years of the orphaned author as he finds friendship, love and artistic inspiration among a fellow group of outcasts at school. This takes him into the outbreak of World War I, which threatens to tear the “fellowship” apart. All of these experiences would inspire Tolkien to write his famous Middle-Earth novels."

One description thus focuses on the love story and the other on the TCBS.


Perhaps one thing which makes this iteration seem more real than those preceding it is that this one has an actor attached to it to play the lead part: Nicholas Hoult. 
http://deadline.com/2017/07/nicholas-hoult-jrr-tolkien-movie-the-hobbit-x-men-dark-phoenix-1202135614/

Best known for playing the lovestruck zombie in WARM BODIES, Hoult seems to be making a specialty lately of playing historic figures in a series of recent films: Nikola Tesla, J. D. Salinger, and now Tolkien. More promising, he's also the voice of Fiver in a new adaptation of WATERSHIP DOWN.

Recently they've added an actress to play Edith T as well: Lily Collins  (daughter of musician Phil Collins, formerly of Genesis):


So at least they got a pair of English actors to play the leads, rather than Americanizing the project.


There are a million things that cd go wrong this this project, assuming it ever gets from "pre-production" (= nobody's filmed anything yet) into actually getting filmed, and even released. But already this is the farthest anyone's gotten on an idea that's been kicking around Hollywood's collective mind ever since the last of Peter Jackson's billion dollar babies left the theatres.


Whether it'll actually be any good is of course impossible to tell at this early stage.

The thing Tolkienists will have to keep reminding ourselves of is that the words "based on a true story" = "this is a work of fiction". 

I expect 'creative embellishments' in a Tolkien biopic to be much harder to take, personally, than any adaptation of his work cd be (esp. since Tolkien himself sold the rights for LotR and H to be made into film, yet eschewed biographical inquiry with some insistence).

In short, we know Tolkien himself wd have hated the v. idea. But it looks like it's coming, if not now and with this team then down the road with another. Those of us who cd look on with equanimity at  the outrage of C. S. Lewis fans at Anthony Hopkins portrayal of CSL in SHADOWLANDS** are about to find it's our turn now.


--John R

*note that only Gleeson appears on the imdb page; can't say whether this is for reasons of space Beresford's leaving the project. Time perhaps will tell.

**or Johny Depp's depiction of J. M. Barrie in FINDING NEVERLAND (which actually made Barrie a good deal more normal that he was)

Happy Hobbit Day (belatedly)

So, thanks to Janice S. and Janice K. for the following link to a piece in THE ATLANTIC marking the 80th anniversary of the release of THE HOBBIT last week.  It's nice to see a good example of the mainstreaming of Tolkien's work: I was particularly struck by the use (here and elsewhere, in the pieces on Walter Judd's book) of the word legendarium to describe his imaginary world.

The ATLANTIC writer, Vann R. Newkirk II, early on makes clear that he's an admirer of the book, calling it "the best that literature has to offer".

He's not being condescending by describing Tolkien's book as "quaint, virtuous, and tidy" but wants to emphasize how much such hobbitlike virtues stand out in contrast with R. R. Martin's work. It's  also good to see Newkirk acknowledge how deeply Tolkien's work permeates the fantasy genre, establishing the conventions against which later-day writers react. I do think he overstates his case for Martin as the quintessential modern fantasy writer, failing to take into account, say, J. K. Rowling and Harry Potter, or Sir Terry Pratchett, or Phillip Pullman, or Neil Gaiman, et al.

To his credit, he gets the importance of the languages, and on one point he certainly gets credit for originality: I don't think anyone has ever compared Bilbo with Mohammed Ali before.

Newkirk does ding the book for "paternalism, imperialism, and racial essentialism" but these do not detract for him from its celebration what he calls "quaint values": "the dignity of humanity, the virtue of generosity, a respect for life, a duty to do good, and  the ways in which brotherhood can be used to move men toward those ideals".

I wish the average piece on Tolkien that comes out in mass market magazines was half as good as Newkirk's piece.

Here's the link:

https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2017/09/the-hobbit-80-years-later/540684/

--John R.

I Am Cited by ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY (online)

So, thanks to friend Stephen  and to Janice K. for the links to two online pieces, one by ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY and the other on NPR, on the recently released FLORA OF MIDDLE-EARTH: PLANTS OF J. R. R. TOLKIEN'S LEGENDARIUM by Walter & Graham Judd. (Oxford Univ. Press). At first glance this sounds much like Dinah Hazell's book from about ten years ago (THE PLANTS OF MIDDLE-EARTH: BOTANY AND SUB-CREATION,) which was well-received but seemed on the slight side to me: I'd been hoping for something more along the lines of PHARAOH'S FLOWERS: THE BOTANICAL TREASURES OF TUTANKHAMUN by F. Nigel Hepper, which goes through every piece of plant matter (flowers, woods, seeds) found in Tut's tomb and extrapolated upon what that tells us (e.g. local vs. imported exotic).

Here's the link to the ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY piece, released on August 14th, which includes a good-size excerpt from the book (the entry for 'coffee'):

http://ew.com/books/2017/08/14/flora-of-middle-earth-excerpt/amp/



As for the second piece, it was broadcast on NPR on August 31st and focuses more on the author's explaination of why he did the book; both the original audio program and a transcript thereof are available by pushing the appropriate buttons at the following site:
http://www.npr.org/2017/08/31/547491042/tolkiens-passion-for-plants-moves-botantist-to-create-guide-to-middle-earth



--John R.

The Doom That Came to Lanhkmar

So, during those final days of editing and fine tuning and formatting on A WILDERNESS OF DRAGONS, I needed something completely different to read just to give my mind a rest (otherwise I proofread in my sleep, hour and hour, all night long). And I picked Fritz Leiber, author of the best sword and sorcery fiction ever, and read several books of his that've been on my shelves without getting read till now (as well as rereading a few to reconsider my original responses to them).  I find I much prefer him as an author of fantasy than horror or science fiction, and accordingly got rid of some in the end while restoring the rest to a place of pride.

One thing that struck me came in a passage I'd read a number of times before but somehow missed the essential point of. In NIGHT'S BLACK AGENTS, his first book (Arkham House 1947) Leiber devotes his Foreword to an account of the creation of the characters Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser in a pre-1936 letter by his friend Harry Fischer. He mentions how

"More than ten years ago I opened a letter from
Harry Fischer, wondering what strange conceit
was now in store. The Elder Gods had been pretty
 well worked through.*  Even the overweening
Wischmeiers, destined to be immortalized by a
more trenchant pen,** were temporarily exhausted.

"Sandwiched in the many pages of text,
 I came across the following fragment:

"For all do fear the one known as the Gray Mouser . . . 
[description of G.M. follows]

"Until one [foggy] night  . . . --for the walled city of 
the Tuatha De Danaan called Lankhmar was built 
on the edge of the Great Salt Marsh--  there strode
into the group of lounging bravos a pair of monstrous
men . . . [description of Fafhrd follows]

"Anyhow, they met, and the saga of how the Gray Mouser
 and Fafhrd of the Blue Eyes came to the innermost vaults 
of the City of the Forbidden God and there met death in 
t he moment of victory in no common fashion, was begun.

"My imagination was enthralled and I responded with a
fragment hinting at some further exploits of the two strange
 ruffians . . . Episodes took form, such as Conquest Among 
the Baldest Rats, The Seventh Eye of Ningauble, The 
Adventure of the Grain Ships . . . Eventually a very few
 of these got actually completed and found their way into print . . .

"But the saga continues and the innermost vaults of 
the City of the Forbidden Gods still seem far away."

 So, for one thing I failed to note the interesting detail about Lankhmar being a city of the Tuatha de  Danaan --whose legends do indeed mention four exotic cities that had been the Tuatha de's homes before they came to Ireland (albeit that 'Lankhmar' is not given as the name of one). It might be worthwhile to see if this is just a casual association or if the old Irish myths have other deeper connections with Leiber's cycle.

For another I missed the fascinating fact that the first mention of the two heroes is in a story intended to end with their deaths. In short, a story very like several of Dunsany's thieves' tales or, more specifically, Clark Ashton Smith's THE TALE OF SATAMPRA ZEIROS. And yet so far as I can tell Leiber never returned to or finished that first story, which was to have begun and ended the whole sequence.

--John R.
--Magnolia.


*!
**whose?
***I know that 'Grain Ships' supposedly eventually turned into the novel SWORDS OF LANKHMAR, fifth book in the compiled Ace Books series, but don't know if the Ningauble story ever got published

I'm in Arkansas

So, today, without realizing it at the time, I passed near a spot that figures in the legend of Bonnie & Clyde, just north of Waldo, Arkansas, where they released two people they'd kidnapped down in Ruston, Louisiana earlier in the day.* I wanted to post a link to the story, but unfortunately it appears to be behind the local paper's paywall. Anyway, here's the link to the opening lines; I'll post more later if I can find out more details about the incident once I'm back in Kent parts:

http://www.magnoliabannernews.com/news/2017/aug/31/when-bonnie-and-clyde-came-waldo/

--John R.

*April 27th, 1933, about a year before their execution by ambush on May 23rd 1934

Terry Pratchett's steamroller

So, I see the news today that the latest in the Stieg Larsson Lizbeth Salander series, better known as THE GIRL WHO books, is just out.

Of course it's not written by Larsson, who died more than a decade ago, but instead by a noted biographer named David Lagercranz. Nor does it follow any plot left behind by Larsson; it's wholly new material written to continue the series beyond the point where the author stopped.


The good news is that it seems this continuing of an author's setting and characters that has befallen Larsson will not be Terry Pratchett's fate. In fact, Pratchett felt so strongly about his work being his own, not to be continued by other hands, that he left orders for whatever unfinished books he was working on at the time of his death to be destroyed. Which instruction was just carried out by his estate, with a certain amount of panache: running over his computer's hard drive with a steam roller. And not just any 'steam roller' but an actual antique steam-powered one. Here's the story:


https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/aug/30/terry-pratchett-unfinished-novels-destroyed-streamroller

As someone who was an early adaptor and longtime fan of Pratchett's work,* I'm sorry that there won't be any more of it, but at the same time there are plenty of genuine Pratchett books to read and re-read. And a few, even, that I haven't gotten to yet (having found I didn't care for his later books as much).

--John R.


*(esp. the footnotes)