Why C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien just graced my TBR list for 2025
On Wednesday, John Miltimore wrote on his Substack an article entitled Government Report: Reading ‘Lord of the Rings’ and ‘1984’ Could Make You an Extremist. Yeah, you heard that right.
While I have 1984 on the TBR list at the moment and recently finished its excellent spiritual successor, The Erik Blair Diaries: Battlefield of the Dead, I’ll admit that I’ve always been rather intimidated by J.R.R. Tolkien’s classic. That said, I never considered reading his legendary epic fantasy and yes, before you start joking around, I know, I know, TC has written his own epic fantasy, so why wouldn’t he read the genre?
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Actually, I do read it. I just prefer shorter, sweeter reads like Chronicles of Narnia and this hidden gem called Shadow Runner by K.J. Fieler, which you’ll be hearing about soon. Anyway, why did I just add a good 10 more classics to the 2025 list? Seven from Narnia and three from Tolkien, among their other works?
Really, it’s just my way of flipping off an increasingly totalitarian state that my Quaker ancestors once called home. Okay, so maybe those Quaker ancestors won’t take too kindly to me flipping anyone off, but I can be a little rough around the edges.
Plus, those same Quaker ancestors, in turn, descended from who I’m 99.99 percent sure were Germanic and/or Norse Pagans (and odds are, so were some of yours, I’m guessing). So, sometimes the latter likes to rear its head. Yeah, and this is a guy who just admitted he’s got C.S. Lewis on the TBR list—hey I’m random, I’ll admit it.
What exactly is going on in the UK, anyway?Before I go further, let me just say I’m not ‘picking on’ or ‘singling out’ the UK. I know quite a few people from across the pond and every single one of them is awesome. Plus, there isn’t a single country on this planet that I’ll have a love affair with 100 percent of the time, at least until Ancapistan becomes a thing. Oh, and I’ll probably call every one of them ‘totalitarian states,’ at least in some capacity, at some point.
That said, an article from the Daily Caller entitled Reading Lord of the Rings And 1984 Could Lead To Right-Wing Extremism, Gov’t Report Warns. Since many left-leaning governments (plus those on the right, let’s not fool ourselves) like to use fancy definitions that collectively say something like, “Anything we don’t like is right-wing (or left-wing if the other side is in charge) extremism,” I saw a definite golden opportunity here to read, enjoy, and most likely hand out a trio of positive reviews of Tolkien’s classic in a quest to find what exactly this right-wing extremism is.
Anyway, to answer the question, the article linked above was actually first published nearly two years ago in February 2023. But it was kind of buried under cyber dust until good old Elon Musk brought it into the limelight.
Quoting Miltimore’s piece directly:
“One can see why UK bureaucrats see 1984 as a threat. Orwell’s magnum opus was a warning against precisely this kind of government overreach. The UK now sees the very best literature written by English authors in the 20th century as threats, gateways to “radicalisation.”
“The truth that the UK officials can’t seem to recognize is that they are the extremists.”
So, how did Miltimore come up with what he penned in the above quote? Well, he went on an internet odyssey to find out just what Prevent, a “programme that supports people who are at risk of becoming involved with terrorism through radicalisation,” was.
Miltimore quoted the following from the page:
“Prevent is a national programme that aims to stop people from becoming terrorists or supporting terrorism. It works to ensure that people who are susceptible to radicalisation are offered appropriate interventions, and communities are protected against radicalising influences. Radicalisation can happen when a person develops extreme views or beliefs that support terrorist groups or activities…
“Anyone who is being radicalised can be referred to Prevent. Referring someone ensures they get the help they need to keep them and others safe.” (emphasis mine)
I once watched a movie called Swing Kids, and if you’ve never heard of it, you need to do yourself a favor right now and check it out. Anyway, and if there was one common denominator in the hit classic, it’s that the protagonist, Peter Müller, and those in the Hitlerjugend were encouraged to spy on their friends, family, and even bosses, and to report them if they were caught or, in some cases, suspected, of working against or even insulting the Nazi Party.
What is so radical about J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis?To be frank, I’ve never read Lewis’ nonfiction work and it may be a while before I get to it, as my fiction (and nonfiction) TBR lists are built for 2025. But, maybe the answer lies a little within Chronicles of Narnia and Lord of the Rings?
Obviously, both authors have written more than just these two well-known series, so the full answer may not come until 2026 or later, and that’s if I get one at all. My hypothesis? I'll likely find bits and pieces in each of their respective works and beyond, and get an answer that goes something along the lines of, “They’re preaching or implying things the UK Government doesn’t like.”
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Mark me on that one, but it still doesn’t hurt to go on this little odyssey at some point in 2025.
