literary cage match: rowling v. tolkien

[crotch_cricket]

can tolkien overcome being dead to pile drive rowling into the canvas?

 

[Nightierub]

We can only hope...

 

[KRCummings]

Rowling uses a spare billion to buy someone to kick Tolkeins ass then goes off to write a Harry Potter spellbook that will earn her another 20 billion or so.

 

[Pika_Reet]

Rowling did an amazing thing - she rekindled the love of reading in children of all ages everywhere.

Tolkien created an incredibly sophisticated world to present his classic "Good vs Evil" story that still captivates the imagination, generations later.

Apples and oranges.

I think they'd shake hands, pull out their wands and melt the cage, walking out equals.

 

[Nightierub]

I'm not personally one of the Harry Potter or Twilight series haters per se. Just not my thing, well I can't relate and am perfectly happy with Tolkien, Robert E Howard, RA Salvatore, etc. It is good that kids are getting a love of reading tho.

 

[crotch_cricket]

tolkein needed a better corner man.

 

[atmas]

tolkein needed a better corner man.

He had CS Lewis. Rowling has, what? Piers Morgan?
Good luck.

 

[butters]

if it wasn't for tolkien, i don't think harry potter would ever have been written.

 

[about_average]

I don't pay any attention to Rowling...is there something in the news I missed?

 

[Wrong Element]

I agree with the "apples and oranges" comment. I don't think they're playing in the same arena.

I loved Harry Potter and never had a Tolkien phase, so I'm probably not the ideal judge here.

 

[Pika_Reet]

if it wasn't for tolkien, i don't think harry potter would ever have been written.

IF it wasn't for Shakespeare, Chaucher, Plato....

 

[islandman]

I devoured the Tolkien books as a kid. I've yet to read a Rowling book, so I can't offer an educated opinion.

 

[pink]

I devoured the Tolkien books as a kid. I've yet to read a Rowling book, so I can't offer an educated opinion.

*gasp*

 

[butters]

IF it wasn't for Shakespeare, Chaucher, Plato....

not quite what i was getting at, though you are no doubt correct... i meant that the parallels between her story and the LOTR are so clear it illustrates how much LOTR's influenced her write, even if she didn't realise it at the time.

I devoured the Tolkien books as a kid. I've yet to read a Rowling book, so I can't offer an educated opinion.

seriously, do yourself the favour of giving the HP series a shot. read them in order, though, and suspend the thought 'this is a kid's book' because it is a people's book. there's no guarantee you'll love them, but so many people who knock them have never read them, wondering why adults would read fiction aimed at kids.

 

[about_average]

I devoured the Tolkien books as a kid. I've yet to read a Rowling book, so I can't offer an educated opinion.

I read the first one. Comparing the two is like....like...I can't think of an apt comparison. Maybe like comparing a diamond with a cubic zirconia. Superficially they appear similar, but when you look inside....

 

[gravyrug]

I devoured the Tolkien books as a kid. I've yet to read a Rowling book, so I can't offer an educated opinion.

I was a huge Tolkein nerd for a very long time, and reread The Hobbit & LOTR many times, even read the Silmaillion (and that was tough slogging for a kid). I've now read all the Harry Potter books at least twice, and some of them more. They are very different stories, but as chipbutty said, without LOTR, Harry Potter wouldn't have been published. Both are good, well-written stories, with archetypal characters and themes. I liked both, but I can definitely understand why some would prefer one over the other. It all depends on what your preferences are.

For the record, I've recently started rereading Potter (again), and am enjoying it nearly as much as the first time.

 

[butters]

I was a huge Tolkein nerd for a very long time, and reread The Hobbit & LOTR many times, even read the Silmarillion (and that was tough slogging for a kid). I've now read all the Harry Potter books at least twice, and some of them more. They are very different stories, but as chipbutty said, without LOTR, Harry Potter wouldn't have been published. Both are good, well-written stories, with archetypal characters and themes. I liked both, but I can definitely understand why some would prefer one over the other. It all depends on what your preferences are.

For the record, I've recently started rereading Potter (again), and am enjoying it nearly as much as the first time.

to be fair, it wasn't anything i gave a thought to whilst reading the Hp's. it wasn't until i was rewatching the LOTR films, especially the Return of the King, that it really hit me.

 

[Sean Renaud]

Rowling uses a spare billion to buy someone to kick Tolkeins ass then goes off to write a Harry Potter spellbook that will earn her another 20 billion or so.

Tolkein summons fanboys.

 

[islandman]

Truth be told, I enjoyed Baum's Oz series of books much more than Tolkien.

 

[butters]

please, people, it's Tolkien



*shakes head*

 

[butters]

gravy, have you read The Children of Húrin? as for the Silmarillion, it was a slog for me, not managing to engage me the way The Hobbit and LOTR did.

 

[hobbit.]

if it wasn't for tolkien, i don't think harry potter would ever have been written.

IF it wasn't for Shakespeare, Chaucher, Plato....

Thank fuck that some human ancestor invented writing....

or was reading invented first?

All those book writing types.....

~edited to add- Tolkien should just shoot rowling on the way into the arena.

 

[butters]

Truth be told, I enjoyed Baum's Oz series of books much more than Tolkien.

thankyou that ei thing gets right on my nerves

i am unfamiliar with those books - got a brief description?

 

[butters]

Thank fuck that some human ancestor invented writing....

or was reading invented first?

All those book writing types.....

~edited to add- Tolkien should just shoot rowling on the way into the arena.

heheheh - or demand royalties

 

[Sean Renaud]

gravy, have you read The Children of Húrin? as for the Silmarillion, it was a slog for me, not managing to engage me the way The Hobbit and LOTR did.

That's because the Silmarillion is like the Bible. I'm not sure it was ever meant to be read at all.