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Voronwë_the_Faithful
Valinor
Oct 24 2018, 6:42pm
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A modern Fairy-story
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In addition to the review of The Fall of Gondolin that I posted about earlier, I also have a paper in the just released Fall issue of Mythlore, the journal of the Mythopoeic Society, entitled "A Modern Fairy-story: Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell Seen Through the Prism of Tolkien's Classic Essay." Here is the abstract describing the paper:
"Tolkien’s essay “On Fairy-stories” provides both a definitive discussion of fairy-stories and their relationship to myth and fantasy and his most explicit analysis of his own art. In addition, in carefully laying out over the course of his essay what makes a true fairy-story, he also makes it possible to analyze other artists’ works to determine how successful they are as fairy-stories. Susanna Clarke’s Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell meets those standards on every point, and is thus shown to be a true modern fairy-story in the tradition that Tolkien documents so plainly."
The issue can be purchased at http://www.mythsoc.org/...ore/mythlore-133.htm
If anyone is interested in reading the paper, but doesn't want to purchase the full issue, contact me privately and I can send you a copy of the paper via email (but there is lots of great content at Mythlore and it is worth getting!)
'But very bright were the stars upon the margin of the world, when at times the clouds about the West were drawn aside.'
The Hall of Fire
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Yva
Lorien
Oct 24 2018, 7:16pm
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Oh dear, I'm so happy to see a Tolkien scholar write aboout JSaN as it's one my favourite books and I was absolutely enthralled the first time I read it. I also saw a lot of parallels there, especially on the "creating a mythology for England and linking it with the real world" front, and I especially loved how it was mythology for Northern England. I have actually always been puzzled by why there was so little academic interest in JSaN. I'll definitely get the electronic version, thanks!
Edit: Got it :D
(This post was edited by Yva on Oct 24 2018, 7:20pm)
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Voronwë_the_Faithful
Valinor
Oct 24 2018, 7:24pm
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I'll look forward to hearing what you think!
'But very bright were the stars upon the margin of the world, when at times the clouds about the West were drawn aside.'
The Hall of Fire
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Khim
Bree
Dec 1 2018, 9:10pm
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Rare case of enjoying a book and its adaptation.
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Not a reply about your review, sorry, but an acknowledgement that I liked that book very much, and was surprised that I also enjoyed the TV mini-series.
I am one of those who almost always prefer the book. When I enjoy an adaptation, it often indicates I’m not passionate about the source. I liked Jonathan Strange, but I never obsessed about it. So the nod I give the show is one I’ve never given to any Dune adaptation, and Mr Jackson’s LOTR only gets a nice try from me, and his Hobbit not even that.
A notible exception to this rule is Fielding’s Tom Jones. I love that book! And I’ve always enjoyed the award winning movie, and the A&E mini-series, done when that channel lived up to its name. I’ve long ago cut my TV cable.
As someone more qualified to judge, I wonder what your opinion of the Jonathan Strange TV show might be. Does it capture the spirit of the book despite the contraction of the tale, or do you think it’s a sad parody?
If you haven’t seen it don’t consider this a recommendation, you no doubt have better ways to spend your time.
I am Khim akin to Mim.
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Voronwë_the_Faithful
Valinor
Dec 2 2018, 12:10am
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I Quite Liked the BBC Adaptation of JS&MN
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And as you can probably guess, I am quite obsessive about the book. I thought the adaptation was one of the best that I have seen. There were a few things that were changed that annoyed me but only because I am so intimately familiar with the source material. But overall I thought the spirit of the book was pretty well captured, and most of the characters well-portrayed.
But the book is much better!
Since you mention Dune, I will say that I think that David Lynch's film of Dune may well be the worst adaptation of a source material that I love that I have ever seen. The mini-series produced by the SciFi channel was better, but still wasn't very good. I hear that there is another movie in the works, but I don't have very high hopes.
'But very bright were the stars upon the margin of the world, when at times the clouds about the West were drawn aside.'
The Hall of Fire
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