Turbo wrote:
We should be careful not to put our own interpretations of the words as fact. What he says as I understand it is not that the movies will harm the books or make them dissapear, but that he doesn't consider the movies to be very accurate representations of the books. Either way the comments is about the movies.

The (translated) article that I read implies very strongly that CTs view is that the movies harm the books and Tolkien's Legacy.

For example, the following quote is attributed to CT: "The chasm between the beauty and seriousness of the work, and what it has become, has gone too far for me. Such commercialisation has reduced the esthetic and philosophical impact of this creation to nothing. There is only one solution for me: turning my head away."

The above quote could indeed be taken as "The movies in and of themselves have no aesthetic or philosophical impact", but that certainly isn't how most people seem to have read it (judging by the various comments on various fora). It has widely been read as "The movies and commercialisation have reduced the value of the original work to nothing".

It may be that the article is ambiguous (or the translation is ambiguous), unfortunately. Readers can only go on the words that are written...

He says that about the commercialisation which is itself an effect of the movies.

In a way perhaps what he dislikes or regrets is that the movies have now become more genreally known than the books.

Especially if he don't think of the moveis as good representations of the story.

Sorry, but of course that's his point. The movies are, for a start, derivative; additionally, in my opinion, they're crap --as they have very little in common with the works of J. R. R. Tolkien. That these are better known (if that is actually the case) is a travesty, both for fans of literature, & for The Tolkien Estate --as they are a catastrophic misrepresentation of the literature they derive from.

This in itself is not (or does not need to be) particularly important to you or me --but it is for a the heirs of J. R. R. Tolkien, whose job it is to preserve & share the literature (& its "message", whatever that may be) that Tolkien left the world. I suggest to you that Christopher thinks Jackson has made a poor job of this.

BH

Khamul wrote:
Sorry, but of course that's his point. The movies are, for a start, derivative; additionally, in my opinion, they're crap --as they have very little in common with the works of J. R. R. Tolkien. That these are better known (if that is actually the case) is a travesty, both for fans of literature, & for The Tolkien Estate --as they are a catastrophic misrepresentation of the literature they derive from.

This in itself is not (or does not need to be) particularly important to you or me --but it is for a the heirs of J. R. R. Tolkien, whose job it is to preserve & share the literature (& its "message", whatever that may be) that Tolkien left the world. I suggest to you that Christopher thinks Jackson has made a poor job of this.

BH

Out of interest, is CT on record as having an opinion with regards to the BBC Radio dramatisation of the LoTR? I thought that it succeeded in pretty much every aspect where the movies utterly failed.

He said it sucked too!

BH

Khamul wrote:
He said it sucked too!

BH

I thought that might be the case, somehow. Other than missing out Tom Bombadil, I thought it was great, but hey, CT is entitled to his opinion, even if it is wrong :)

Edit: Add, so you were just winding me up, huh. Bah, etc.

Khamul wrote:
He said it sucked too!

No, he didn't! () Christopher was involved with the production; he sent the scriptwriters tapes of how to pronounce Tolkien's words and names. The BBC made a typescript of this - the Tolkien Society had a few copies for sale way back when; I bought one.

Interestingly enough, CT reckoned Thengel ought to have been pronounced 'Thenjel' - then changed his mind: 'Thenjel' is correct in Old English, but not in Middle-earth.

I bow to your superior knowledge garm!
(Although, I was kidding.)

BH

Yeh, I know - I forgot to pop in a smilie after 'No, he didn't!

Put one in for you!

BH