The Power of Tolkien's Prose Middle-Earth's Magical Style [Paperback]

Shortlisted for the 2011 Mythopoeic Scholarship Award forInklingsStudiesTolkien's unparalleled popularity has been largely attributed to his gifts as a storyteller and his thematic currency. But The Lord of the Rings may have become a modern classic for a deeper reason than we've noticed: Tolkien is a first-rate stylist. The Power of Tolkien's Prose illuminates the multifaceted appeal of Tolkien's prose style in dimensions ranging from his fantastic realism to his revitalizing imagery to his dynamic narrative to his expansive characterization to his engaging language. Viewed through the lens of Steve Walker's stylistic appreciation, Tolkien's fiction emerges as a new dimension of perception.Introduction: Things Deeper and Higher Ordinary Everyday Magic Blade and Leaf Listening The Road Goes On for Ever And On and On and On The Potency of the Words Just a Bit of Nonsense Conclusion: What You Will See, If You Leave the Mirror Free to Work

Walker has read both widely and deeply in Tolkien's fiction, essays, and published letters, and uses all of these . . .There are many other worthwhile discussions of Tolkien's love of resuscitating dead metaphor, and his use of religion, coincidence, luck, prefiguring, and much else . . . The Power of Tolkien's Prose therefore helps to fill a gap in Tolkien scholarship. It is essentially a survey of the varieties of Tolkien's prose, an overview touching on a wide range of stylistic components, occasionally delving deep into particular sections. - Tolkien Studies

Behind the beloved stories, Walker unveils Tolkien's mastery of language, symbol, and style. With scholarly rigor and a vivid style of his own, Walker finds in Tolkien's fiction every important attribute his detractors have declared that it lacked. From now on, you cannot speak intelligently about Tolkien's writing without taking into account all the arguments in Walker's book. Walker takes his place beside Tom Shippey in the vanguard of serious Tl³(