Interview with Tolkien
Aug. 18th, 2010 09:03 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dreamflowerThe BBC has archived for streaming THIS DOCUMENTARY made in 1968. An interview with JRRT in Oxford, interspersed with interviews with various Oxford students about their opinions on the books. Cut for spoilers...
It was great fun to see him talking about his work, and I enjoyed hearing what he had to say about things. I have to say my favorite part was when they showed him just casually writing out in Tengwar "Elen sila lumenn omentielvo".
It was funny to see some of the students' opinions--the atmosphere of the late sixties was very much in evidence. For some reason, the girl on the bridge who was summarizing The Hobbit and LotR reminded me of Luna Lovegood. And the fellow who was contemptuous of LotR on political grounds made me crack up. If he only knew how irrelevant his opinions would be in another 42 years!
I loved JRRT's comments on America, how Americans seem to take up things with far more enthusiasm, and his comparison of the way Americans took up LotR to the way they reacted to Dickens in the 19th century.
And the revelation that he thought up the Ring inscription while taking a bath.
Of the students, I think my favorite was the dark-haired girl, who really put her finger on why Middle-earth has such an appeal, when she talked about how most modern genres leave you feeling unsatisfied with real life afterwards, but after reading LotR, you find yourself not only glad for having had a great adventure, but with a new and fresh appreciation for the simple things in life like a good meal.
I'd love to see others' opinions on the documentary after you've seen it!
And thanks to![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
labourslamp for cluing me in on it!
It was great fun to see him talking about his work, and I enjoyed hearing what he had to say about things. I have to say my favorite part was when they showed him just casually writing out in Tengwar "Elen sila lumenn omentielvo".
It was funny to see some of the students' opinions--the atmosphere of the late sixties was very much in evidence. For some reason, the girl on the bridge who was summarizing The Hobbit and LotR reminded me of Luna Lovegood. And the fellow who was contemptuous of LotR on political grounds made me crack up. If he only knew how irrelevant his opinions would be in another 42 years!
I loved JRRT's comments on America, how Americans seem to take up things with far more enthusiasm, and his comparison of the way Americans took up LotR to the way they reacted to Dickens in the 19th century.
And the revelation that he thought up the Ring inscription while taking a bath.
Of the students, I think my favorite was the dark-haired girl, who really put her finger on why Middle-earth has such an appeal, when she talked about how most modern genres leave you feeling unsatisfied with real life afterwards, but after reading LotR, you find yourself not only glad for having had a great adventure, but with a new and fresh appreciation for the simple things in life like a good meal.
I'd love to see others' opinions on the documentary after you've seen it!
And thanks to
labourslamp for cluing me in on it!