Re: [Book/Nonfiction]: One Who Walked Alone: Robert E Howard, the Final Years, review
Robert Howard had all the talent of Tolkien and was a better writer? You sir, are a literary boob. Saying that would be much like saying Stephen King has all the talent of Dostoevsky, and is a better writer.
Re: [Book/Nonfiction]: One Who Walked Alone: Robert E Howard, the Final Years, review
Quote:
Originally Posted by d_fens1969
Robert Howard had all the talent of Tolkien and was a better writer? You sir, are a literary boob. Saying that would be much like saying Stephen King has all the talent of Dostoevsky, and is a better writer.
1. He didn't say that. He said that he had all the imagination of Tolkein.
2. You are the literary boob. It would be more like saying that Dostoevsky had all the talent of Stephen King, and is a better writer. Which is true. Though it's not much like saying that either, as both King and Dostoevsky are/were much better writers than Tolkein. Hell, I'd hazard a guess that you're a better writer than Tolkein was.
Tolkein couldn't write for toffee. Face it.
Last edited by eatspider; 05-15-2008 at 06:01 AM..
Reason: Clarity
Re: [Book/Nonfiction]: One Who Walked Alone: Robert E Howard, the Final Years, review
Great review! I have been meaning to read this book for years (and see the movie) and it had sort of dropped out of my consciousness until I just read your review. The comparison to On Writing is another major recommendation point for me. I'll keep my eyes open. Thanks a lot.
And to the troll up top, Tolkien was a great writer and Howard was a great writer. They both gave us awesomeness. Don't hate what you don't understand.
Re: [Book/Nonfiction]: One Who Walked Alone: Robert E Howard, the Final Years, review
Quote:
Originally Posted by d_fens1969
Robert Howard had all the talent of Tolkien and was a better writer? You sir, are a literary boob. Saying that would be much like saying Stephen King has all the talent of Dostoevsky, and is a better writer.
IMO Tolkien was not a good writer, but he was a great writer. Let me explain what I mean.
He certainly wasn't a professional in the usual terms, which Howard clearly was. He writes like exactly what he was, an English don who'd given thousands of lectures, frequently mixes metaphors in his descriptions, breaks the fourth wall, leaves important characters hanging (the romance of Arwen and Aragorn---himself a late addition---is left to an appendix for God's sake!), and so on. If you've ever tried to run a game in Tolkien's world, the very thinness and lack of sense of it starts to come through. He was amazing at painting with words, though, so when you read what he wrote it doesn't matter.
Don't get me wrong, Tolkien has a deep and moving story, IMO one of the great World War I novels IMO, that influenced genre fiction (for better or worse) immensely and has touched millions of lives. The books bear up to multiple readings and can be enjoyed (more superficially) as a child and (more deeply) as an adult. But he was, basically, an inspired amateur who wrote in his spare time for his own reasons, banging away on his fantasy heartbreaker that, against all odds, succeeded beyond his wildest dreams.
This kind often alters entire fields in which they work in a way that the hardworking professional often doesn't. Howard affected his chosen field of endeavor greatly, of course, but for decades it was more as an inspiration for other writers. Hmmm, maybe a good analogy from the world of popular music would be Tolkien is much more like talented amateurs such as Bob Dylan, whereas Howard is more like Carole King. Both incredibly influential but no one would mistake Bob for anything but an amateur---he doesn't sing or play well, etc.---and vice versa for the clear pro that Carole King was in her Tin Pan Alley days with Gerry Goffin. She didn't really get famous as herself until she started playing the more introspective singer-songwriter stuff pioneered by Dylan in the 1970s but had influenced a legion of songwriters, most particularly two young lads from Liverpool, who were only a few years younger than her.... (Cultural impact doesn't line up perfectly, of course.)
I also think there's a big working class American vs. upper class British aspect to the debate.
Re: [Book/Nonfiction]: One Who Walked Alone: Robert E Howard, the Final Years, review
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kilmanjaro
You know--I mostly agree with your point, but calling Bob Dylan a "talented amateur" is... off. To put it mildly.
Off in what way? He's an amazingly influential songwriter, unarguably among the top ten of the last fifty years. But he's not an educated musician. He's not much of a singer or player and is an indifferent live act, notorious for turning in flat performances (with the occasional brilliant one). I'd say that's the picture of a talented amateur. That takes nothing away from him. He changed popular music in a fundamental way but he's really not a pro, except in the very loose sense of "makes his living from music." Unless I misunderstood you and you dispute Bob's talent? A lot of people can't stand his voice and conclude that he's got no talent.
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