J.R.R. Tolkien
Cód:
491_9781861712806
J.R.R. TOLKIEN: THE BOOKS, THE FILMS, THE WHOLE CULTURAL PHENOMENON A book exploring the world of J.R.R. Tolkien, Britains premier fantasy author, in over 800 pages. Part one of this book focusses on J.R.R. Tolkiens texts, principally those dealing with his secondary world of Middle-earth. Part two explores the 2001-03 Hollywood movies of The Lord of the Rings, with a scene-by-scene analysis of the three films. Part of this book explores the influence of the Tolkien industry, in areas like computer gaming, pop music, merchandizing and cinema. EXTRACT FROM THE INTRODUCTION Philip Toynbee declared, in 1961, that Tolkiens childish books had passed into a merciful oblivion, a wonderful statement, just a tad inaccurate. In 1997, The Lord of the Rings was voted the top book of the 20th century by readers in a British bookstores poll (Waterstones). 104 out of 105 stores and 25,000 readers put The Lord of the Rings at the top (1984 was second). Around 100 million copies of The Lord of the Rings had been sold by the end of the twentieth century, and 60 million copies of The Hobbit, with sales of around 3 million per year of the two books combined. Readers just love reading Tolkiens books. Its that simple. You cant force people to buy books or go see movies; theres isnt a magic formula (or ruling ring) to hypnotize readers and consumers (if there was, itd be worth billions). And the Tolkien phenomenon began with readers. Back in 1937, 1954 and 1955, the publishers Allen & Unwin did their bit, of course, with reviews, blurbs, advertizing and so on, promoting The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, and the critics too, but it was readers who first started the phenomenon that has become truly global. Tolkiens influence on literature has been considerable, too, and not just in the realm of fantasy, sci-fi, fairy tales and related genres. As fantasy author Terry Brooks said, Tolkien was the premier fantasy writer of the last century, and all o
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