tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2239062544101975016.post5093328447430483563..comments2024-03-28T14:05:25.134-07:00Comments on Sacnoth's Scriptorium: Charles Noad comments (was Christopher's Masterpiece)John D. Rateliffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12324926298336489295noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2239062544101975016.post-73793167375522447672020-01-29T12:36:37.145-08:002020-01-29T12:36:37.145-08:00Thanks, John. And Charles. I wish I could find a c...Thanks, John. And Charles. I wish I could find a copy of the review itself, but it doesn't seem to be archived at the Wayback Machine, and the Plaza is long since defunct. I was, however, able to find an archived discussion about the review in which I quote the statement from Charles that I was remembering:<br /><br />"The process of producing a finished narrative requires a slightly different set of skills than those required for producing an edited text of initially ‘inchoate’ papers. The latter needs a great deal of analytical intelligence together with specific skills in understanding the relationships between texts, the ability to decipher handwriting sometimes verging on illegibility, a sensitivity of judgement, and the like, qualities which, I feel, any reasonable judge would concur that Christopher Tolkien abundantly displays in The History of Middle-earth. But producing a finished narrative from the results of having edited the texts into legibility and comprehensibility is a slightly different matter. It requires, or at least may require depending on the state of the material being edited, a degree of creativity. Here I think is where Guy Gavriel Kay enters the picture. Starting with The Fionavar Tapestry (1985-6), Kay has shown himself to be one of the leading authors of literate high fantasy. He is a full-fledged professional writer of fiction in a way that Christopher Tolkien isn’t and even his father wasn’t. (To digress: J.R.R. Tolkien was a professional when it came such things as, for example, the evolution of vowel-sounds in West Midlands Middle English — and much else. In that kind of study he was one of the most learned people on the planet. But as a writer of fiction I have always considered that he belonged in the ‘(very) gifted amateur’ category. He was indeed creative, but not in a professional have-it-all-wrapped-up-by-the-publisher’s-deadline kind of way. What he produced in the way of fiction (and non-fiction) was, of course, of an extraordinarily high standard — or you wouldn’t be here reading this — but it was often written slowly and with great effort.) Given that it was Kay’s idea to produce a finished narrative rather than a scholarly version (indeed, he has since gone on record as being against the publication of Tolkien’s unfinished texts in the History), I would submit that the published Silmarillion owes a good deal in the matter of editorial decision-making to his input. Let me be clear here. I am not saying that we can lay all the presumed ‘failings’ of the published Silmarillion at Kay’s feet, thereby removing all responsibility for its apparent ‘defects’ from Christopher Tolkien. But I am saying that the presence at a critical juncture in preparing the publication of the ‘Silmarillion’ material of this creatively gifted young man had a significant effect on the shaping and editing of that material. One would like to know more."<br /><br />So while Charles was not specifically discussing the Ruin of Doriath chapter, he did suggest that Kay was more suited to the work of creating a finished narrative than Christopher, and certainly that chapter required the most work in that direction. I apologize if I overstated the case.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2239062544101975016.post-87788993269663380142020-01-26T18:23:13.628-08:002020-01-26T18:23:13.628-08:00Not only Tom Shippey but also Verlyn Flieger and B...Not only Tom Shippey but also Verlyn Flieger and Brian Rosebury have mistakenly referred to the scene of Thingol's death as J.R.R. Tolkien's work, which I think may further show how good a job Christopher Tolkien and Guy Gavriel Kay (in whatever proportion) did in crafting it.N.E. Brigandhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17601573470596905112noreply@blogger.com