Our January Read: "On Fairy Stories"
Author Rosamund Hodge joins us to talk Tolkien
To start off this year of shared, short readings, we’re turning to J.R.R. Tolkien’s “On Fairy Stories” (or rather, an excerpt thereof—the full version is available for purchase).
Our selection is from the end of the essay, as Tolkien makes the case that fantasy is not solely for children and develops his idea of “eucatastrophe.” Here’s a teaser:
Fantasy is a natural human activity. It certainly does not destroy or even insult Reason; and it does not either blunt the appetite for, nor obscure the perception of, scientific verity. On the contrary. The keener and the clearer is the reason, the better fantasy will it make. If men were ever in a state in which they did not want to know or could not perceive truth (facts or evidence), then Fantasy would languish until they were cured. If they ever get into that state (it would not seem at all impossible), Fantasy will perish, and become Morbid Delusion.
For creative Fantasy is founded upon the hard recognition that things are so in the world as it appears under the sun; on a recognition of fact, but not a slavery to it. So upon logic was founded the nonsense that displays itself in the tales and rhymes of Lewis Carroll. If men really could not distinguish between frogs and men, fairy-stories about frog-kings would not have arisen.
Our guest is Rosamund Hodge, who is herself a New York Times bestselling author. My favorite of her novels is Crimson Bound, which has one of the most effective confession scenes I’ve read.
She grew up as a homeschooler in Los Angeles, where she spent her time reading everything she could lay hands on, but especially fantasy and mythology. She got a BA in English from the University of Dallas and an MSt in Medieval English from Oxford, and she now lives in Seattle with a mountain of books, her best friend, and the most beautiful dog in the world. (I promised to include that in her bio).
I’ll send out our dialogue next week, and I’d love to incorporate some of your thoughts on our text.
Ex libris,
Leah
Finally, I should tip you off that Princeton University Press is having a 75% off sale. Zena Hitz’s Lost in Thought is very interesting, though I think not listed as part of the sale. I’m snagging The Mystery of the Kibbutz: Egalitarian Principles in a Capitalist World plus a book on scurvy!