Morasain t1_jebayct wrote
His work is written like a medievalist's. Which he was. All his works are highly inspired by medieval literature.
That's kind of like criticizing Shakespeare for his weird English.
I'm not going to tell you to like it, but calling it badly written is not really sensible.
bofh000 t1_jebf88g wrote
Shakespeare wrote the English of his time. Even for plays about Ancient Rome.
Tolkien didn’t really write the dialogue of his day. Not even the high literature type of dialogue of his day. It doesn’t mean his work is badly written, just that, indeed, his dialogue can be too stiff, much the way Icelandic Saga can do dialogue - which would sound very wooden to us, but we’d accept because in theory it’s best part isn’t the dialogue.
Relative_Actuator228 t1_jec9goh wrote
This. Tolkien was a medieval literature professor. His academic work is much worse. I still remembering being in an advanced level English course and no one wanted to admit how tough his academic work was to get through.
I enjoyed his fiction because it reminded me of works like The Fairie Queen and Beowulf. If that era of writing isn't familiar or enjoyable to you, don't force it. Or try reading those works separately, then return to him later.
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