# Are you a Tolkien person or a Lewis person? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 5, 2006, 8:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-tolkien-person-or-a-lewis-person/338550 "2006-01-05T08:36:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![roger\_thornhill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d9b06d/32.png) [@roger\_thornhill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/roger_thornhill)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2006, 7:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-tolkien-person-or-a-lewis-person/338550/61 "2006-01-11T07:41:25Z")
Well, the votes are in, the count’s been done, and Tollers wins with just over two thirds of the vote (25:12). The race was neck and neck at first, but then like Gandalf aboard Shadowfascimile (to give the steed his full Numenorean title), the little fellah broke away. Still, as George Macdonald might have said, the race is ne’er run ere we reach our heav’nly haven, so, don’t be shy, get on down and vote for your favourite Oxonian. ---
**Author:** ![Dorjan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dorjan/32/12440_2.png) [@Dorjan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dorjan)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2006, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-tolkien-person-or-a-lewis-person/338550/62 "2006-01-11T19:20:34Z")
Neither. I’m just not a big fan of fantasy books, although I did enjoy the movies. Put me down for Clarke, Brin or Asimov. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2006, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-tolkien-person-or-a-lewis-person/338550/63 "2006-01-11T20:47:55Z")
Count another vote for Mr. Lewis please. ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2006, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-tolkien-person-or-a-lewis-person/338550/64 "2006-01-11T22:51:52Z")
Both. Lewis for his clarity and range, Tolkien for the depth and richness of his vision. ---
**Author:** ![NicePete](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ee7513/32.png) [@NicePete](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NicePete)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2006, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-tolkien-person-or-a-lewis-person/338550/65 "2006-01-12T03:11:21Z")
Tolkien, by far. Even as a kid I wondered how Lewis managed to type (or hold a pencil) with those hams attached to the ends of his arms. ---
**Author:** ![Askia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Askia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askia)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2006, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-tolkien-person-or-a-lewis-person/338550/66 "2006-01-12T03:52:37Z")
I like 'em both. Honesty would compell me to admit I’ve never been as emotionally invested in, or as creatively impressed with Narnia and Cair Paravel as I have been by Middle Earth and Hobbiten. Hell, I’m more emotionally invested in Piers Anthony’s Xanth than Narnia. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2006, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-tolkien-person-or-a-lewis-person/338550/67 "2006-01-12T03:54:40Z")
> [@Askia](#): > > I like 'em both. > > Honesty would compell me to admit I’ve never been as emotionally invested in, or as creatively impressed with Narnia and Cair Paravel as I have been by Middle Earth and Hobbiten. > > Hell, I’m more emotionally invested in Piers Anthony’s Xanth than Narnia. I liked the early Xanth novels, I read them when they were new and thus I have a soft spot for Xanth despite the Horrors visited upon it by a writer who beats a dead (pale) horse to death and then resurrects it so he can do it again. Jim ---
**Author:** ![roger\_thornhill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d9b06d/32.png) [@roger\_thornhill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/roger_thornhill)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2006, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-tolkien-person-or-a-lewis-person/338550/68 "2006-01-12T04:31:05Z")
> [@NicePete](#): > > Tolkien, by far. Even as a kid I wondered how Lewis managed to type (or hold a pencil) with those hams attached to the ends of his arms. Ah, the post-war ham suppers made possible by the donations of the good doctor from Maryland, Warfield Firor, affectionately referred to by the Inklings as Firor-of-the-Hams! ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2006, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-tolkien-person-or-a-lewis-person/338550/69 "2006-01-12T04:41:19Z")
> [@Debaser](#): > > Lewis. LotR’s was unreadable tripe. … Yeah, unreadable tripe, that must be why so many people have read it. :rolleyes: Yes, I prefer Tolkien. I’ve read his “unreadable” books several times now. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2006, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-tolkien-person-or-a-lewis-person/338550/70 "2006-01-12T13:10:38Z")
> [@NicePete](#): > > Tolkien, by far. > > Even as a kid I wondered how Lewis managed to type (or hold a pencil) with those hams attached to the ends of his arms. You know, The Chronicles of Narnia were not the only thing Mr. Lewis ever wrote. If that’s all you have read by Lewis, please read further. The man was a genius. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2006, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-tolkien-person-or-a-lewis-person/338550/71 "2006-01-12T14:29:23Z")
Oh dear, nearly missed this ‘cos it’s hidden in IMHO rather than my usual forums…anyway, Tolkien - I believe he also has a win in the non-fiction, with both \*On Fairytale \*and his transation of _Sir Gawain and the Green Knight_ being good. OK, that last isn’t quite non-fic, but is a scholarly work that way outclasses Lewis’ Christian apologetics. Narnia’s OK, the rest is insufferable - don’t get me started on the bloody Screwtape Letters. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2006, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-tolkien-person-or-a-lewis-person/338550/72 "2006-01-12T14:46:43Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > \*On Fairytale \* Eeep - I meant “_On Fairy-Stories_”, of course ---
**Author:** ![NicePete](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ee7513/32.png) [@NicePete](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NicePete)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2006, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-tolkien-person-or-a-lewis-person/338550/73 "2006-01-12T16:28:50Z")
> [@Dung Beetle](#): > > You know, The Chronicles of Narnia were not the only thing Mr. Lewis ever wrote. If that’s all you have read by Lewis, please read further. The man was a genius. It’s not. I found the Silent Planet triology worse and The Screwtape Letters almost insufferably smug. If I wanted to read a Sunday School pamphlet, I’d go to Church. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2006, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-tolkien-person-or-a-lewis-person/338550/74 "2006-01-12T16:52:42Z")
Another vote for Tolkien (or “Tollers,” as Lewis called him). I agree with **jrfranchi** as to Tolkien’s poetry. And **Cheez\_Whia** , that’s one of my favorite quotations from JRRT’s preface to the revised LOTR. Well put. ---
**Author:** ![roger\_thornhill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d9b06d/32.png) [@roger\_thornhill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/roger_thornhill)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2006, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-tolkien-person-or-a-lewis-person/338550/75 "2006-01-13T01:47:40Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > On Fairytale > [@MrDibble](#): > > Eeep - I meant “_On Fairy-Stories_”, of course I noted the error, but took it that you were, perhaps sub-consciously, conveying an allegorical meaning, where ‘tale’ stands as a type of ‘story’, or perhaps making an ironic allusion to the self-allegorical nature of Tolkien’s character of Niggle, who has ‘a long journey’ to make in _Leaf by Niggle_, which constitues the second part of Tree and Leaf, the first half of which comprises ‘OF-S’. Perhaps my favourite Tolkien quotation is taken from a letter of 1945 to his publisher: “Usually I compose only with great difficulty and endless rewriting”. It might stand as a metaphor of how his many acolytes consume his work. ---
**Author:** ![Cyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a88e4f/32.png) [@Cyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cyn)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2006, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-tolkien-person-or-a-lewis-person/338550/76 "2006-01-13T02:35:32Z")
Liked Lewis, love Tolkein. I borrowed Lewis from the library as a child and was gifted with the paperback from Costco all-books-one-volume last year. I was gifted The Hobbit as a child and saved my allowance to buy the 3 paperbacks, wore them to rags, bought another set, wore them to rags, bought the hard-covers, had them stolen by an evil, evil bitch, bought another set and another set of paperbacks. I need another set of hardbacks, a prettier set. Evil bitch. Cyn, still bitter 10 years later. ---
**Author:** ![roger\_thornhill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d9b06d/32.png) [@roger\_thornhill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/roger_thornhill)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2006, 6:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-tolkien-person-or-a-lewis-person/338550/77 "2006-01-13T06:48:53Z")
> [@Cyn](#): > > I was gifted The Hobbit as a child and saved my allowance to buy the 3 paperbacks, wore them to rags, bought another set, wore them to rags, bought the hard-covers, had them stolen by an evil, evil bitch, bought another set and another set of paperbacks. I need another set of hardbacks, a prettier set. They say that pet owners grow to look like their pets. It seems that Tolkien fans may also take on the characteristics of their hero, especially, the compulsiveness! ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2006, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-tolkien-person-or-a-lewis-person/338550/78 "2006-01-13T16:47:49Z")
> [@roger thornhill](#): > > Perhaps my favourite Tolkien quotation is taken from a letter of 1945 to his publisher: “Usually I compose only with great difficulty and endless rewriting”. It might stand as a metaphor of how his many acolytes consume his work. > [@roger thornhill](#): > > They say that pet owners grow to look like their pets. It seems that Tolkien fans may also take on the characteristics of their hero, especially, the compulsiveness! Look, if you want to Pit Tolkien fans, just go ahead and do it. I’ll be in their with boots on. Otherwise stick to the topic, which is whether you prefer Tolkien or Lewis, not what you think of their “acolytes”. That smarminess is out of place here. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2006, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-tolkien-person-or-a-lewis-person/338550/79 "2006-01-13T16:50:04Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > I’ll be in **their** with boots on. Or “ **there** ”, even. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2006, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-tolkien-person-or-a-lewis-person/338550/80 "2006-01-13T17:07:48Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > Look, if you want to Pit Tolkien fans, just go ahead and do it. I’ll be in their with boots on. > > Otherwise stick to the topic, which is whether you prefer Tolkien or Lewis, not what you think of their “acolytes”. That smarminess is out of place here. I thought he was making a sly reference to Fangorn’s discussion about Ents growing more treeish and Trees growing Entish. Jim [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-tolkien-person-or-a-lewis-person/338550.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-tolkien-person-or-a-lewis-person/338550.md?page=5)