Very cool article in NZ’s The Listener, looking back at the news of 1955, which is when the first volume of LOTR arrived for review. [More]
Month: September 2002
A look back at a 50-year-old edition of the New Zealand magazine The Listener gives an indication of how the book The Fellowship of the Ring was received in New Zealand following its publication – and also uncovers a great coincidence involving Peter Jackson.
(Here is an excerpt from an article in a recent edition of The Listener, which reviewed articles that appeared in its January 14, 1955 edition.)
The lead book review was of ‘English Literature in the Sixteenth Century, Excluding Drama’, by CS Lewis. That’s one forbidding title, and you can put money behind the argument that it isn’t the Lewis work that most readers would pick up nearly 50 years on. Within the review, Oxford and Cambridge are discussed as places so familiar that they could be just down the road. Buried deep within the in-brief reviews was a book titled ‘The Lord of the Ring: The Fellowship of the Ring’, by Lewis’s friend JRR Tolkien. There was no inkling that this was a book that would come to have some significance to New Zealanders decades on, although the review was fairer and more open-minded than most notices the book received first time around: “JRR Tolkien, the distinguished Oxford philologist, launches the first novel of a massive trilogy without blare of trumpets,” wrote reviewer David Hall. “This farrago of the imagination running amok, this saga-crooning over the rivalries of friendship[…] of hobbits (halflings), elves, dwarfs and orcs, this homeric clashing of ignorant armies by night, is presented with unflagging and enviable zeal. Indeed we wholly accept his new world, with its arbitrary virtue and badness, its supernatural and fantastic events, though with some surprise at our indulgence.” That’s the review in its entirety. That same week, the Listener’s editorial discussed juvenile delinquency in the wake of the Parker-Hulme murder case, which also had resonances to do with repressive pseudo-Englishness and cultural isolation. Coincidentally, it became a movie (Heavenly Creatures), directed by Peter Jackson, the maker of……
Thanks to Ataahua for that.
The news section of the official site (lotr.jp) has been updated, now with great news to the fans. The Japanese DVDs will contain also one more thing that the other countries didn’t get : a passport to Middle-earth. Each DVD from FOTR will contain a passport with a serial number, which will allow the buyer to join special events and campaigns.They don’t specify any event or campaign yet, but looks like the whole thing will last ’till the release of the ROTK DVD.
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Thanks to Elenah for that!
A lot of people have got lucky on this front. [More]
Brandon wrote: “I really like the TTT standees at Barnes and Noble, but was not able to buy them. So I e-mailed Advanced Graphics, who made the standees for FOTR, and asked if there are any plans for a TTT line. This was my reply.
“Yes, available on Oct. 15th will be a standup of Aragorn and a standup of Legolas & Gimli together.'”
Which reminds me: Lots of people have written in to tell how they got hold of posters and standees and other promotional items in cinemas, bookstores and shops. Basically it comes down to asking – if you see something you like, ask the staff what they’re doing with it once the promotional campaign is over. You never know – there might be nobody on the staff that likes LOTR in which case they may be happy to give it to you when they’re finished with it. The worst that can happen is that they say ‘no.’- Tehanu
We’ve got two amazing contests running right now. The first ends this coming Wednesday and is our very popular Annual Fan Art Contest. Don’t forget to send in your fan art and have a chance to win in three different age groups. We have about 400 entries so far, which makes the odds in your favor to win some great prizes from our sponsors Sideshow/Weta, Houghton Mifflin and the generosity of Lawrence Makoare (Lurtz)! [Enter Today!]
TORn has also teamed up with the Official New Line Cinema Shop (www.LOTRShop.com) to give away a set of pins to 200 lucky fans! All you have to do is fill out a form and you are entered. This exclusive pin set is not for sale or offered anywhere else! The contest ends on the the 29th. [Enter Today!]