by David » January 9th, 2006, 3:22 am
I'll chime in on this. I like Lewis better than Tolkien because of their narrative styles. Lewis' narrator is whimsical, funny, and engaging. Tolkien's is somber, serious, humorless.
The narrator, the voice that tells the story, is not to be confused with the author himself. Lewis is not the voice of the Narnia books. He creates a character who tells the story. So with Lord of the Rings. Tolkien is not the one telling the story.
Now of the characters they create, Lewis's narrator is very lighthearted. In fact, he recognizes the "play" in telling the story. He does not try to create the illusion of reality when talking about Narnia and his comments often remind us that it is simply a story he is telling, a verbal construction designed to instruct and delight.
Tolkien, on the other hand, has this somber, serious voice who wants us to take the story very seriously and is not whimsical in any way, shape or form. He expects us to take it as a serious moral parable and in no way attempts to lighten up or tell the story in an engaging manner.
That's where my problem comes: I cannot take a story about about mythical creatures as a serious moral lesson. When hobbits are present I want to laugh, but I cannot take a story about hobbits and elves as representing anything other than entertainment. Now, entertainment can incorporate serious moral lessons, but Tolkien's narrator is too serious and too moralistic in his purposes. I say, after reading for a while, "Come on, this is a story about dwarves and hobbits and elves. Don't expect me to take seriously something made of the stuff of Snow White." But he does.
I notice that in The Hobbit Tolkien's narrator is more like the narrator of the Chronciles. He is funny and enterntaining and speaks with a voice that suggests he is telling a story. But this soon gives way to the somber, serious, mirthless narrator of the Rings saga. I like The Hobbit better.
That's my take on it. But remember the old saying, "There's no accounting for taste." I like what I like for no logical reason and I am not making a value judgment. It is simply a statement of what I like and why.
David
The way, the weather, the terrain, the discipline, the leadership. --Sun Tzu
