Why We Love Middle-Earth by Shawn E Marchese & Alan Sisto (book review).

Podcasts have done some amazing things with science fiction and fantasy fiction, prompting serious discussion and promoting deeper reading far better than any other medium. The key to this is the connection between the hosts, as articulate and passionate as they are, and their audience, who are open to new ideas and happy to see their enthusiasm shared with others. ‘The Prancing Pony Podcast’ is one of the best examples of this and, over many years, has effectively introduced the Tolkien fanbase to what academics would call a ‘close reading’ of the text. That is to say, analyzing short passages of text one at a time to better understand the intent of the author.

While that’s what their podcast does, Shawn Marchese and Alan Sisto have taken a somewhat different tack with their book, ‘Why We Love Middle-Earth’. Instead, what they’ve written is rather close to being a ‘user’s guide’ to the Tolkien canon. It’s worth stepping back for a moment and appreciating how Tolkien fits into English literature, as you’d study it at school or university. While Tolkien is incredibly popular, he’s never been seen as one of the first-rank English novelists. Ask academics about the ‘best’ English writers of the 40s and 50s, and they’ll probably mention Graham Greene, Evelyn Waugh, and Anthony Powell. But J.R.R. Tolkien is different. If you’re going to study Tolkien, you need to make your case, or so it often seems.

That’s what Marchese and Sisto do so admirably. In a sense, they’re validating Tolkien’s popularity in a way that anyone can appreciate. It’s done with love, for sure, but they’re also diligent, and it’s this balance of the homely and the academic that really shines. The first three chapters cover the key Tolkien books, ‘The Hobbit’, ‘The Lord of the Rings’, and ‘The Silmarillion’. They briefly discuss the writing and themes of each of them and then explain what it is that they love about them. This is where the validation comes in: fantasy fiction can feel like a bit of a guilty pleasure at times, especially when it’s dismissed as lightweight escapism, but Tolkien deserves much more respect than that. Hugely influenced by his deep Christian belief, all of his stories are suffused with themes as profound as anything you’ll find in Greene or Powell.

But why describe ‘Why We Love Middle-Earth’ as a user’s guide? With the ‘big three’ out of the way, Marchese and Sisto work their way through the rest of the Tolkien corpus, including the ‘Unfinished Tales’, Christopher Tolkien’s masterfully edited ‘History of Middle-Earth’ series, and all the rest. For each, they invite the reader to approach these somewhat more difficult books with an open mind, letting them know what to expect. As they put it, reading ‘The Children of Hurin’ in its longer, standalone novel brings the characters and drama to life in a way that the brief summary in ‘The Silmarillion’ does not.

Whereas the first half of the book focuses on the books, the second half focuses more on the different ways Tolkien’s world has been handled in popular culture. They review the many different adaptations first, from the cartoon versions of the 1970s through the blockbuster Peter Jackson movies. Again, their balanced approach works well here. The Rankin/Bass ‘Hobbit’ and Bakshi ‘Lord of the Rings’ cartoons aren’t great, but Marchese and Sisto highlight the good points of both, stressing their charm and the aims, perhaps misguided, of the production choices made when putting these films together. There’s something delightfully generous about this, particularly given how both are now comprehensively overshadowed by the live-action Jackson films.

A substantial chunk of the book covers fandom in all its diversity. Some of the best stuff is here, with Marchese and Sisto clearly seeing themselves as much as ambassadors for the Tolkien fandom as anything else. There’s a vibrant Tolkien studies scene out there, some of it academic for sure, but most happening between amateurs on social media and elsewhere. From literary criticism to learning Elvish, there are avenues for Tolkien fans to deepen their knowledge of Middle-Earth all over the Internet. What Marchese and Sisto do, though, is introduce these to casual fans, hopefully encouraging them to take part. They also take a firm stand against those fans who use Tolkien’s stories to justify their own nationalist, racist, and/or misogynistic views, none of which Tolkien shared, even if he was, of course, a man of his time and writing in that context.

In short, a brilliant book that manages to avoid being another ‘Dummies’ Guide to Middle-Earth’ and instead skillfully and perhaps uniquely guides the casual reader through the Tolkien literary universe.

Neale Monks

February 2024

(pub: Mango Publishing/Prancing Pony, 2023. 426 page paperback. Price: $22.99 (US). ISBN: 978-1-68481-209-7)

check out website: https://theprancingponypodcast.com/why-we-love-middle-earth-book/