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Author
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Topic: Astronauts' reading hobbits?
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mikepf
Member Posts: 441
From: San Jose, California, USA
Registered: Mar 2002
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posted 06-06-2005 11:54 AM
   
Hi,
I love it when two divergent interests come together. I was just reading TOLKIEN, THE AUTHORIZED BIOGRAPHY by Humphrey Carpenter. On page 261 it mentions that after the publication in 1965 of the paperback version of LORD OF THE RINGS had popularized the books in the US, Tolkien received letters of appreciation from, among others, an astronaut. It does not say which one. Does anyone have any idea which astronaut was a big enough fan of LOTR to have written to Tolkien? I wonder if whoever he was got an autographed reply. THAT would be a really cool collector's item! Any one have a clue who it was?
Regards,
Mike
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KC Stoever
Member Posts: 1012
From: Denver, CO USA
Registered: Oct 2002
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posted 06-07-2005 10:56 AM
Mike,This could have been Scott Carpenter. I know he had read LOTR before I did (1967-68) because we discussed the Tolkien books at that time. I will ask him and post here, particularly regarding the letter Tolkien's biographer mentioned. |
MrSpace86
Member Posts: 1618
From: Gardner, KS, USA
Registered: Feb 2003
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posted 06-07-2005 06:27 PM
I always thought LOTR was boring (sorry guys). But that would be an interesting item to look at/own. I wonder if J.K. Rowling receives letters from astronauts...
-Rodrigo |
John K. Rochester
Member Posts: 1292
From: Rochester, NY, USA
Registered: Mar 2002
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posted 06-07-2005 10:53 PM
quote:
Originally posted by MrSpace86:
[ I wonder if J.K. Rowling receives letters from astronauts...
-Rodrigo[/B]
Perhaps Pam Malfoy?? ( Mother of Draco Malfoy?)
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mikepf
Member Posts: 441
From: San Jose, California, USA
Registered: Mar 2002
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posted 06-08-2005 11:43 AM
Hello,
I look forward to hearing what Scott Carpenter has to say about LOTR. As a matter of fact, for some unknown reason, the first name that popped into my head when I read the passage was Scott Carpenter. At the time I attributed it to subliminal influence from the name of the author, but maybe it was subliminal something else. By the way, if LOTR is boring, what do you consider exciting literature? To each his own, I know, just curious. I'm almost caught up on reading material at the moment, no time lately to get to the bookstore.
Regards,
Mike |
MrSpace86
Member Posts: 1618
From: Gardner, KS, USA
Registered: Feb 2003
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posted 06-08-2005 01:49 PM
Exciting reading material? Harry Potter!! lol. I like all the books astronauts have written. I have just seen the LOTR movies though, so I guess the books might be more interesting. I'll see if I have time this summer to check them out.
-Rodrigo |
KC Stoever
Member Posts: 1012
From: Denver, CO USA
Registered: Oct 2002
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posted 06-11-2005 06:19 PM
Mike,Carpenter confirmed that he wrote Tolkien a fan letter, but thought he wrote it near the end of Tolkien's life (1973) and wonders if the great man ever actually read the letter. Does biographer Humphrey Carpenter place the date of the letter at ca. 1965? Thanks for any info. I don't have the Tolkien biography on my shelves. Kris |
mdmyer
Member Posts: 900
From: Humboldt KS USA
Registered: Dec 2003
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posted 06-11-2005 11:31 PM
I have read the LOTR series 3 or 4 times. I think some people might feel that Tolkien described some events in such detail that it became boring. The visit with Tom Bombadill, I probably spelled that wrong, comes to mind and was kind of boring, but there was one event that I was really looking forward to seeing in the movie just because of the way Tolkien described it in the books. But I thought the movie did a terrible job with this part. Tolkien gave an excellent description of the chase across Rohan. The Rohirrim were chasing the Uruk-hai across the Mark. This was when Pippin and Merry had been captured and were being carried to Saurman. The chase was meant to catch the Uruk-hai before they reached Fangorn Forest. The chase happened late in the afternoon and all the Rohirrim wanted to do was prevent the Uruk-hai from escaping into the forest. The battle was to take place the following morning. The description of the chase, the turning of the fleeing Uruk-hai, and their capture was great. Pippin and Merry got away that night when the Uruk-hai leader tried to sneak them past the watch fires and the guards. The Uruk-hai were slaughtered in the battle at dawn. In the movie the Uruk-hai were surprised by a night battle with the Rohirrim. On a positive note, I really liked the way the Rohirrim came to the rescue at the end of the Two Towers movie. Wormtongue had exiled Eomer from the Mark which let Gandalf seek him out and lead the Rohirrim to Helm's Deep to save the day. In the book Eomer was being held at the same place that King Theoden was and Eomer was released right after Wormtongue was exposed. Eomer rode out with the Rohirrim from Helm's Deep, and with the help of the Ents, won the battle. Either way the books and the movie are great. I know that Jim Lovell took a copy of one of James Fenimore Cooper's books with him on Gemini 7 but he did not finish the book. I have always wondered if Jim was still a fan of Cooper's leatherstocking tales. Mike Myer
Humboldt KS |
mikepf
Member Posts: 441
From: San Jose, California, USA
Registered: Mar 2002
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posted 06-13-2005 11:36 AM
Hello,
KC, thank you and your Dad for taking time about this. It was beyond my imagination that my question would be answered by the astronaut himself! The book never actually dates the letter, but the comment is made within a paragraph commenting on the soaring popularity of the books after publication of various US editions in 1965-67. It seems Tolkien had a sincere desire to read and respond to each letter he received, but he was overwhelmed by the sheer quantity of fan letters sent.
I have read and enjoyed all the Harry Potter books so far, but LORD OF THE RINGS is in a whole other class. The movies were great fun, and are a great compliment to the books, but are in no way a replacement! There may be a slow patch or two here and there, but as a whole, the books are simply astounding. I can remember shouting out loud "No!" the first time I read the part where Gandalf falls. I just hope that the movies don't spoil the books for those who haven't read them first.
regards,
Mike |
KC Stoever
Member Posts: 1012
From: Denver, CO USA
Registered: Oct 2002
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posted 06-13-2005 02:48 PM
Mike,You're welcome. LOTR is a huge fave of Carpenter's (and mine too), and Tolkien's biographer suggests the happy news that Carpenter's fan letter reached the author. I will pass that along to him! Interesting textual analysis of LOTR, BTW, shows that the author devoted huge swaths of text to physical descriptions (flora, fauna, topography, texture, etc.) of imagined places! |
Duke Of URL
Member Posts: 1316
From: Syracuse, NY
Registered: Jan 2005
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posted 06-14-2005 03:29 PM
quote:
Originally posted by KC Stoever:
You're welcome. LOTR is a huge fave of Carpenter's (and mine too),
Ms. Stoever, I enjoyed LOTR back in Hippie days, but who needs Orcs when you've got an army of ex-wives? Of course you and your father read "Bored Of The Rings" with Goodgulf Greyteeth, the Nozdrils, Sorehead and the Boggies of The Sty (not to mention the lands of Tudor and Fordor). [This message has been edited by Duke Of URL (edited June 14, 2005).] |
KC Stoever
Member Posts: 1012
From: Denver, CO USA
Registered: Oct 2002
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posted 06-15-2005 02:45 PM
quote:
Of course you and your father read "Bored Of The Rings"
So funny you should mention BOTR, Duke. Just as I was embarking on "The Two Towers," in 1967, wiping away the tears after Gandalf's mortal fall, who should breeze in from Harvard but my smart-aleck brother Scotty and his roommate, Stewart, a budding cartoonist who was then helping to illustrate BOTR. To say they had fun with my seventh-grader's reverential earnestness regarding my beloved epic would be vast understatement--it was a lesson in cool and satire from which I have never really recovered. | |
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