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JRR Tolkien: 'I Never Expected a Money Success'

posted by cmn32480 on Wednesday October 28 2015, @10:46PM   Printer-friendly
from the one-ring-to-rule-them-all dept.

Phoenix666 writes:

"I never expected a money success," said Tolkien, pacing the room, as he does constantly when he speaks. "In fact, I never even thought of commercial publication when I wrote The Hobbit back in the Thirties.

"It all began when I was reading exam papers to earn a bit of extra money. That was agony. One of the tragedies of the underpaid professor is that he has to do menial jobs. He is expected to maintain a certain position and to send his children to good schools. Well, one day I came to a blank page in an exam book and I scribbled on it. 'In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit.

The piece is a pleasant read about the greatest fantasy writer of all time.

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  • (Score: 5, Insightful) by Runaway1956 on Thursday October 29 2015, @06:09AM

    by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Thursday October 29 2015, @06:09AM (#255905) Journal

    "primary arbiters of what gets funded"

    And, I counter that this is precisely the situation we've had since about - 1960? The record labels have basically determined what is acceptable. Some upstart labels have made things available that the established labels wouldn't touch, like Motown. But, collectively, the labels are in the driver's seat.

    Things were much more open and free when jazz and the blues were created, than they were all through the '60's up to about 2000. Things began to open up when the internet was created, and artists seem to be opening things up as time passes. We see more and more independents reaching wider audiences today. But the major labels and publishers still have a choke hold on the industries.

    I think the sociological ramifications are that the rich can sponsor what they like, but the kids in the hood can collectively sponsor as much new music and other art as the wealthy can.

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