The American Spectator

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p> TOLKIENISM br> Re: Colby Cosh's Hero of Our Postmodern Times : /p>

Interesting how Mr. Cosh serves us an off-handed snipe at Tolkien with an "elephant-in-the-chicken-coop" designation in the context of his "propagandistic" and (by now surely hackneyed) "troubling" appraisals, all because The Lord of the Rings has, in his estimation, a([n] apparently nasty) "crypto-Christian subtext." Well, by gosh, Mr. Cosh, nice to know you've let us in on your subtext.

p>Not only was Tolkien a first-rate philologist and writer, but -- gasp -- a devout Christian. That his beliefs should be expressed in his fiction should be by no means shocking, even if those with contrary world views don't care for it. br> -- Nick Hauser /p>

I have to concur with Colby Cosh on this one. I saw it Sunday and it did not take long for what I felt were undertones of Nationalism as subtle as a sledgehammer to come through on the plot.

I got the feeling that any German seeing Eisenstein's Alexander Nevsky should have gotten in 1938 -- a wake-up call that won't quit.

p>Nice to know I wasn't alone. br> --

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