Lord of the Rings Fanatics Plaza

The recent Mythlore has a review of a recent book by Ephtariat, the review by Landon Loftin, who is a PhD candidate and co-author of a book on Owen Barfield. Now two years ago, Ephtariat approached me and asked if I would write a preface for his commentary on Tolkien's essay 'On Fairy-stories', and I read his commentary and wrote an introduction. I will be blunt, I have got to know Ephtariat and his ideas much better since then, primarily by engagement here on the plaza, and looking back on my Introduction I must say but my basic instincts appear to be have been good. Landon Loftin, however, while finding my introduction unexpectedly interesting could not discern any point in it. Basically, I have this one perennial problem with finding readers. From their point of view, I start off interesting but soon descend into utter obscurity. From mine, the big picture is never communicated by my prose. Anyway, here is the paragraph that I was accorded.

The book begins with a long introduction by Simon Cook, who makes a number of unexpected but surprisingly interesting connections. For instance, in the discussion of Tolkien’s theory of imagination, one expects (and indeed finds) engagement with thinkers like Coleridge, but not (as one also finds) with figures like Thomas Hobbes, whose contributions to the rise of nominalism are examined at length. The relevance of this connection is, at first, difficult to discern, though diligent readers with philosophical interests may find their efforts well-rewarded.

I think that's a good review. Landon's right that one would not expect to find Hobbes cited in this connection, but your quote was brilliant and I think he is recognizing that, though perhaps a bit between the lines.