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A wonderful review and commentary by Anne Malcolm on Dorothy Dunnett and the Lymond novels which I seem to have missed when it was first printed. An interesting sentence:
Romantic leads tend to come in two types: the d'Artagnans, open-hearted, courteous, valiant and uncomplicated; and the darker, more interesting Athos types, whose virtues are laced with an undercurrent of menace. In Francis Crawford of Lymond, Dunnett has taken the latter type to a dazzling extreme.... At times his light, ironic repartee calls to mind the artfully inconsequential conversation of Lord Peter Wimsey.
But J.R.R. Tolkien never lingered in obscurity for decades... did he? The Hobbit was winning awards when it was first published, and The Lord of the Rings came out in the 1950s, and was already popular and famous by the late 1960s when I first read it.

Too bad Anne Malcolm didn't mention the DDRA.

Date: 2008-09-09 06:30 pm (UTC)
ext_6615: (Default)
From: [identity profile] janne-d.livejournal.com
I like the two types of romantic leads that she distinguishes. And I have to agree - Athos was far more interesting than d'Artagnan!

I don't think JRR Tolkien lingered in obscurity either. The Hobbit was successful enough for the publishers to push for a sequel in the same year it was published. It came out in 1937 and he began working on LotR as a sequel in Dec 1937 after some extracts from the Silmarillion were rejected by Unwin. And neither book have ever been out of print since.

Perhaps she meant the time between The Hobbit and LotR?

Date: 2008-09-09 06:39 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] fajrdrako.livejournal.com
Perhaps she meant the time between The Hobbit and LotR?

Probably. But that had nothing to do with public acceptance; it had to do with Tolkien figuring out what he was going to write, and then taking the time to write it.

Date: 2008-09-09 07:32 pm (UTC)
ext_120533: Deseine's terracotta bust of Max Robespierre (Default)
From: [identity profile] silverwhistle.livejournal.com
Aren't these just the general types of lead anyway, across all genres? The uncomplicated 'boy scout' ingenu, and the more experienced, cynical type.

Date: 2008-09-09 07:41 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] fajrdrako.livejournal.com
They are certainly widespread archetypes. As heroes go, how many variations are there? How many can there be?

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