Poul Anderson wrote some historical fiction and much historically informed science fiction. Reading such fiction can persuade us also to read history. I am grateful that recent discussion on this blog has persuaded me to read Leon Trotsky's
My Life, which I have nearly finished. What happens in a large country at war when many people begin to demand fundamental change? Life is not routine - at least for a while. Science fiction readers know about change. We read about changed societies in the future and we can also read about changing societies in the twentieth century. We are now in the twenty first century which
was the future - and a hundred years after the pivotal events described by Trotsky. As Tolkien's hobbit realized, we are part of the same story.
12 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
Ah! You mean Sam Gamgee, in THE LORD OF THE RINGS, Book IV, Chapter VIII: "The Stairs of Cirith Ungol."
Sean
Sean,
Yes but I wasn't sure which of them said it.
Paul.
Kaor, Paul!
Because that discussion by Sam and Frodo about the Great Tale that never ends has become one of the many things in LOTR which has stuck in my mind.
Sean
Sean,
And it is true. In LOTR terms, we are in the Fourth Age.
Paul.
I did not expect Trotsky to lead to Tolkien but "the republic of letters is one." Both address history.
Kaor, Paul!
The Fourth Age began after the departure of Master Elrond from Middle Earth in Third Age 3021. And I would argue that we are in the FIFTH Age, beginning with the Incarnation and Birth of Christ (despite Dennis the Short's reckoning being off by a few years). I would argue in defense of this notion that we get some hints of Iluvatar intervening in Arda in a decisive way in the "Athrabeth Finrod Ar Andreth (Part IV of MORGOTH'S RING).
And the "republic of letters" reminds me of John Myers Myers' novel SILVERLOCK!
Sean
Sean,
OK. Fifth.
Paul.
Kaor, Paul!
I have six of the volumes edited by Christopher Tolkien collecting fragments, earlier drafts, or unpublished shorter works of his father in THE HISTORY OF MIDDLE EARTH, a unique look into how a writer works (of which MORGOTH'S RING is one of them). Have you read any of these volumes?
Sean
Sean,
I got bogged down in THE SILMARILLION - although now I know why the world is round.
Paul.
Kaor, Paul!
I am sorry that you, like so many other readers of Tolkien, got bogged down reading THE SILMARILLION. I myself loved the book, reading it at least four or five times. I know some readers have complained of the many and complex names, the "high antiquity" style of writing, and, above all, the fact hobbits play no role in the stories collected in THE SILMARILLION. It comes down, I know, to it being a matter of taste.
Sean
The Bolsheviks in 1917-18 took a terrible gamble: that Germany would collapse, so that the peace of capitulation they signed (and which was bitterly unpopular even in their own ranks) wouldn't matter.
They turned out to be right -- but not in the way they anticipated. They thought Germany would have a revolution of the type they'd just managed; what actually happened was that Germany was defeated on the Western Front. And -then- a revolutionary situation arose in Germany, though not of the Bolshevik type (attempts at that were drowned in blood fairly easily).
This was one of those insane gambles that comes off for reasons that have nothing to do with the calculations of the people who make it.
If the Germans had -won-, and it was a near-run thing, Brest-Litovsk would have been a crucial step on their road to continental hegemony.
Dear Mr. Stirling,
I agree! I only WISH the vile Lenin and his odious gang had failed in the gamble they took in 1917-18. Almost ANYBODY else would have been better as rulers of Russia.
I also agree with what you said about the desperate gamble Germany was taking at that same time. If ** I ** had been Hindenburg or Ludendorff, my policy would have been to do anything to keep the US out of the War, including yielding to American demands about the submarine war. Plus trying much harder for a compromise peace with the UK/France, including offering painful concessions (which was what Austria-Hungary under Kaiser Karl wished to do). At the very least such policies would have placed the onus for continuing the War on the Entente Powers, not the Central Allies. AND, if successful, Germany and Austria-Hungary would have kept most of the gains from the Brest-Litovsk Treaty.
Sean
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