Editing The Lord of the Rings (section)

=== 1950s ===

Early [[Reception of J. R. R. Tolkien|reviews of the work were mixed]]. The initial review in the ''[[Sunday Telegraph]]'' described it as "among the greatest works of imaginative fiction of the twentieth century".<ref name=Box>{{cite web |url=http://search.barnesandnoble.com/The-Lord-of-the-Rings-Boxed-Set/J-R-R-Tolkien/e/9780618260584#TABS |title=The Lord of the Rings Boxed Set (Lord of the Rings Trilogy Series) section: Editorial reviews |access-date=4 December 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101210071507/http://search.barnesandnoble.com/The-Lord-of-the-Rings-Boxed-Set/J-R-R-Tolkien/e/9780618260584/#TABS |archive-date=10 December 2010 }}</ref> The ''[[The Sunday Times (UK)|Sunday Times]]'' echoed this sentiment, stating that "the English-speaking world is divided into those who have read ''The Lord of the Rings'' and ''The Hobbit'' and those who are going to read them."<ref name=Box/> The ''[[New York Herald Tribune]]'' appeared to predict the books' popularity, writing in its review that they were "destined to outlast our time".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbninquiry.asp?z=y&ean=9780345339706&displayonly=REV |title=From the Critics |access-date=30 May 2006 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929155414/http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbninquiry.asp?z=y&ean=9780345339706&displayonly=REV |archive-date=29 September 2007}}</ref> [[W. H. Auden]], a former pupil of Tolkien's and an admirer of his writings, regarded ''The Lord of the Rings'' as a "masterpiece", further stating that in some cases it outdid the achievement of [[John Milton]]'s ''[[Paradise Lost]]''.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1956/01/22/books/tolkien-king.html |last=Auden |first=W. H. |author-link=W. H. Auden |title=At the End of the Quest, Victory |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=22 January 1956 |access-date=4 December 2010|url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110220002634/http://www.nytimes.com/1956/01/22/books/tolkien-king.html |archive-date=20 February 2011}}</ref> Kenneth F. Slater wrote in [[Nebula Science Fiction]], April 1955, "... if you don't read it, you have missed one of the finest books of its type ever to appear".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://fancyclopedia.org/ken-slater |access-date=19 November 2019 |title=Ken Slater |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191030144502/http://fancyclopedia.org/ken-slater |archive-date=30 October 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.geocities.ws/linwood/SF/Nebula/KFS12.htm |access-date=19 November 2019 |title=Something to Read NSF 12}}</ref> On the other hand, in 1955, the Scottish poet [[Edwin Muir]] attacked ''[[The Return of the King]]'', writing that "All the characters are boys masquerading as adult heroes ... and will never come to puberty ... Hardly one of them knows anything about women", causing Tolkien to complain angrily to his publisher.<ref name="Lobdell 2013 in Drout">{{Cite encyclopedia |year=2013 |title=Criticism of Tolkien, Twentieth Century |encyclopedia=[[J. R. R. Tolkien Encyclopedia]] |publisher=[[Routledge]] |last=Lobdell |first=Jared |author-link=Jared Lobdell |orig-year=2007 |editor-last=Drout |editor-first=Michael D. C. |pages=109–110 |isbn=978-0-415-96942-0}}</ref> In 1956, the [[literary critic]] [[Edmund Wilson]] wrote a review entitled "Oo, Those Awful Orcs!", calling Tolkien's work "juvenile trash", and saying "Dr. Tolkien has little skill at narrative and no instinct for literary form."<ref name="Wilson 1956">{{Cite web |last=Wilson |first=Edmund |author-link=Edmund Wilson |date=14 April 1956 |title=Oo, Those Awful Orcs! A review of The Fellowship of the Ring |work=[[The Nation]] |url=http://jrrvf.com/sda/critiques/The_Nation.html |access-date=1 September 2012}}</ref>

Within Tolkien's literary group, [[The Inklings]], the work had a mixed reception. [[Hugo Dyson]] complained loudly at its readings,<ref>{{cite video |people=Derek Bailey (Director) and [[Judi Dench]] (Narrator) |title=A Film Portrait of J. R. R. Tolkien |medium=Television documentary |publisher=Visual Corporation |year=1992}}</ref>{{efn|Dyson's actual comment, [[bowdlerized]] in the TV version, was "Not another fucking Elf!" {{cite web |last=Grovier |first=Kelly |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2007/apr/29/jrrtolkien.fiction |title=In the Name of the Father |work=[[The Observer]] |date=29 April 2007 |access-date=4 December 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131002212305/http://www.theguardian.com/books/2007/apr/29/jrrtolkien.fiction |archive-date=2 October 2013}} }} whereas [[C. S. Lewis]] had very different feelings, writing, "here are beauties which pierce like swords or burn like cold iron. Here is a book which will break your heart."<ref name="Doughan 2006"/> Lewis observed that the writing is rich, in that some of the 'good' characters have darker sides, and likewise some of the villains have "good impulses".<ref>C. S. Lewis, quoted in [[Christina Scull]] & [[Wayne G. Hammond|Wayne Hammond]] (2006), ''[[The J. R. R. Tolkien Companion and Guide]]'', HarperCollins, article 'The Lord of the Rings', § Reviews, p. 549; {{ISBN|978-0-618-39113-4}}</ref> Despite the mixed reviews and the lack of a paperback until the 1960s, ''The Lord of the Rings'' initially sold well in hardback.<ref name="Doughan 2006"/>