J. K. Rowling & Tolkien; A woman in mans clothing

2006-11-24T08:08:00.000-08:00

Unfortunately, for J.K. Rowling she was not allowed to be a woman, at least she wasn't able to factually represent herself as a female in her first book. Did you know her publisher pressured her to pick up a masculine pseudonym? He said that girls will read from a male or female author, but boys will only read male authors, generally. So she used J. K. Rowling, just picking out a middle initial and slapping it on, she didn't have one before!
Yes, yes, sad, sad, that under read boys are still to some extent "penis-centered", imagining that a woman can't speak to their unique and superior station in life. What I am really getting at here is Joann Rowling has not only spoken to girls & boys, she has literally changed the world. She is the most well known contemporary writer in the world and has for the most part touched the lives of children and adults, regardless of religion, ethnic claims or class. Her writing is as clear as the glass of a window letting in everything. In this respect a better writer than my beloved J.R.R. Tolkien. She also seems to pin down the emotional atoms and the big picture of how love, death and friendship affect a person. Again even devastated Frodo was told to stuff down his sadness when Gandolf the Grey died and carry on, instead of being brave like Harry and looking for the meaning of death to him and his life.
Fascinating, though, the Sunday Telegraph calls Tolkeins' big book, "... the greatest work of imaginative fiction of the twentieth century." And his well-deserved praise gets better and better believe me. Joann Rowling on the other hand has not enjoyed the same praise although it is equally deserved. Perhaps even more deserved, Tolkien was Oxford educated and enjoyed wealth and a high status all of his life, whereas, Rowling was more of a fighter, she wrote her most popular stories after a stint in Exeter studying French! She wrote while she was a young, penniless single mother, a stronger person I guess. So why is her fame largely thought of as mostly luck?
World wide there is another phenomenon as well, women who do equal work do not make as much money as their penised counterparts. I do like to imagine our little blue island is getting more honest though. A place where one of the best writers the world has known will be judged by the quality of her work rather than her name or gender! Which means a world where Joann Rowling will be a noted author with an honorary degree from Oxfords house of Letters.

J.K. Rowling & Tolkien

J. K. Rowling & Tolkien; A woman in mans clothing