The Pursuit of the Pankera

“The Lord of the Rings” by J.R.R. Tolkien is a book that is meant to be enjoyed slowly (but not too slowly). This is the second time that I have read the novel. The difference between the first and the second time is that when I first read the novel, I read it in the aftermath of the films. The films loomed so large over my teenage existence and you really could not get away from them. I started reading the novel and I got through the first half. Then I watched films and became annoyed at the novel because it the narrative was not linear and the images in the book did not match the ones in the film. I am saddened today by this fact – I remember the images in my mind from my reading of the first half without the film influencing my imagination. I also read the novel for the first time over the course of three years where I would pick up one book, read it for it a bit, then set it aside for a few weeks. Because of this, I don’t think I considered the novel as a single work. And I think my reading was a bit unfair.

This time, I picked up the book because I wanted to have something that had nothing to do with my academic work – I wanted a book to get lost in. I had not watched films in years and so I thought that I might finally have enough distance to give the book another goes. I had two stipulations when reading it: I would read it in a single-volume edition and I would read it more quickly than before. I moved along steadily and read consistently but I found my second reading was a revelation. It took my about six months to reach the end of the journey. How do I feel? In a film, you can see the forest. It is immense and grand. But in the novel, you see the trees, you feel the texture of the bark, the glow of the leaves. It is the details of this novel which make it breathtaking—the imagination of one man enveloped in a world of his own creation. A mark of this prodigious imagination is how a single word or name could be underpinned by complex and well-rendered backstories. The novel is enjoyable if not the best written work but it is the work going on behind everything that makes the work truly shine. I bow to Tolkien’s joy and his craft. I recommend reading the physical book. It is not the same as reading an electronic copy. I also recommend simple going slow and savoring the details. But one should be careful not to good too slowly and get caught up in those details—leave some of them for a subsequent reading! The novel has much more coherence than I remember from my first reading. To read such a long work at a steady pace is an exercise in patience but one I think is well-worth the effort.

You may notice that I have not really described the content of the novel. I think that would take too long and do a disservice to the reader. Go, pick it up with no expectations and enjoy the journey.

In 1980 Heinlein published a novel called The Number of the Beast. It involved parallel universes, The World as Fiction, and dragged in Lazarus Long, as Heinlein seemed to do in most of his later books. While parts of it were fun, it was also confusing and disjointed in my opinion. I will read any Heinlein for the writing alone, so I am a fan (in fact, I was for a time the webmaster for The Heinlein Society), but I can see that some of his stuff is better than others. So when I heard there was an alternate version of this novel, I had to check it out. And The Pursuit of the Pankera keeps the same basic setting and has the same beginning as The Number of the Beast, but I think it is much better. The plot is a lot more cohesive and the novel just flows in way the previous didn't. This is the one I will reread in the future. And as a huge fan of the Lensman universe the part of the book that goes there was quite a treat. For those who don't know, the idea of The World as Fiction is that fictional worlds are real in other universes, so the characters here visit Barsoom, Oz, and the Lensman universe. Tons of fun.