@PodReading
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twitter profile for Reading Tolkien podcast, and other musings.
Joined October 2020
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Thanks to @djtaylorwriter for a great discussion: benjaminbassett.substack.com…
Reading Tolkien: A Podcast retweeted
If I were in charge of Lucasfilm, I’d do this:
-Court Denis Villeneuve or Alfonso Cuarón to direct a Knights of the Old Republic trilogy.
-Make Steven Soderbergh’s Ben Solo film.
-Make James Mangold’s Jedi origin film.
-Make a New Jedi Order trilogy with Rey training the next generation. I’d go with someone like Greta Gerwig, Chloé Zhao, or Gina Prince-Bythewood to direct it. And I definitely wouldn’t let Simon Kinberg write it.
-Greenlight a horror Star Wars movie and let someone like Mike Flanagan direct and write it.
As for the TV side, I’d let Damon Lindelof and Beau Willimon each develop a show.
Just let talented showrunners make Star Wars shows and stop trying to make them feel like movies. Let them be actual TV shows set in the Star Wars universe.
The Silmarillion and the Problem of the Novel , by @DrBOBassett benjaminbassett.substack.com…
Reading Tolkien: A Podcast retweeted
People think this kind of sympathetic quality is necessary for good literary characters bc it’s a hallmark of a modernist/realist novel. The problem is that East of Eden isn’t that—it’s an allegory. A really obvious one. And missing that misses the core of the story.
The new series “East of Eden” doesn’t try to make the character Cathy Ames “a monster,” Florence Pugh says. It was “my job to try and get you guys to sympathize and maybe fall in love with her a little bit,” Pugh adds.
theatln.tc/65NUk0Q9 #TAF26
The Tower and the Ruin exposes a strange critical asymmetry: scepticism about Tolkien is often treated as distance, while admiration is treated as something that needs explaining away.
Tolkien Studies is often told it needs to engage “literary studies” to gain legitimacy, but literary studies isn’t a monolith...and the traffic can’t all run one way. Rosebury already produced excellent mainstream literary criticism of Tolkien decades ago.
Looking forward to @djtaylorwriter's upcoming Tolkien book. Will be interesting to see how the British writing establishment takes to it. Traditionally they've been fairly Tolkien-averse, but this has a chance to penetrate the castle, as a book like Drout's..
Reading Tolkien: A Podcast retweeted
Michael Fcking Man.
What possessed Mann to do a true old-time historical drama we shall never know. He never made another movie like this ever again. But man is it good.
Sigh...are we still doing this? lareviewofbooks.org/article/…
"moral simplicity" my ass
Reading Tolkien: A Podcast retweeted
Wow! The audiobook of The Tower and the Ruin is an Earphones Award winner for Jan 2026 from Kirkus Reviews. "...A masterful audiobook."
"Drout, professor of English and director of the Center for the Study of the Medieval at Wheaton College, narrates this deeply researched and remarkably comprehensive examination of Tolkien's genius. Drout's strong, sonorous voice is the perfect vehicle for sharing his own findings, imbuing the audio with deep meaning and a full understanding of both his own work and that of Tolkien. Drout explores Tolkien's creativity and his inspiration, which resulted in one of the most adored and respected collections of fantasy writing in the canon. Drout shares his experiences with literature and reflections on how Tolkien's work has shaped his own worldview, and he provides fresh understanding and insight into Tolkien's familiar stories. A masterful audiobook."
A brilliant summation of his new book, from @MikeDrout :
I wrote an essay for the NY Times. nytimes.com/2025/12/19/opini…
Finally a new episode! I interview the great @MikeDrout about his new book, The Tower and the Ruin (which you should certainly go and read when it is published December 2nd!) Thanks Michael for a fantastic chat! benjaminbassett.substack.com…
Yes, and this includes literary theory of various kinds - even, dare I say, Tolkien studies.
