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Originally posted by: Starboy
The Hobbit was written as a children's book. Back when people had more faith in the intelligence of children. As opposed to now when everything is dumbed down...
Wheras JK Rowling isn't quite Tolkien, at least she's made strides to return children's literature to something intelligent with the Harry Potter books. Further, she's doing wonders for the short-attention-span generation. Kids taking time to read an 800-page book over summer vacation? That's not marketing success, it's genuine product success.
You're right, Tolkien (and C.S. Lewis) truly believed in the latent brilliance of children and wrote to it. All three of these figures are Brits, and not Americans. Maybe we're a little too corrupted by our consumerism in the U.S. After all, there isn't a growing Ritalin dependency in Europe that I've heard of.