{"schema_version":"bf_book_companion_v1","release_id":"20261010T034321Z-reviewed-full-unique-works","book":{"amazon_purchase_url":"https://www.amazon.com/dp/1684515351?tag=bookfrontie00-20","asin":"1684515351","authors":["Bradley J. Birzer"],"book_id":"9781684515356","canonical_url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/j-r-r-tolkien-s-sanctifying-myth-9781684515356","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9781684515356.jpg?v=9454640f3e668c20","description":"With a new introduction by the author Peter Jackson's film version of J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings trilogy - and the accompanying Rings-related paraphernalia and publicity - has played a unique role in the disemmination of Tolkien's imaginative creation to the masses. Yet, for most readers and viewers, the underlying meaning of Middle-earth has remained obscure. Bradley Birzer has remedied that with this fresh study. In J.R.R. Tolkien's Sanctifying Myth: Understanding Middle-earth , Birzer reveals the surprisingly specific religious symbolism that permeates Tolkien's Middle-earth legendarium. He also explores the social and political views that motivated the Oxford don, ultimately situating Tolkien within the Christian humanist tradition represented by Thomas More and T.S. Eliot, Dante and C.S. Lewis. Birzer argues that through the genre of myth Tolkien created a world that is essentially truer than the one we think we see around us everyday, a world that transcends the colorless disenchantment of our postmodern age.","forthcoming":false,"isbn13":"9781684515356","publication_date":"20230829","publisher":"Skyhorse Publishing","slug":"j-r-r-tolkien-s-sanctifying-myth","subtitle":"Understanding Middle Earth","title":"J.r.r. Tolkien's Sanctifying Myth"},"discovery":{"categories":{"all":[{"bisac_code":"LIT004260","confidence_band":"high","label":"SF & Fantasy Criticism","score":0.7957,"source":"bisac_hint_model"},{"bisac_code":"LIT025040","confidence_band":"medium","label":"Religion in Literature","score":0.7645,"source":"bisac_hint_model"},{"bisac_code":"LCO022040","confidence_band":"medium","label":"Faith & Inspiration","score":0.6909,"source":"bisac_hint_model"}],"hint":[{"bisac_code":"LIT004260","confidence_band":"high","label":"SF & Fantasy Criticism","score":0.7957,"source":"bisac_hint_model"},{"bisac_code":"LIT025040","confidence_band":"medium","label":"Religion in Literature","score":0.7645,"source":"bisac_hint_model"},{"bisac_code":"LCO022040","confidence_band":"medium","label":"Faith & Inspiration","score":0.6909,"source":"bisac_hint_model"}],"publisher":[{"bisac_code":"BIO007000","confidence_band":"high","label":"Writers' Lives","score":1,"source":"onix_publisher_code"},{"bisac_code":"LIT022000","confidence_band":"high","label":"Fairy Tale & Myth Criticism","score":1,"source":"onix_publisher_code"},{"bisac_code":"LIT025040","confidence_band":"high","label":"Religion in Literature","score":1,"source":"onix_publisher_code"}]},"genres":[{"label":"SF & Fantasy Criticism","score":0.7957,"slug":"sf-fantasy-criticism"},{"label":"Religion in Literature","score":0.7645,"slug":"religion-in-literature"},{"label":"Faith & Inspiration","score":0.6909,"slug":"faith-inspiration"}],"reader_fit":["Good for readers interested in religious symbolism in Tolkien’s Middle-earth","Readers exploring Tolkien’s social and political views"],"related_lists":[],"series":null,"similar_books":[{"authors":["David Day"],"book_id":"9781645170099","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9781645170099.jpg?v=1de76d7d011056f7","score":0.7564,"title":"An Encyclopedia of Tolkien","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9781645170099"},{"authors":["David Day"],"book_id":"9781667211336","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9781667211336.jpg?v=7ce440a0886cf6fe","score":0.7485,"title":"Ring Legends of Tolkien Deluxe Edition","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9781667211336"},{"authors":["David Day"],"book_id":"9781645171317","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9781645171317.jpg?v=7f50f2c43a32b20b","score":0.7416,"title":"The Illustrated World of Tolkien","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9781645171317"}],"topics":[],"what_you_get":["Themes: Religious symbolism in Middle-earth, Tolkien’s social and political views, Christian humanism.","Reading lane: Sf & Fantasy Criticism and Religion in Literature.","Publisher: Skyhorse Publishing."]},"llm_signals":{"confidence":0.92,"pacing":"unknown","reader_fit":["Readers interested in religious symbolism in Tolkien’s Middle-earth","Readers exploring Tolkien’s social and political views"],"themes":["Religious symbolism in Middle-earth","Tolkien’s social and political views","Christian humanism"],"tropes":[]},"source_presence":{"amazon":true,"book_detail":true,"goodreads":true,"llm_signals":true,"similarity_seed":true},"stats":{"amazon_ratings_count":30,"goodreads_ratings_count":611,"goodreads_reviews_count":66,"quality_score":0.9085}}