Author of The Lords of the Rings, a book which influenced exactly half of all computer games made before 1990, J.R.R. Tolkien was once nominated for a Nobel prize in literature. He didn’t get it. Why?

The prose of Tolkien – who was nominated by his friend and fellow fantasy author CS Lewis – “has not in any way measured up to storytelling of the highest quality”, wrote jury member Anders Österling. 

Seriously? How could anyone who penned the “Taters” scene from the film NOT win a Nobel prize. (Full disclosure: I have no idea if that is taken from the book.)

-Jason Johnson

[Guardian]