Influence and Reception
The Worm Ouroboros did not sell well when first published, but after the publication of The Lord of the Rings it was reissued and achieved greater success.
Reviewing a 1952 edition, Boucher and McComas praised the novel lavishly, describing it as "one of the major imaginative novels of this century" and "the detailed creation of a vividly heroic alien history." They particularly commended "the resonant clangor of its prose, the tremendous impetus of its story-telling, the magnificent audacity (and sternly convincing consistency) of its fantasy concepts."
In 1963, Avram Davidson praised the novel's prose for "abound in beautiful, quotable language" and its story as one of "war, witchcraft, adventure, conspiracy, violence, bloodshed, intrigue." Davidson, though, faulted Eddison's conception, saying "Ouroboros is a classic, but it is not and cannot be a great classic," because it lacks "humanity"—the realistic detail of great works like the Arabian Nights, where characters "do not merely kiss and declaim and posture."
British prog-supergroup National Health recorded a song titled 'Tenemos Roads' in 1977, loosely based upon the novel.
Karl Edward Wagner was influenced by "The Worm Ouroboros" as a teenager. Michael Swanwick quotes from Ouroboros in The Dragons of Babel.
In 1983, E. F. Bleiler praised The Worm Ouroboros as "still the finest heroic fantasy."
Read more about this topic: The Worm Ouroboros
Famous quotes containing the words influence and/or reception:
“They tell us that women can bring better things to pass by indirect influence. Try to persuade any man that he will have more weight, more influence, if he gives up his vote, allies himself with no party and relies on influence to achieve his ends! By all means let us use to the utmost whatever influence we have, but in all justice do not ask us to be content with this.”
—Mrs. William C. Gannett, U.S. suffragist. As quoted in History of Woman Suffrage, vol. 5, ch. 8, by Ida Husted Harper (1922)
“I gave a speech in Omaha. After the speech I went to a reception elsewhere in town. A sweet old lady came up to me, put her gloved hand in mine, and said, “I hear you spoke here tonight.” “Oh, it was nothing,” I replied modestly. “Yes,” the little old lady nodded, “that’s what I heard.””
—Gerald R. Ford (b. 1913)