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# The recent, almost viral surge of interest in the occasionally hilarious and thoroughly un-Peter-Jacksonian television adaptation of The Lord of the Rings, as staged by Leningrad television in the 1990s, has raised a question of sorts: is it really so sur
- URL: https://theparnassian.com/en/nedavnii-pochti-virusnyi-vsplesk-interesa-k-mestami-smeshnoi-i-povsemestno-dalekoi-ot-piter-dzheksonovskoi-estetiki-teleadaptatsii-vlastelina-kolets-v-ispolnenii-leningradskogo-televide/
- Published: 2021-04-19T12:26:46.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-01T05:41:15.000Z
- Author: Alexandr Radayev
- Tags: In the Press, Cinema, Books, Pop Culture, Saint Petersburg

The recent, almost viral surge of interest in the occasionally hilarious and thoroughly un-Peter-Jacksonian television adaptation of The Lord of the Rings, as staged by Leningrad television in the 1990s, has raised a question of sorts: is it really so surprising that citizens of the USSR were acquainted with Tolkien's texts? The subject proved so much in demand that Esquire decided to run a detailed survey of how Tolkien was read in the Soviet Union. In this [article](https://esquire.ru/articles/255073-borba-dobra-protiv-rastlevayushchey-vlasti-deneg-kak-chitali-tolkina-v-sovetskom-soyuze?ref=theparnassian.com) I write about the first translations, publishing curiosities, Tolkien's renown among the Soviet reader, and the interpretation of his work in Party offices and fan communities. The whole of Soviet Tolkien: from encyclopaedias and samizdat to the theatrical stage, philosophical disputes and pseudo-scientific fantasy.