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Ainu Laire
Tol Eressea
Sep 4 2008, 7:39am
Post #1 of 19
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Philosophy, Literature, and LOTR: Weeks 2 and 3
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Not quite sure what this is about? An explanation in my first post here.
Since I was sick last Wednesday and we had Monday off for Labor Day, I decided to combine these two weeks together.
Last Monday (the 25th, IIRC): While we were given a syllabus for the Philosophy class, the actual discussions that take place in class seem to vary a bit from what is written on the syllabus. Because of this I have taken to jotting a couple notes throughout class just so I remember what we discussed for the day. This day in philosophy was less based around LOTR and more based around general philosophy. We learned the difference between vagueness and ambiguity, and while my notes were not very thorough on the differences, that is why the Internet was invented. I cannot explain it better than that website.
We did end up discussing the ambiguity that many jokes rely on. One of my favorite and one of the most famous ambiguous jokes would be this one that was repeated in class. There are different versions of this joke, but they all have the same plot and punchline: "A panda walks into a bar, sits down and orders a sandwich. He eats the sandwich, pulls out a gun and shoots the waiter dead. As the panda stands up to go, the bartender shouts, "Hey! Where are you going? You just shot my waiter and you didn't pay for your sandwich!" The panda yells back at the bartender, "Hey, I'm a PANDA! Look it up!" The bartender opens his dictionary and sees the following definition for panda: "A tree dwelling marsupial of Asian orgin, characterized by distinct black and white coloring. Eats shoots and leaves." Gotta love ambiguity, yes?
English was a bit more LOTR-related. Our first essay was due that day discussing what attracts us to LOTR and what we're expecting out of the class. I could write a book on what interests me in LOTR, but I managed to restrain myself  What is really interesting, though, was listening to other students and what drew them to read the book. Some of them had landed quite by accident in the class and were reading it because it was a requirement, while others were attracted by things such as the mythologies that Tolkien drew from. Norse mythology was brought up, and we ended up discussing some of the differences between Norse and Greek gods. The discussion went from mythological gods to the medium in itself, and we had a little discussion on LOTR as a book vs a movie and a game. I am insistent on the thought that different mediums are simply different ways to tell the story, though I felt a sort of general consensus from my classmates that they thought reading was intellectually elite from game playing and movie-watching. I disagree and don't think it is a black and white situation, but I am not going to get into that right now.
Two other things were brought up in this discussion that I managed to write down. One person said that in English we are sort of expected to draw messages and such from the books we read, and that it was much more interesting reading about wizards and dragons and Good vs Evil and still get messages rather than getting the same messages from "some boring family during the Great Depression". Queue laughter from the rest of the class. On that note others asked why we had to draw such messages from books? There was some discussion of CS Lewis and the clear allegory that is there, and one student said that "sometimes I want the lion just to be a lion." Queue more laughter from the class, but he does have a point. I know I couldn't stand Lord of the Flies for all the allegory present. I just wanted the kids to be kids, and the shell to be a shell. I know that when I first read CS Lewis in 4th grade that I enjoyed it more than when I read it again in 8th grade simply for the fact that I was oblivious to any allegorical messages- and I say this as a Christian. I'm not sure why I'm not a fan of allegory, but I have been staunchly against it for a long, long time. It may be because of all the essays I was forced to write in English on allegory. Who knows.
Say anything you wish in response to the snippet of my class life, but I will present these simple, yet not so simple questions to all of you: What originally drew you to LOTR? What keeps you drawn to Middle-earth now?
Wednesday the 3rd: Today was a lot of fun. We had a guest speaker, a UCSC student who used to attend my college and was focusing on something very unique. He studies Encyclopedic Novels, and read to us the criteria that Edward Mendelson (who "discovered" the genre) gave for a book in order to be an encyclopedic novel. The criteria he presents is rather strict, and while I cannot find a direct quote as of now, I will give some of the criteria, as found by a quick Google search and verified by my memory of today's lesson: "1) they all include an extensive account of at least one technology or science; 2) they are an encyclodedia of literary styles; 3) they all provide a history of language (are metalinguistic); 4) they all propose a theory of social organization." Mendelson put authors such as Melville, Dante, and Pynchon in this category, and our guest speaker also believes that Tolkien meets the criteria for this genre. One thing I remember clearly from the lecture is that Mendelson seems to imply that each culture can only have one encyclopedic novel, and that our guest speaker disagreed with him on it. It was a long, interesting lecture that took up all of the philosophy part of class, but the two professors seemed to reach some sort of agreement and our philosophy teacher taught for most of the rest of the time.
We have just finished Book I of LOTR, where Frodo withstood the Ringwraiths at the Ford. We had a passage reading on Frodo meeting Aragorn in chapter 9 and then on the part where Frodo receives Gandalf's letter and Aragorn reveals himself as "Aragorn, son of Arathorn, and if by life or death I can save you, I will". I am pretty certain that by the reactions my professor had during the passage reading that she has the complete hots for Aragorn. That is completely fine by me, seeing as I am a Hopeless Fangirl when it comes to him, as well.  Beyond the passage we discussed quite a few things. We discussed Manachean evil vs Augustanian evil (I *know* that I'm spelling those wrong), but basically one says that Evil is an outside presence while the other says that evil comes from inside of us... at least, that is what I got from it. I was so into the conversation that my notes are all but non existant. The outside presence urging Frodo to put the Ring on when he stands on top of the table to sing his song would be an example of an outside force of evil.
There as also the discussion of "fair and foul". One of the most memorable passages to me in the book that we discussed in length was when Frodo tells Aragorn that he thought an Enemy would look fair, but feel foul, and that Aragorn comments that he then "looks foul and feels fair". We discussed how in LOTR things were often not as they seemed ("All that is gold does not glitter") was mentioned, and how that even Frodo went and disguised himself as Underhill for a while. The whole disguise issue brought up all of Aragorn's aliases. Yes, I named every single one. Score One Geek Point for me. I also mentioned that the Ring is an excellent example of "looking fair and feeling foul", as well. Then we moved onto will power, and the professor went on about Aragorn's will to go against what innate human nature would have us do (which made me grin like an idiot, I'll admit). We also discussed who was attracted to the Ring but used their will to go against their desire for it, who had no attraction to the Ring whatsoever, and who just had more important issues to concern themselves with. Characters such as Aragorn and Galadriel fell into the first category, Tom Bombadil fell into the second, and Sam fell into the third.
I feel as if that is not nearly all that we discussed in class, but that is sadly all that comes to mind. The range of topics is absolutely huge in this class, and all of the time I am making a fool of myself with my giddiness. I cannot help it, and, even if I am at the receiving end of odd glances, I wouldn't change it. I rarely get to show off my complete love and hopeless obsession for LOTR, so I'll be letting it all out in this class, even if I am at the bottom of the social pyramid.
As for the question... how about the one presented to the class. What were your initial thoughts when you first met Strider? Were you more trusting of him like Pippin, more suspicious like Sam, or somewhere in the middle like Frodo? Why? Naturally if you have any other comments, please feel free to post them.
Our second essay for English was also turned in today. I wrote on the power and importance of dreams, focusing mostly on Frodo's dreams in the first part of FOTR, and touching on Boromir and Faramir. I can say with great pleasure that I used obscure Tolkien lore such as Elostirion and the Elendilmir in the essay. I'll see if I can get even more obscure in further essays.
I hope that a couple people enjoyed this retelling a bit. I cannot thoroughly explain how much these classes give me pleasure, even though I know that some of my classmates think me the most odd person in the world. I am doing my best to ignore them :)
Until next week!
My LJ
My art site
NARF since age 8, when I refused to read the Hobbit because the cover looked boring and icky.
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Jazmine
Tol Eressea
Sep 4 2008, 2:18pm
Post #2 of 19
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I have spent the past 13 years since I first read The Hobbit being regarded as "odd" by my family, classmates and friends. To this day, my father still asks "When are you going to grow out of that fantasy-wizard stuff?", even though I am now 22, and consider myself past the stage where I "grow out" of things! I've done a couple of Tolkien-related courses myself, and found them incredibly rewarding, as I'm sure you will!
What originally drew you to LOTR? What keeps you drawn to Middle-earth now?
Hmmm, well I spent a lot of my early childhood playing by myself, and became quite talented at creating fantasy worlds in my head where I could play out my adventures. (My only brother is 13 years my senior, and was uninterested in playing with a small child while he was in his late teens, so I played alone alot!)
When I was 9, we had The Hobbit read to us by our teacher in class. I LOVED it. So much so, that at the end of that school year, my teacher very kindly gave me her copy of it. (Thanks Miss Farrell!) I still have it, and though it is now battered from so many readings, I still treasure it. My mother gave me LoTR to keep me quiet during a half term holiday a year or two later, and I've been hooked ever since.
As a child, I used fantasy worlds in my imagination, and in the books I read,as a place to escape to, when the Real World got too scary. My mother was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis shortly before I was born, and was therefore very ill through alot of my childhood. I would retreat into a particular book, or story of my own, whenever she was really ill, I guess it was just a child's way of dealing with that kind of trauma. Once I'd read LoTR, I felt like I'd found a permanent place to escape to. And that really, is the main reason I'm still drawn to it. Sometimes it feels more like home, than the reality that is going on around me at that given moment. The richness and detail that Tolkien created in his works makes it far more real for me, than say, Narnia ever did. Which is probably why I haven't picked up a Narnia book in the past decade, but am still more than happy to dive back into Middle Earth!
*Jazminatar the Brown*
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dernwyn
Forum Admin
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Sep 5 2008, 1:42am
Post #3 of 19
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of the class when you listed...and listed...and listed Aragorn's aliases? 
"Messages" in English lit! I remember my teacher getting so frustrated with my class when he tried to get us to pull meanings out of Moby Dick. We just wanted to enjoy reading the story. Too many English teachers rend the "classic" texts until they're unrecognizable and unenjoyable. It sure sounds like you're enjoying this class, you have terrific teachers! 
"Encyclopedic novels" - interesting concept!
Would you be willing to post your essays?
There's a problem with my having first read the Hobbit and LotR over 40 years ago: I can't recall most of my first impressions of it, which is too bad! But I do know that I was drawn to the perils and beauties of Middle-earth, to its good which succeeded even at a cost, or maybe especially because there was a cost; these were characters and places I found that I cared about, and who could break my heart yet leave me whole.
And I desired dragons! And when I picked up that paperback FotR at the bookstore and read the "courtesy" message inside the green box on the back and saw Tolkien's signature, I became one of his students; I was signing up, life-long, for his course in - ethics? mythology? ennoblement? an alternate reality which touched the real world on a profound level? Those, and much more! And that world has never left me...or maybe, I've never left it...
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"I desired dragons with a profound desire"
"It struck me last night that you might write a fearfully good romantic drama, with as much of the 'supernatural' as you cared to introduce. Have you ever thought of it?"
-Geoffrey B. Smith, letter to JRR Tolkien, 1915
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CAhobbit
Rohan
Sep 5 2008, 6:19am
Post #4 of 19
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*Stands up* Hi! I'm CAhobbit and I like allegory in stories....
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yes, it's true I do like allegory. Not in all stories that I read but I do enjoy it every once in a while. Of course I do see the downside to it as well.
Sounds like the class is going well!
What originally drew you to LOTR? What keeps you drawn to Middle-earth now?
It was the movies that drew me to LOTR. I saw a trailer for FOTR in front of the movie 'Castaway' (strange that I recall that) and knew I had to read this story before the film was released. The next day I went out and bought all three books and the rest is reading history (so to speak).
What draws me back? I can take a stab at it but I'm not really sure I even fully know (that sounds silly doesn't it?). I could say it's the story and characters (which is true) but I've read many books where I loved the plot and characters but no other book has had such a lasting impression and love as LOTR has. Perhaps it's everything that surrounded my enjoyment of the books (the people I've met and befriended, the great adventures that happened and continue to happen). I would suppose that it's a combination of the longevity of my love for the book and all that is contained in it, along with the external happenings that have occurred since my first read of the book.
Do not meddle in the affairs of hobbits for we can bite your kneecaps off!
CAhobbit's flickr page
CAhobbit's myspace
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Annael
Immortal
Sep 5 2008, 3:03pm
Post #5 of 19
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when you listed...and listed...and listed Aragorn's aliases?
Viggo was on the Daily Show once, and Jon Stewart played him a tape of Stephen Colbert (huge LOTR fan) listing all of Aragorn's aliases, while Viggo smiled and nodded as he ticked off each one.
My name is Annael, and I approved this message.
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NARF and member of Deplorable Cultus since 1967
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Alassëa Eruvande
Valinor
Sep 5 2008, 3:23pm
Post #6 of 19
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Mr. Eruvande drew me to Middle Earth.
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Literally. He took me by the hand and dragged me into the theater to see FOTR. "Come on," he said. "You might like it."
Famous last words.
What keeps me in Middle Earth are my friends Frodo and Sam, Gandalf and Elrond, Arwen and Eowyn, and my boyfriend Faramir and my boyfiend Gollum. I go visit them every day, whether on line, watching the EEs, reading snippets from the book, or anything else. They comfort me, crack me up, bring me to tears.
And I'd enjoy reading your essays, too, if you'd like to share.
And suddenly the Ainur saw afar off a light, as it were a cloud with a living heart of flame.
SFTH Archive
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Jazmine
Tol Eressea
Sep 5 2008, 6:01pm
Post #7 of 19
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"Messages" in English lit! I remember my teacher getting so frustrated with my class when he tried to get us to pull meanings out of Moby Dick. We just wanted to enjoy reading the story. Too many English teachers rend the "classic" texts until they're unrecognizable and unenjoyable.
Very true! I had such a hard time enjoying Shakespeare at school. It just seemed too much like hard work. We were forever having to analyze various parts of the writing, trying to find some deeper meaning. I have since reaquainted myself with his plays, and now that I am reading/watching them for pleasure, I enjoy them far more than I ever did in school!
*Jazminatar the Brown*
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Magpie
Immortal
Sep 6 2008, 1:59am
Post #8 of 19
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Thanks for these write-ups, AL
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I really enjoy reading them.
I thought this was kind of amusing:
all of the time I am making a fool of myself with my giddiness.
There was a time I would get almost breathless when I talked about LOTR. It was kid of embarrassing but I could not help it one bit. Really, what's embarrassing about being in love. That's what it's akin to. Feeling joy without limit.
As to your question: What originally drew you to LOTR? What keeps you drawn to Middle-earth now?
I read the books in the late 60's so it's hard to remember specifics. I know that I was fascinated with the book because I can remember how that fascination played out. And I can remember being scared by the Nazgul chasing Frodo. But I don't remember much else. I did not read the book again until 2002 when I fell under its spell so strongly that I it felt like I'd been kicked in the gut.
When I tried to figure out what was happening to me, I wrote this:
Perhaps one of the two most important reasons is that this book resonated on a deeply spiritual level with me. So much so, that even though I don’t remember much of my late 60's readings of the book, I believe it highly influenced my developing views on spirituality. Tolkien’s beliefs (as portrayed in this world of Middle-earth) – of good, evil, redemption, temptation, valor, forgiveness, grace, courage, faith, friendship, and so much more– was SO in line with my beliefs it was a spiritual affirmation of self and our relationship to whatever resides above us.
I am one of those Myers-Briggs personalities that makes up less than 4% of the population. I spent a lot of time trying to fit in and never really succeeding. One way was trying to find a place in a Christian church for me in my teens. I wanted a spiritual life but I just couldn't find a fit that worked for me. Being young, without really thinking about it, I thought that meant I wasn't Christian and that meant I was 'without' a spiritual life. What I came to realize is that my spiritual life is very deep and I found my own way. I think I was looking in the church and not finding what I wanted but I found what I needed, without ever realizing it, in LOTR. I think that book was the foundation for the way I made for myself and I didn't even realize it till 35 years later.
There so much to enjoy about LOTR. The fantasy of the Elves. The drama of Sam in Cirith Ungol. The romaticism of Prince Imrahil and his singing knights. The adventure of road trip. But it's this core of spritual succor and healing I get when I'm with LOTR. I once paraprased something I heard by saying, "LOTR makes me want to be a better person."
I've lived a life being one of the 4%. When I'm with LOTR, I feel at home. I don't feel different or odd. I read a children's book once about a man who decorated his house very oddly. When people asked why he replied, "My house is me and I am it. My house is where I want to be and it looks like all my dreams." Well... LOTR is kind of like that for me.
magpie avatar gallery ~ LOTR soundtrack website ~ Torn Image Posting Guide
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Ainu Laire
Tol Eressea
Sep 6 2008, 2:52pm
Post #9 of 19
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My parents have given up on me
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They realize that I am never letting go of this love now, and in some ways actually encourage it!
Wonderful story, Jazmine. I am sorry about your mother, but I do understand by what you mean about Middle-earth just pulling you away from real life horrors. The summer my mom got her thyroid gland removed because of a goiter, and then ended up straight back in the emergency room because of some complications... I remember diving very deep into Tolkien's world those weeks. So I can understand a little where you are coming from.
My LJ
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NARF since age 8, when I refused to read the Hobbit because the cover looked boring and icky.
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Ainu Laire
Tol Eressea
Sep 6 2008, 2:57pm
Post #10 of 19
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A bit of a blank-faced stare from most of the classroom. They also didn't believe me when I said he was 87 XD
Oh, I'm really enjoying the classes, but I'll be honest when I say that I'm not looking forward to analyzing the text from a Marxist PoV. We're going into the "too deep to pull meanings" area :P Ah well, I'll try and keep an open mind!
I can send my essays to anyone interested, or post them on my LJ.. I hadn't really thought about it. They are informal essays and aren't as polished as I would like, but if people directly ask, I can certainly post them somewhere.
Wonderful statement on what draws you to Tolkien's world. I hope to be still as eager as I am now 30-40 years from now :)
My LJ
My art site
NARF since age 8, when I refused to read the Hobbit because the cover looked boring and icky.
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Ainu Laire
Tol Eressea
Sep 6 2008, 3:01pm
Post #11 of 19
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And I can certaily respect that. One of my good friends loves allegory; I think she's nuts. She thinks I'm nuts as well, so it works out well. Honestly, what has probably pushed me away from allegory are the constant references we needed to make to it throughout middle and high school English. It was tiring, and now I completely dislike any thoughts of allegory. Perhaps once the strain of school has passed I'll get into it again.
Your story echoes mine, though I cannot remember where I saw the trailer for FOTR. Your reason for coming back also echoes mine; the people I have met have really tied me into the fandom. The adventures, of course, are a great piece of it, too. It's difficult to imagine where my life would be now if I hadn't been drawn to Tolkien back when I was young (or younger than I am now, at the least).
My LJ
My art site
NARF since age 8, when I refused to read the Hobbit because the cover looked boring and icky.
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Ainu Laire
Tol Eressea
Sep 6 2008, 3:10pm
Post #12 of 19
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I wish the same thing happened with my friends that I dragged to see the movies. Sadly not. Ah well :P Mr. Eruvande has my gratitude for bringing you here!
I love your response, and know what you mean. I was rereading "Of Herbs and Stewed Rabbit" to try and get Faramir's character correct for a fan fic I'm writing, and I started laughing at Frodo's and Sam's actions when they first met the Rangers. It was priceless! Now that I am rereading the books the whole way through, I am really experiencing Middle-earth anew. It's fascinating how different I see some things now that I'm 18 rather than 14.
I can post my essays up for the next week. I warn you, though, that they are nothing professional. They are informal essays, and I wasn't able to completely suppress my love for the text... which makes it much less formal :)
My LJ
My art site
NARF since age 8, when I refused to read the Hobbit because the cover looked boring and icky.
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entmaiden
Forum Admin
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Sep 7 2008, 1:17am
Post #13 of 19
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I entered Middle-earth in the 9th grade
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and never left - even though 9th grade was more than 30 years ago! My 9th grade English teacher assigned us The Hobbit for class and I tore through it in about 2 days. At the end of the book I saw a note in the book that, if I liked The Hobbit, I could read the further adventures of Hobbits in The Lord of the Rings. Well, that took about a week to finish and I was hooked for life. I'm one of those that re-reads every year.
I first disliked Frodo since he took the place of my beloved Bilbo, but I grew to like him. But I'll always have a soft spot for Bilbo. That just increases my anticipation for The Hobbit movie! Although I was quite satisfied with the LOTR movies, and I'm quite prepared for the Hobbit movies to be less than I expected. I'lll always have the books.
I honestly can't remember my first impression of Aragorn, although I don't think I was as suspicious as Sam. I had the advantage of being the reader instead of the participant, and I could see that the hobbits needed some help, especially once Gandalf didn't show up in Bree. So I figured that Aragorn was sent to help the hobbits.
Thanks, Ainu, for takihng the time to write up your sessions! It's great to hear about a class about Middle-earth.
Each cloak was fastened about the neck with a brooch like a green leaf veined with silver.
`Are these magic cloaks?' asked Pippin, looking at them with wonder.
`I do not know what you mean by that,' answered the leader of the Elves.
NARF since 1974.
Balin Bows
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Annael
Immortal
Sep 7 2008, 2:18pm
Post #14 of 19
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although I started with LOTR - my 9th grade English teacher handed it to me and said "here, you'll like this." I read it almost without stopping for three days straight, and when I finished I started it all over again. That time it took me a week because I slowed down a bit - before I'd been in such a hurry to find out what happened! Then I read it again. Three times in the first month, and several more times each year after that for a while, until I settled into my present habit of reading it every year for Christmas. Took me several years to discover the appendices - what heaven, more about all my friends! - and I didn't read The Hobbit until I was adult. It paled in comparison, and I never cared quite as much for Bilbo as I did for Frodo and the rest. I'm sure I'd love it more if I had read it first and as a child.
Aragorn - I think I trusted Frodo's gut feeling on him. I remember it was a complete surprise to me when Arwen showed up near the end and married Aragorn - she'd just been a wall decoration before! I missed the hint of the standard she sent him the first time. Too subtle for moi. I was glad when PJ gave her more to do in the movies.
And for all that I'd read the book a gazillion times, it wasn't until I came here and joined in the discussions that some things became clear to me, like Saruman's role in the attack in Bree.
My name is Annael, and I approved this message.
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NARF and member of Deplorable Cultus since 1967
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Laerasëa
Tol Eressea
Sep 7 2008, 6:09pm
Post #15 of 19
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I really like these posts!
Hmmm...ok, well, I'll try and answer one. The librarian of our middle school was a really nice woman who'd always lend me books- and about 99.9% of the time, the books that she loaned me would remain on my "top ten" list for about a year. I say "loaned" instead of "checked out," because she'd also give me books to read when school was not in session (ie, over summer or winter breaks). And in middle school, my taste in books changed with the seasons, so liking a book for a year was a big deal- you can read one book lots of times in a year! I think that's where I really began to understand how cool reading was- I'd always really enjoyed it as a pastime, but after expanding my usual strictly-mythology reading to include biographies, books on the ideas of writing, various types of fantasy and scifi (including Orson Scott Card, who was on my "favorite 5 authors" list for a very long time), I began to understand more that writing could be an art in itself. So when she handed me The Hobbit with pictures, I knew that she didn't think that I needed a picture book, but instead, that she wanted me to try something that I hadn't really tried before: a kind of writing in which a whole separate world was created, an entire idea, a complete mythology. After I devoured The Hobbit, she gave me the LOTR books, and while I liked them, it was after I saw the trailer to FotR that I really began to love them, and understand them a little more. I didn't read the Sil until this year, but even without reading it, I thought that it was clear that there was more to "Middle Earth" than just what was shown in the movies or the book trilogy.
I got more into it this year, in January, for various reasons, and I still read it now, because the more I learn about it, the more fascinated I am. I really love mythology, etymology, and English, and I think Tolkien's work just sort of illustrates what someone with an idea of these concepts can do with it all.
There was some discussion of CS Lewis and the clear allegory that is there, and one student said that "sometimes I want the lion just to be a lion."
That reminded me of a moment that I had in French class this week- there is this one scene in a play that we're reading which includes a ribbon, which is obviously a symbol/very important, but we were not sure exactly what it meant- one kid suggested that it was...*family boards* something that could "only show up in a French play." The guy sitting next to me said, "You know, {name}, sometimes a ribbon is just a ribbon."
I was kind of giggling- but I totally agree with you and your friend sometimes!
I am pretty certain that by the reactions my professor had during the passage reading that she has the complete hots for Aragorn.
*snicker* Your LOTR teacher likes Aragorn? Hmmm....looks like you and I have something in common, AL!
The whole disguise issue brought up all of Aragorn's aliases. Yes, I named every single one.
*high-five!*
Ok, I've got to stop, but I could spend forever replying to this if I seriously didn't have to get a move on college apps myself. Thanks for these posts; I won't always have time to reply, but I still get a kick out of reading them, and I'll always have time to lurk! Thank you!!
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- Napoleon Bonaparte
"Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted."
- Albert Einstein
"In theory, there is no difference between theory and practice. But in practice, there is."
- Yogi Berra
"The only difference between me and a madman is that I'm not mad."
- Salvador Dali
(This post was edited by laerasea on Sep 7 2008, 6:15pm)
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Ainu Laire
Tol Eressea
Sep 9 2008, 5:10am
Post #16 of 19
(613 views)
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Makes it all the worthwhile :)
If this is what love feels like, then I am eager to experience that with a person who isn't a family member. I suppose I'm not as naive in the ways of love as I thought ;)
Wonderful write up, Magpie. I don't know what my personality is with that test- I'm always getting different results- but I know that I am an oddball. But as it is, I think its the oddballs that make life worth living. I mean, look at Tolkien! He was not "normal" in any sense whatsoever, and he created a magnificent world because of it. I think being part of the 4% is one of the best things that can happen to a person.
My LJ
My art site
NARF since age 8, when I refused to read the Hobbit because the cover looked boring and icky.
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Ainu Laire
Tol Eressea
Sep 9 2008, 5:14am
Post #17 of 19
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Tearing through the books so quickly- that is great! I didn't do that myself (I am not sure why, considering that I tore through Harry Potter and like it less), but I can feel the excitement still in your text.
It was actually my huge expectations of ROTK that ruined it a little for me. They were a little too high. I'm trying to keep myself more apathetic about the Hobbit and especially F2 just so I'm not completely crushed. One reason I loved the Dark Knight, I know, is because my expectations weren't nearly as high as they should have been. *g*
My LJ
My art site
NARF since age 8, when I refused to read the Hobbit because the cover looked boring and icky.
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Ainu Laire
Tol Eressea
Sep 9 2008, 5:20am
Post #18 of 19
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I cannot imagine reading a book- even LOTR- so many times in one month. The only books I've sped-read are the HP books, and half of it was because I couldn't go online until I finished them *g*
Actually, I read the Hobbit when I was 11 (which, honestly enough, is young enough) and I still like LOTR more than the Hobbit. I appreciated the Hobbit more when I read it a year ago- I understood the subtle humor and saw the references to other parts of Tolkien's legendarium. It took that second reading when I was older for me to appreciate it more. I'll likely reread it again sometime this year and try and get some images from the Hobbit onto paper before my mind is corrupted by the movies.
I also completely agree with you on PJ's Arwen. The first time she married Aragorn was a "wha?" moment for sure, though not as much since I did see FOTR. Even the second time I did not get all the references to her, because they are rather subtle. It's a pity that Tolkien did not add more of her into the book outside of the Appendices; one reason I read fan fiction concerning her, actually. I just want to get more of a grasp about her character.
My LJ
My art site
NARF since age 8, when I refused to read the Hobbit because the cover looked boring and icky.
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Ainu Laire
Tol Eressea
Sep 9 2008, 5:24am
Post #19 of 19
(630 views)
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I'll be posting them weekly or bi-weekly until the beginning of December :D
Wonderful way to get into the books. I know you are only a year younger than me, so it's great to read about a reaction from someone close to my age.
Truth be told, I also have the hots for Aragorn. It's a sad, sad fact.
Thanks for the response! I look forward to more :P
My LJ
My art site
NARF since age 8, when I refused to read the Hobbit because the cover looked boring and icky.
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