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** IV.7 Journey to the Cross-roads – 5. Writer Friday: Language, Plot

squire
Half-elven


May 15 2011, 4:41am

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** IV.7 Journey to the Cross-roads – 5. Writer Friday: Language, Plot Can't Post

This is the last day of our thematic discussion of Book IV, Chapter 7, of The Lord of the Rings. These last two themes are more universal to the chapter, and they are also the last. So if I missed some aspect of the chapter that you are especially curious about or in love with, now is the time to pipe up!

Language

Briefly, I want here to think about how Tolkien’s use of language affects our appreciation of this chapter, and by extension his work in general. It is legendary among fans that, considered as a serious work of English literature, The Lord of the Rings was panned by the high modernist critics of the 1950s and 1960s. At best it was classed as an exotic example of genre fiction, and at worst it was put down as an extended pulp adventure for juveniles. Tolkien famously replied to these critics with the comment that “Some who have read the book, or at any rate have reviewed it, have found it boring, absurd, or contemptible; and I have no cause to complain, since I have similar opinions of their works, or of the kinds of writing that they evidently prefer.” (LotR, Foreword, 2nd ed.)
A. Do you agree with Tolkien? His critics? Or do you feel ambiguous about such mutual declarations of war when it comes to reading and enjoying books?

Style
While it is not exactly true that no prominent critics liked LotR at first, it is right to note that Tolkien has been getting more respect since the 1970s because of an expanded appreciation in our time of what constitutes “Literature”. Along with remarkable arguments by specialists like Shippey, Rosebury, and Nagy that Tolkien actually was a high modernist in his own way, much work has been done that places his tales of Middle-earth firmly within several now-respectable 20th century literary traditions, for instance: mainline middle-brow English novels, early developments in adventure fantasy, medieval revivals, and Great War literature.

Just for fun, I give below six passages from six unnamed novels. Two are examples of the modernist canon at the time when LotR came out and one is a mainstream but classic English masterpiece (i.e., “…the kinds of writing that they evidently prefer.”). Three are from authors that Tolkien evidently preferred; in fact, he actually admitted they influenced his own writing.
Sample I: He impressed you as having inherited himself last week, and as under a great press of business to grasp the details and resources of the concern. Not very much satisfaction at his inheritance and no swank. Great capacity was printed all over him. He did not appear to have been modified as yet by any sedentary, sentimental or other discipline or habit. He was at his first push in an ardent and exotic world, with a good fund of passion from a frigid climate of his own. His mistakes he talked over without embarrassment. He felt them deeply. He was experimental and modest.

Sample II: A new mood was on her, and the very colour of her mind seemed to change beneath it. It was no longer torture-torn and hateful, as I had seen it when she was cursing her dead rival by the leaping flames, no longer icily terrible as in the judgment-hall, no longer rich, and sombre, and splendid, like a Tyrian cloth, as in the dwellings of the dead. No, her mood now was that of Aphrodité triumphing. Life—radiant, ecstatic, wonderful—seemed to flow from her and around her. Softly she laughed and sighed, and swift her glances flew. She shook her heavy tresses, and their perfume filled the place; she struck her little sandalled foot upon the floor, and hummed a snatch of some old Greek epithalamium. All the majesty was gone, or did but lurk and faintly flicker through her laughing eyes, like lightning seen through sunlight.

Sample III: The words that were read aloud on Sunday to him and to other respectable men were the words that had once kindled the souls of St. Catherine and St. Francis into a white-hot hatred of the carnal. He could not be as the saints and love the Infinite with a seraphic ardour, but he could be a little ashamed of loving a wife. Amabat, amare timebat. And it was here that Margaret hoped to help him.
It did not seem so difficult. She need trouble him with no gift of her own. She would only point out the salvation that was latent in his own soul, and in the soul of every man. Only connect! That was the whole of her sermon. Only connect the prose and the passion, and both will be exalted, and human love will be seen at its height. Live in fragments no longer. Only connect and the beast and the monk, robbed of the isolation that is life to either, will die.

Sample IV: In the afternoon the way lay across more open country, which Midwinter seemed to know like the palm of his hand, for he made points for some ridge or tree-top, and yet was never held up by brook or fence or dwelling. The air had grown sharper, clouds were banking in the east, and a wind was moaning in the tops of the high trees. Alastair seemed to have been restored to the clean world of his youth, after long absence among courts and cities. He noted the woodcock flitting between the bracken and the leafless boughs, and the mallards silently flighting from mere to stubble. A wedge of geese moving south made him turn his face skyward, and a little later he heard a wild whistle, and saw far up in the heavens a line of swans.

Sample V: For upward of an hour Maskull did not change his position by an inch. No sound was heard but the splashing of the strange waves all around them, and the streamlike gurgle of the current, which threaded its way smoothly through the tossing, tumultuous sea. From their pathway of safety, the beautiful dangers surrounding them were an exhilarating experience. The air was fresh and clean, and the heat from Branchspell, now low in the west, was at last endurable. The riot of sea colors had long since banished all sadness and anxiety from his heart. Yet he felt such a grudge against the woman for selfishly forsaking those who should have been dear to her that he could not bring himself to begin a conversation.

Sample VI: And after such an evening they both were very still, having known the immensity of passion. They felt small, half afraid, childish, and wondering, like Adam and Eve when they lost their innocence and realized the magnificence of the power which drove them out of Paradise and across the great night and the great day of humanity. It was for each of them an initiation and a satisfaction. To know their own nothingness, to know the tremendous living flood which carried them always, gave them rest within themselves.
KEY:
1. A Voyage to Arcturus – David Lindsay (1920) – Tolkien influence
2. Sons and Lovers – D. H. Lawrence (1913) – Modernist classic
3. She – H. Rider Haggard (1886) – Tolkien influence
4. Howard’s End – E. M. Forster (1910) – Mainstream classic
5. Tarr – Wyndham Lewis (1918) – Modernist classic
6. Midwinter – John Buchan (1923) – Tolkien influence

B. Can you match the samples to the key?

C. What differences do you see between the “modern classics”, whose critics despised Tolkien’s style, and the “influences”, whose style Tolkien admired? Or, can you just identify which three Tolkien liked, and explain your picks?
  • The hobbits bowed low. ‘Most gracious host,’ said Frodo, ‘it was said to me by Elrond Halfelven that I should find friendship upon the way, secret and unlooked for. Certainly I looked for no such friendship as you have shown. To have found it turns evil to great good.’
  • Great ilexes of huge girth stood dark and solemn in wide glades with here and there among them hoary ash-trees, and giant oaks just putting out their brown-green buds. About them lay long launds of green grass dappled with celandine and anemones, white and blue, now folded for sleep; and there were acres populous with the leaves of woodland hyacinths: already their sleek bell-stems were thrusting through the mould.
  • At its bottom ran a hurrying stream: Frodo could hear its stony voice coming up through the silence; and beside it on the hither side a road went winding down like a pale ribbon, down into chill grey mists that no gleam of sunset touched. There it seemed to Frodo that he descried far off, floating as it were on a shadowy sea, the high dim tops and broken pinnacles of old towers forlorn and dark.
  • The red glare over Mordor died away. The twilight deepened as great vapours rose in the East and crawled above them. Frodo and Sam took a little food and then lay down, but Gollum was restless. He would not eat any of their food, but he drank a little water and then crawled about under the bushes, sniffing and muttering. Then, suddenly he disappeared.
  • ‘Haven’t you had no sleep, Mr. Frodo?’ he said. ‘What’s the time? Seems to be getting late!’ ‘No it isn’t,’ said Frodo. ‘But the day is getting darker instead of lighter: darker and darker. As far as I can tell, it isn’t midday yet, and you’ve only slept for about three hours.’
  • ‘Silly!’ hissed Gollum. ‘We’re not in decent places. Time’s running short, yes, running fast. No time to lose. We must go. Wake up, Master, wake up.’ He clawed at Frodo; and Frodo, startled out of sleep, sat up suddenly and seized him by the arm. Gollum tore himself loose and backed away.

D. Using these excerpts from this week’s chapter, and the six samples of contemporary fiction given earlier, can you identify any aspects of Tolkien’s writing that most strongly define his “style”? To start things, here are my hasty notes on this question: Imagery. Impressionistic. Episodic. Personification. Impersonal. Idioms. Rusticity. Varied voice, point of view. Compound sentences. Inverted word order. Archaic/exotic words and phrases.

Vocabulary
I can never resist just wallowing in Tolkien’s word choices.
E. Can you identify or otherwise comment on the following words in the context of this chapter?
  1. … resting for a little, while men bestirred themselves…
  2. ‘A waiting silence broods above the Nameless Land.’
  3. …with carven heads through which ran plaited leathern thongs.
  4. About them lay long launds of green grass dappled with celandine and anemones,…
  5. …they walked now with caution, flitting from one long shadow to another.
  6. …the woods gathered again, blue and grey under the sullen evening,…
  7. …the Mountains of Gondor glowed, remote in the West, under a fire-flecked sky.
  8. There it seemed to Frodo that he descried far off, floating as it were on a shadowy sea…
  9. He waved his skinny arm towards the darkling mountains.
  10. …the voice of Morgulduin, the polluted stream…
  11. …suddenly they were aware of his pale eyes unlidded gleaming at them.
  12. …very old and tall they were, gaunt and leggy below but thick above,…
  13. Their twisted boughs, stooping to the ground, were overridden by a clambering maze of old briars.
  14. …the mountains of the Ephel Dúath frowned at them,…
  15. ‘…“and need of vittles”, as he mostways used to add.’
  16. Frodo slept unquietly, turning and tossing,…
  17. ‘It can’t be tea-time even, leastways not in decent places…’
  18. …then turning south they steered as straight a course as Gollum could find…
  19. …but had failed to kill them or to shake their fathomless roots.
  20. As furtively as scouts within the campment of their enemies,…
  21. …finding at last the hem of the great slow-rolling pall of cloud,…
  22. The years had gnawed it, and violent hands had maimed it.
  23. …about the high stern forehead there was a coronal of silver and gold.


Plot

Without being too formal about it, I think of plot as being “what happens” in a story. I have read that a proper plot starts with an exposition of the setting and the basic conflict between a hero and an opponent; the conflict then builds to a climax through various incidents; at the climax the conflict is resolved; and the rest of the plot is the unwinding of the resolution. Sub-plots are similar but less central structures that are nestled within the main plot.
Now, it’s not clear to me if a chapter in a book is supposed to have a plot (or sub-plot); but surely a chapter is supposed to contribute to the main plot or a sub-plot of the book as a whole.
F. What is the plot of this chapter? Or does it not have one?
G. In terms of incident, what actually happens in this chapter that drives the story forward? (I tend to think of three specific points – you may see it differently)

Another way to think about this chapter is to consider the history of its composition. At one point in the drafts (see History of Middle-earth VIII: The War of the Ring) what we know as Chapter 4 and this Chapter 7 were a single short chapter covering the hobbits’ trek from the Morannon to the Morgul Vale. It was the invention of Faramir that inserted the two additional chapters (5 & 6) in between. Of the current four, the first chapter and this one are both primarily accounts of Frodo’s and Sam’s travels with Gollum through the province of Ithilien.
H. What are the differences or similarities in incident, tone, and character interaction that distinguish or unite Chapter 4 (“Of Herbs and Stewed Rabbit”) and Chapter 7 (“Journey to the Cross-roads”)?

One feature of Books 3 & 4 of The Lord of the Rings, in the volume called The Two Towers, is that the author seems to have created a great deal of parallelism between the two books and their respective sub-plots. From the hints of oncoming spring, to the encounters with a young captain of the local kingdom on patrol, to the mirror-image vistas across the Anduin, “binaries” abound.
I. Do you recognize any specific links between this chapter’s incidents and progress, and similar events or incidents in Book 3 (or, given the time line, Book 5)?

As you remember, we have already seen Frodo and Sam struggle and suffer through increasingly horrific landscapes as they approached Mordor. Then there they were, outside the Morannon, and it seemed like the end of the tale – when suddenly, Gollum piped up and convinced Frodo to delay the inevitable and walk south a hundred miles, to try a different pass into the Dark Land.
J. How does the increasing dread and anticipation of this chapter 7 duplicate the emotions generated by chapters 1 to 3? How is it different this time?

The equivalent of Minas Morgul/Cirith Ungol was originally supposed to be in a pass behind the Black Gate. Frodo’s entire adventure of being attacked by spiders, betrayed by Gollum, and saved in an evil tower/city by Sam was sketched out to take place when he first reached Mordor after leaving the Fellowship. In revision, Tolkien decided to expand the role of the evil Tower of the Moon by having Frodo traverse south to the point opposite Minas Tirith before being captured. But then that didn’t work well as a realistic setting to escape from, so a “third” tower (Cirith Ungol) was invented, back up in a new pass that (as it happens) makes no geographic sense.
K. What’s the difference? Is this entire chapter 7, and its fellow chapters 4-6, essentially filler?

Well, that about concludes this week’s discussion! Thanks to all who participated; and invisible thanks to the invisible lurkers, whose presence is betrayed by the board stats and whose attendance on these discussions is always appreciated! Over to Pryderi, who will guide our reading of the perilous quest as it braves the horrors of Imlad Morgul!

Answers to the style samples: I-5, II-3, III-4, IV-6, V-1, VI-2



squire online:
RR Discussions: The Valaquenta, A Shortcut to Mushrooms, and Of Herbs and Stewed Rabbit
Lights! Action! Discuss on the Movie board!: 'A Journey in the Dark'. and 'Designing The Two Towers'.
Footeramas: The 3rd (and NOW the 4th too!) TORn Reading Room LotR Discussion; and "Tolkien would have LOVED it!"
squiretalk introduces the J.R.R. Tolkien Encyclopedia: A Reader's Diary


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(This post was edited by squire on May 15 2011, 4:45am)


Hamfast Gamgee
Tol Eressea

May 16 2011, 11:53pm

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Ha! [In reply to] Can't Post

Having a little tunnel around the gate of Morannon for the Hobbits to cross was a possible suggestion of mine earlier! Looks like I might have been nearly right. There must have been some other underground passages to Mordor, Orcs been found of all things underground!
Now I always find Faramir an interesting character. He is in a way our link between books 4 and 5. I think he is the only character that we do identify with that appears in both books, unless the Witch-King counts, so maybe that is why Tolkien decided to include him.
Good chapter this week, Squire, thanks for leading the discussion it's been a bit of a quiet one so far, but I suppose it is a quiet chapter.


Gwytha
Rohan


May 17 2011, 2:43am

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Some but not all answers [In reply to] Can't Post

Language:

A-Tolkien's response to his critics is perfectly appropriate, and classic Tolkienesque wit("some who have read the book or, at any rate reviewed it," recalls Bilbo's playfully acerbic notes on the some of the presents he left at Bag End, for example the wastepaper basket for the aunt who had written reams of advice for half a century. I don't feel ambiguous about such mutual declarations of war--I think there is room for and value in many different kinds of works, including some of those quoted below, though not as much as I love Tolkien's. But Tolkien wasn't the one who delcared war; he was defending himself from an unprovoked attack.

Style
B-
Sample 1-I don't have a clue.
2-"She"-who else but "she who must be obeyed" would have been cursing her dead rival by the leaping flames?
3-'"Howard's End". I read it years ago and the phrase "only connect" was the last lines of the book, or someone's epitaph, wasn't it?
4-Midwinter. The name was mentioned in the quote, so that was a give-away, plus the descriptive natural language sounds like Tolkien.
5-I'm going to guess Voyage to Arcturus because of the extensive description of nature is also charactaristic of Tolkien's work.
6-That can only be a D.H. Lawrence afterglow.
1-By default, must be "Tarr." Doesn't sound like something Tolkien would write or like, too bewildering and unconventional, I would have to read the paragraph several times to figure it out, though it sounds rather humorous.
C-I notice all of these works were written at least thirty years before LOTR was published; is that who his critics were comparing him to? What I've noticed about writers like Lawrence, Forster and other 20thc authors who seem to be greatly admired by prominent critics is their tendency to look very deeply into the human psyche, no matter how unpleasant it is; to use innovative language, and sometimes to write at length from the point of view of despicable charactars. When I was in college I was pretty interested in artists explorations of the ugliness of the human soul because, I suppose, I needed the information. But even then I was reading Tolkien over and over again while most of those authors I read only once. Tolkien's charactars were not, as some have claimed, shallow, but he did not violate their privacy by laying bare their souls. If Tolkien had been a modernist writer he would have stayed with Frodo's point of view, his inner torment, his dark, morbid, self-flagellating thoughts in excruitiating detail to the bitter end, and I'm really glad he didn't. Frodo would never have made it to Mt. Doom without Sam, and niether would many of the readers.

I have to go pick up my son from band practice, but hopefully can get to D through K later on. Thanks for these great questions!

We are plain quiet folk and have no use for adventures. Nasty disturbing uncomfortable things! Make you late for dinner!


CuriousG
Half-elven


May 17 2011, 4:58pm

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Oh, what a shoddy writer [In reply to] Can't Post

I suppose Tolkien is only read by the kids who also read silly comic books and trashy romance novels, only it's even worse! If only their parents knew. Egad!

I've never understood how so many critics, though admittedly not all of them, were so negative about LOTR. I suspect they objected more to the plot than anything. Hobbits sound, initially, like some cute thing from children's fairy stories, not characters with depth in an epic with depth that is also beautifully and intricately written. Really, I think they just couldn't get past hobbits.

These same critics would usually respect "classics" from the past such as Shakespeare and Milton which were not modernist. Why condemn Tolkien's style while revering that of the past? They seem an irrational bunch. Critics aren't immune to trendiness, of course, so I notice that if a new book or movie comes out, reviews are nearly uniform in their overall rating. They seem afraid they'll lose their credibility if they don't go with the majority. No truly objective critic could fail to see the complexity of LOTR, the beauty of its language (even if its not their preference), and precision with which language is used--nothing shoddy about it. Wow, I just had a rant and a tantrum, huh?

What irks me more is that whatever the new canon is, once it's been around long enough to get a bit stale, a writer will go "retro" and be praised for breaking the canon and being so brave and nouveau by using a past style. Modernism just hadn't been stale enough yet when Tolkien was published, or he'd have been hailed as a hero.

Still ranting, sorry. Language: yes, I love his word choice. While he uses many archaic or obscure words, he doesn't use unnecessarily complicated ones in abundance, such as "supercilious." Nothing against that word or sophisticated ones like it! Only that most of the time, he invokes powerful imagery and feelings in readers' minds with simpler but effective and original word choice such as "a hurrying stream." I read that and wonder: "Hurrying where? Hurrying why? And if it's hurrying, doesn't that mean the situation is pretty urgent?" He doesn't fall into a lot of trite phrases like "babbling brook." Even to convey that, as he did in Edoras, he said "chattering."

As for plot, I'll admit these aren't my favorite chapters, and this part of the journey is rather dull to me. I wish it could have been much more concise. I like the battle with the Southrons, I like meeting Faramir, I like Henneth Annun, and then I'm not very interested again until we reach Morgul Vale.


Darkstone
Immortal

May 17 2011, 7:04pm

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"...the professional critics—Well, they can do whatever they wish." [In reply to] Can't Post

“Some who have read the book, or at any rate have reviewed it, have found it boring, absurd, or contemptible; and I have no cause to complain, since I have similar opinions of their works, or of the kinds of writing that they evidently prefer.” (LotR, Foreword, 2nd ed.)

A. Do you agree with Tolkien?

I think it unfortunate that Tolkien’s delightful response of playful humor and clever hyperbole has spawned an unfortunate urban legend.

One can’t help but think that such a devoted lover of words as Tolkien would advise anyone to “Read Beowulf! Read the Elder Edda! Read modernist novels! Read comic books! Read cereal boxes! Read anything! But read, read, read!”

Of course, I may be wrong and Tolkien was just a big elitist jerk, but I don’t think so.


His critics?

They would heve seemed to have failed to clear the two major Tolkien speed bumps which discourage many a reader: Bombadil and the Council of Elrond.


Or do you feel ambiguous about such mutual declarations of war when it comes to reading and enjoying books?

I think as a lover of words Tolkien was a catholic reader (pun intended) of modern literature as opposed to the image many have of a literary curmudgeon who advocated tossing every work of the Fourteenth Century or later onto a bonfire. Since it is acknowledged that he would read and critique manuscripts for his current and former students it would seem that he was familiar with and knowledgeable of most of the styles and genres of modern literature.


B. Can you match the samples to the key?

Sample 1: Lewis

Sample 2: Haggard

Sample 3: Forster

Sample 4: Buchan as a guess based on elimination and the word “midwinter” in the text.

Sample 5: Lindsay

Sample 6: Lawrence


C. What differences do you see between the “modern classics”, whose critics despised Tolkien’s style, and the “influences”, whose style Tolkien admired? Or, can you just identify which three Tolkien liked, and explain your picks?


1. A Voyage to Arcturus – David Lindsay (1920): – Tolkien influence

Lindsay still is an obscure genius. The book is dark fantasy, a precursor of Lovecraft. Disjointed, depressing, dealing with themes of sexual identity and existential angst, I’m somewhat surprised that Tolkien (and Lewis) liked it so much. Just goes to show you can’t really judge someone else’s taste. Saying “Tolkien would have hated it” is just as fallacious as assuming “Tolkien would have loved it”.

BTW, the 1970 film, with a miniscule budget and art student direction and acting, is now available on dvd. I can’t easily recommend it as a film per se, but it does remarkably recall the book.


2. Sons and Lovers – D. H. Lawrence (1913) – Modernist classic

The vast majority of English critics were hostile to Lawrence’s novels, citing what seemed to be his obsession with sex. I can see why Tolkien might be extremely hostile to this work, not because of the sex but because of the mother’s portrayal. Ironically, Lawrence was in many ways like Tolkien, for example feeling that modern industry was destroying England.


3. She – H. Rider Haggard (1886) – Tolkien influence

It’s hard to think of any young man of Tolkien’s generation not being influenced by Haggard’s She. To consider its influence remarkable would be like singling out anybody who was a kid the summer of 1977 and thinking it remarkable that they were influenced by George Lucas’ Star Wars.


4. Howard’s End – E. M. Forster (1910) – Mainstream classic

Considered Forster’s masterpiece. Lots of heterosexual sex. (Homosexual sex comes later.) Sex sells nowadays. No wonder Tolkien frowned so fiercely, but I think any specific dislike would be not because of sex, but because of the casual infidelity by virtually everyone in the book.


5. Tarr – Wyndham Lewis (1918) – Modernist classic

It is? Who knew? BTW, though published after the war it was written before, when Percy Wyndham Lewis, DB Wyndham Lewis, CS Lewis, Tolkien, the Tea Club and Barrovian Society, and just about all young Briton males were sassy and full of vinegar. Anyway, I think the 1911 Tolkien who wrote “The Battle of the Eastern Field“ and tramped through Switzerland would have thought it hilarious. After 1914 all bets are off. War changes a man.


6. Midwinter – John Buchan (1923) – Tolkien influence

Basically the same plot and structure of all of Buchan’s other adventure novels. He’s kind of the Scottish version of America’s Edgar Rice Burroughs. This ain’t great literature but it is a great read. (It’s available on the net.) Some of his thrillers are set in South Africa, which is what may have piqued Tolkien’s interest. He also created an early version of James Bond, the dashing spy Richard Hannay, who seems to have been based on a real spy of the Boer War. It’s kind of interesting to think of Tolkien devouring pulp type adventure stories in his thirties. Yet again, the portrait of a prune-faced, humorless literary elitist some people paint of him is given a mustache, blacked-out teeth, and a pair of glasses. (BTW, I devoured most of Burroughs’ novels in my late twenties, thanks to a massive reissue of just about all his novels in the 1970s by Ace and Ballantine, so there ain’t nothing wrong with a grown man devouring pulp type adventure stories!)


BTW, here’s four more:


Sample D1: Presently he said, ‘You must tell me when I say the Persian wrongly. Don't be afraid to correct me, or I shall never learn.' I took a step towards him. My hair had fallen forwards over my shoulder He put up his hand and touched it. I said softly, ‘My lord knows well that he only has to ask.’ Eros had gathered his net in the strong grip of a god, and pulled in his catch no longer to be defied. The hand that touched my hair slid under it; he said, ‘You are here under my protection. ‘ At this, without respect for the sacred person of a king, I put both arms round his neck. That was the end of his pretences. [BTW, that’s two guys!!!]


Sample D2: There were few things, John thought, so desolate as a railway line on which no train could be expected. And where the pattern of the moors seen from a moving car had been monotonous, the monotony to people on foot, struggling through rain squalls, was far greater. The moors themselves were barer, of course. The heather still grew, but the moorland grasses were gone; the outcrops of rocks jutted like teeth in the head of a skull. During the morning, they passed occasional small parties heading in the opposite direction. Once again, there was mutual suspicion and avoidance. One group of three had their belongings strapped on a donkey. John and the others stared at it with amazement. Someone presumably had kept it alive on dry fodder after the other beasts of burden were killed along with the cattle, but once away from its barn it would have to starve. Roger said: 'A variation of the old sleigh-dog technique, I imagine. You get it to take you as far as you can, and then eat it.' 'It's a standing temptation to any other party you happen to meet, though, isn't it?' John said. 'I can't see them getting very far with that once they reach the Dale.' Pirrie said: 'We could relieve them of it now.' 'No,' John said. 'It isn't worth our while, in any case. We've got enough meat to last us, and we should reach Blind Gill tomorrow. It would only be unnecessary weight.' Steve began limping shortly afterwards, and examination showed him to have a blistered heel. Olivia said: 'Steve! Why didn't you say something when it first started hurting?' He looked at the adult faces surrounding him, and his ten-year-old assurance deserted him. He began to cry. 'There's nothing to cry about, old man,' Roger said. 'A blistered heel is bad luck, but it's not the end of the world.' His sobs were not the ordinary sobs of childhood, but those in which experience beyond a child's range was released from its confinement. He said something, and Roger bent down to catch his words. 'What was that, Steve?' 'If I couldn't walk -- I thought you might leave me.' Roger and Olivia looked at each other. Roger said: 'Nobody's going to leave you. How on earth could you think that?' 'Mr. Pirrie left Millicent,' Steve said.

Sample D3: So far as I could judge, this pit was about the size of the space beneath the dome of St. Paul's in London, and when the lamps were held up I saw that it was nothing but one vast charnel-house, being literally full of thousands of human skeletons, which lay piled up in an enormous gleaming pyramid, formed by the slipping down of the bodies at the apex as fresh ones were dropped in from above. Anything more appalling than this jumbled mass of the remains of a departed race I cannot imagine, and what made it even more dreadful was that in this dry air a considerable number of the bodies had simply become desiccated with the skin still on them, and now, fixed in every conceivable position, stared at us out of the mountain of white bones, grotesquely horrible caricatures of humanity. In my astonishment I uttered an ejaculation, and the echoes of my voice, ringing in the vaulted space, disturbed a skull that had been accurately balanced for many thousands of years near the apex of the pile. Down it came with a run, bounding along merrily towards us, and of course bringing an avalanche of other bones after it, till at last the whole pit rattled with their movement, even as though the skeletons were getting up to greet us.

Sample D4: Bronowski murmured, "What a way to speak of the Father of the Electron Pump."
"That's it. Reputed Father of the Electron Pump. A bastard birth, if ever there was one. His contribution was least in substance. I know."
"I know, too. You've told me often," and Bronowski tossed another peanut into the air. He didn't miss.
It had happened thirty years before. Frederick Hallam was a radiochemist, with the print on his doctoral dissertation still wet and with no sign whatever of being a world-shaker.
What began the shaking of the world was the fact that a dusty reagent bottle marked "Tungsten Metal" stood on his desk. It wasn't his; he had never used it. It was a legacy from some dim day when some past inhabitant of the office had wanted tungsten for some long-forgotten reason. It wasn't even really tungsten any more. It consisted of small pellets of what was now heavily layered with oxide-gray and dusty. No use to anyone.
And one day Hallam entered the laboratory (well, it was October 3, 2070, to be exact), got to work, stopped shortly before 10 A.M., stared transfixed at the bottle, and lifted it. It was as dusty as ever, the label as faded, but he called out, 'God damn it; who the hell has been tampering with this?"

So which, if any of these, would Tolkien like?

D1: Soft homosexual porn.
D2: Post-apocalyptic anti-hero. (John later will kill an innocent family for a loaf of bread.)
D3: Skull avalanche!
D4: A totally unornamented style with no poetic pretensions at all interspersed with occasional obscenities.

(Answer at the end.)


D. Using these excerpts from this week’s chapter, and the six samples of contemporary fiction given earlier, can you identify any aspects of Tolkien’s writing that most strongly define his “style”? To start things, here are my hasty notes on this question: Imagery. Impressionistic. Episodic. Personification. Impersonal. Idioms. Rusticity. Varied voice, point of view. Compound sentences. Inverted word order. Archaic/exotic words and phrases.

He’s definitely no Hemingway. It’s hard to see the brevity that would have been required of a reporter for the King Edward’s School Chronicle.

Anyway, Tolkien’s style is florid and poetic, with a subtle, usually gentle, but often wicked comic touch. The descriptions are quite vivid, like from someone who has actually traveled and dearly loved Middle-earth and seeks to share that enthusiasm and devotion. He loves wordplay, and so like all great art LOTR is working on more than one level that requires additional readings, and even more readings after that. You can joyfully shield surf through the novel on the exciting and complex plot, or else toss yourself deep into Tolkien’s concepts, meanings, themes, history, mythos, and linguistic associations until you are pulled out by your beard by a change in style and realize you are in a new exciting place with a refreshing change of cast.

Basically it’s a Pirates of the Caribbean scenic ride going past lots of cool displays combined with a roller-coaster that climbs a 400 foot tower really slow, then drops at 200 mph into a Norwegian loop followed by a wraparound corkscrew, a butterfly roll, a pretzel loop, a zero-gravity roll, and a scoop splashdown. Then the next chapter starts.

In other words, this is good stuff.


E. Can you identify or otherwise comment on the following words in the context of this chapter?

Seem pretty straightforward to me, but then I grew up reading 19th century literature. Those were just about the only books in the school library except some juvenile science fiction.


Plot

Without being too formal about it, I think of plot as being “what happens” in a story. I have read that a proper plot starts with an exposition of the setting and the basic conflict between a hero and an opponent; the conflict then builds to a climax through various incidents; at the climax the conflict is resolved; and the rest of the plot is the unwinding of the resolution. Sub-plots are similar but less central structures that are nestled within the main plot.
Now, it’s not clear to me if a chapter in a book is supposed to have a plot (or sub-plot); but surely a chapter is supposed to contribute to the main plot or a sub-plot of the book as a whole.


Generally the purpose of a chapter is to set a scene and to create some kind of action that progresses the storyline. If more than one setting or point of view is used in a chapter, then a space should be to indicate the change. As long as the chapter reads as a cohesive whole, more than one scene can be included. The chapter should always contain events that naturally occur and belong together. Each chapter must forward the action and the ending in some way. Chapters that stop and go off on an irrelevant tangent are bad.

A rule of thumb for the length of a chapter is seventeen pages. The “wisdom” among publishers is that any chapter over twenty pages will cause the reader to get bored, so they tend to come down on authors about it, saying that either the chapter is actually two chapters, or else the chapter is overwritten and the writer should start cutting. Chapters in historical novels are allowed to be longer since it’s assumed the writer has to add a bunch of description. Same with scifi and fantasy. On the other hand the “wisdom” is that thrillers are supposed to have shorter chapters, and are supposed to end on a climax to keep the reader turning pages. A chapter should end right at the crucial moment. It is good to have each chapter finish with a question that will not be answered until a following chapter. (Not necessarily the immediately following chapter.)


F. What is the plot of this chapter? Or does it not have one?

The plot is to resolve the climax of the last chapter:


"It is a hard doom and a hopeless errand," said Faramir. "But at the least, remember my warning: beware of this guide, Sméagol. He has done murder before now. I read it in him." He sighed.
"Well, so we meet and part, Frodo son of Drogo. You have no need of soft words: I do not hope to see you again on any other day under this Sun. But you shall go now with my blessing upon you, and upon all your people. Rest a little while food is prepared for you.”

That is, it has to do with Seagol as guide, and Frodo’s hopelessness at the quest. So the end of the next chapter should see at least those two aspects developed.

So, the “plot” is to go from one place to another, physically (For everybody, from Henneth Annun to the Crossroads.), and spiritually (For Frodo, from hopelessness to hope.), and functionally (For Smeagol from helpless captive to the one in control.)


G. In terms of incident, what actually happens in this chapter that drives the story forward? (I tend to think of three specific points – you may see it differently)

They departure from Faramir

Gollum guides.

Gollum vanishes.

Gollum returns.

They arrive at the crossroads.

They notice the statue.

I’d put the two climaxes as:

"This is the only way," whispered Gollum. "No paths beyond the road. No paths. We must go to the Cross-roads. But make haste! Be silent!”'

And “They cannot conquer for ever!" said Frodo.


H. What are the differences or similarities in incident, tone, and character interaction that distinguish or unite Chapter 4 (“Of Herbs and Stewed Rabbit”) and Chapter 7 (“Journey to the Cross-roads”)?

What’s striking is the difference in Smeagol/Gollum.

End of Chapter 3:

"Good master, wise master, nice master!" cried Gollum in delight, patting Frodo's knees. "Good master! Then rest now, nice hobbits, under the shadow of the stones, close under the stones! Rest and lie quiet, till the Yellow Face goes away. Then we can go quickly. Soft and quick as shadows we must be!"

Start of Chapter 7;

"Have they gone at last?”' said Gollum. "Nassty wicked Men! Sméagol's neck still hurts him, yes it does. Let's go!”'
"Yes, let us go," said Frodo. "But if you can only speak ill of those who showed you mercy, keep silent! “
"Nice Master!”' said Gollum. "Sméagol was only joking. Always forgives, he does, yes, yes, even nice Master's little trickses. Oh yes, nice Master, nice Sméagol!”

Trouble’s a’brewin’.


I. Do you recognize any specific links between this chapter’s incidents and progress, and similar events or incidents in Book 3 (or, given the time line, Book 5)?

I’m thinking of parallelisms from Books 1 and 2 and 6.

In Book 1, Chapter 7 Frodo receives advice that he ignores, and the Ringquest almost fails.

In Book 2, Chapter 7 Frodo receives advice that he chooses to take and the Ringquest is saved.

In Book 4, Chapter 7 Frodo receives advice that he has to take and the Ringquest both almost fails, and is saved.

In Book 6, Chapter 7 Frodo receives advice that he chooses to take and the Shire is saved.

This means something.


J. How does the increasing dread and anticipation of this chapter 7 duplicate the emotions generated by chapters 1 to 3?

Pert well.


How is it different this time?

Gollum is not even remotely dependable or redeemable anymore.


K. What’s the difference?

Faramir.


Is this entire chapter 7, and its fellow chapters 4-6, essentially filler?

Faramir filler.


--------------------Answer--------------------------------------------
The quoted passages are from:

D1: The Persian Boy by Mary Renault
D2: The Death of Grass by John Christopher
D3: She by H. Rider Haggard
D4: Those Whom the Gods Would Destroy by Isaac Asimov

The answer as to which, if any, Tolkien liked: All of them.


From Letter 294:

"There are exceptions. I have read all that E. R. Eddison wrote, in spite of his peculiarly bad nomenclature and personal philosophy. I was greatly taken by the book that was (I believe) the runner-up when The L. R. was given the Fantasy Award, 'Death of Grass'. I enjoy the S.F. of Isaac Azimov. Above these, I was recently deeply engaged in the books of Mary Renault; especially the two about Theseus, The King Must Die, and The Bull from the Sea. A few days ago I actually received a card of appreciation from her; perhaps the piece of ‘Fan-mail’ that gives me most pleasure."

I note that Mary Renault is regarded as one of the greatest writers of gay literature of the 20th century. She was also a student of Tolkien’s at Oxford. He read and critiqued her first book, “Purposes of Love”, a lesbian nurse romance. He also wrote letters of introduction and of recommendation for her to London publishers.


BTW, from the beginning of Isaac Asimov's "Nemesis":

"I made up my mind long ago to follow one cardinal rule in all my writing—to be clear. I have given up all thought of writing poetically or symbolically or experimentally, or in any of the other modes that might (if I were good enough) get me a Pulitzer prize. I would write merely clearly and in this way establish a warm relationship between myself and my readers, and the professional critics—Well, they can do whatever they wish."

Thank you for leading.

******************************************
From IMDB trivia:

"A scene was cut from the finished film that showed Eowyn (Miranda Otto) stripping away her regular clothes and then dressing herself in the armor of a Rohan warrior."

*Darkstone bangs head against wall*


(This post was edited by Darkstone on May 17 2011, 7:05pm)


squire
Half-elven


May 24 2011, 2:44am

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What an interesting commentary on my samples, and then to supplement it with new passages of your own! I can't guess that I have your breadth, but I too read a lot of 19th-century/early 20th-century literature/pop pulp in my impressionable years; and the cheap science fiction as well.

What I tended to notice about the samples I garnered, as a generalization, was that Tolkien preferred writing that rendered impersonal subjects in a picturesque and emotional way - scenery, atmosphere, action. If my examples of "modernism" are representative, he had less interest in writing that investigated the soul or inner person as if that too were a landscape subject to minute emotional description. I don't think he disbelieved in psychological verity; I do think he thought that such verity would best be rendered by its interaction with the outside world, rather than an inspection of someone's innermost thoughts. Of course he was not rigid - he does report on his characters' thoughts from time to time. But those moments have nothing like the force of any average paragraph on the same subject from Lawrence or Woolf.

I like your roller-coaster metaphor, but I think you exaggerate the g-forces when it comes to Tolkien. Part of his power is that he pulls his punches, keeping his rhetoric in check, so when the set-piece finally rolls on, the reader is not exhausted. He comments on this in his criticism of the Zimmerman film treatment of LotR. His biggest complaint is that the film "flattens" everything by telegraphing conclusions and hyping the slow parts. This week's discussion on the 'boring' parts of LotR seems to have discovered the same principle: Tolkien rations out his action, and his "florid" writing, so that it really stands out when it finally reveals itself.



squire online:
RR Discussions: The Valaquenta, A Shortcut to Mushrooms, and Of Herbs and Stewed Rabbit
Lights! Action! Discuss on the Movie board!: 'A Journey in the Dark'. and 'Designing The Two Towers'.
Footeramas: The 3rd (and NOW the 4th too!) TORn Reading Room LotR Discussion; and "Tolkien would have LOVED it!"
squiretalk introduces the J.R.R. Tolkien Encyclopedia: A Reader's Diary


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