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A personal note on 'thanks' and 'mysteries' at the end of the 6th LOTR Read-through
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CuriousG
Half-elven


Jan 19 2017, 12:38pm

Post #51 of 60 (1087 views)
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"True reading is creativity" [In reply to] Can't Post

Marvelous quote! And none of us would be here unless reading Tolkien sparked the creative reader in us to construct a Middle-earth in our minds that we all found so appealing that we seek out movies and websites about it.

Too often it's assumed that literature is all about the author, and while I won't bother with saying it's a 50-50 split, I will maintain the reader is working like the author in literature and has a part to play. And good authors respect that.

I can digress a little into "types of reading," which I'm no expert on, but there's skimming (as in the headlines), reading to distract (like reading a trashy book on a beach vacation just to pass the time, that you don't expect to like much or remember), and immersive reading, where you interact with the author's writing, and that's LOTR.

Then in modern teaching lingo, there's constructivisit reading/learning, where people insist nothing is actually "taught," but that students construct meaning from what they read, and they do that constructing based on their own values and life experiences and influences from their environment. So, just to invent an awkward example as I ride my bus to work, let's say an American living in a woodsy environment reads the Tom Bombadil chapter and reflects, "There are all kinds of queer mysteries and folk tales in the woods near me," and a Syrian civil war refugee reflects on the same chapter, "That's wonderful how a stranger came to save them when they were lost and near death." If reading has meaning to the reader, it will connect with that reader's experiences, and with their creative imagining of the world.


noWizardme
Half-elven


Jan 19 2017, 6:02pm

Post #52 of 60 (1069 views)
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Thanks for contributing that! [In reply to] Can't Post

I ought to read Alan Garner's essays. He is of course quite brilliant at ambiguity- for example one long-built-up climax in Elidor is whether Findhorn, a unicorn, will sing and thereby fulfill a prophecy. It's left for the reader to decide whether he has or not, an effect that I remember being startling but very satisfying when I read the book as a child.

On the other hand, I was completely afford by Red Shift - but perhaps I should try it again some time.

~~~~~~
Where's that old read-through discussion?
A wonderful list of links to previous chapters in the 2014-2016 LOTR read-through (and to previous read-throughs) is curated by our very own 'squire' here http://users.bestweb.net/...-SixthDiscussion.htm


dormouse
Half-elven


Jan 19 2017, 10:37pm

Post #53 of 60 (1056 views)
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I started with 'The Moon of Gomrath' when I was ten.... [In reply to] Can't Post

...then Weirdstone, Elidor and The Owl Service, all of which I loved and still re-read. I was baffled by Red Shift when I first read it. Coming back to it years later it grew on me, and some of the later things - the Stone Book Quartet is lovely and I'm just reading Strandloper. 'The Voice that Thunders' I found very hard to put down.

For still there are so many things
that I have never seen:
in every wood and every spring
there is a different green. . .


No One in Particular
Lorien


Jan 22 2017, 3:09am

Post #54 of 60 (1017 views)
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Garner... [In reply to] Can't Post

I looooove Weirdstone. Love it so much I have two copies, a main and a backup, in case the main falls apart (as my favorite books tend to do!).

The only other book of his that have read is Red Shift, which I dislike immensely.

While you live, shine
Have no grief at all
Life exists only for a short while
And time demands an end.
Seikilos Epitaph


dormouse
Half-elven


Jan 22 2017, 9:33am

Post #55 of 60 (1006 views)
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I think you might like 'The Moon of Gomrath' if you like Weirdstone... [In reply to] Can't Post

... it's a continuation of the story, written around the same time.

For still there are so many things
that I have never seen:
in every wood and every spring
there is a different green. . .


No One in Particular
Lorien


Jan 22 2017, 3:50pm

Post #56 of 60 (992 views)
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Gomrath... [In reply to] Can't Post

I may have to take a trip to the library then. Smile

While you live, shine
Have no grief at all
Life exists only for a short while
And time demands an end.
Seikilos Epitaph


CuriousG
Half-elven


Jan 22 2017, 9:27pm

Post #57 of 60 (981 views)
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This was a fun read [In reply to] Can't Post

As if you think you could mention a book and someone named "Curious" wouldn't read it? Smile My comments about it are in the Off Topic reading thread.


noWizardme
Half-elven


Feb 4 2017, 5:07pm

Post #58 of 60 (891 views)
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Thanks for the recommendation - I've been reading The Voice That Thunders and greatly enjoying it// [In reply to] Can't Post

 

~~~~~~
Where's that old read-through discussion?
A wonderful list of links to previous chapters in the 2014-2016 LOTR read-through (and to previous read-throughs) is curated by our very own 'squire' here http://users.bestweb.net/...-SixthDiscussion.htm


noWizardme
Half-elven


Feb 4 2017, 5:08pm

Post #59 of 60 (888 views)
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I'm glad you enjoyed it!// [In reply to] Can't Post

 

~~~~~~
Where's that old read-through discussion?
A wonderful list of links to previous chapters in the 2014-2016 LOTR read-through (and to previous read-throughs) is curated by our very own 'squire' here http://users.bestweb.net/...-SixthDiscussion.htm


dormouse
Half-elven


Feb 4 2017, 11:04pm

Post #60 of 60 (881 views)
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:-) // [In reply to] Can't Post

 

For still there are so many things
that I have never seen:
in every wood and every spring
there is a different green. . .

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