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CuriousG
Half-elven
Jan 19 2017, 12:38pm
Post #51 of 60
(1087 views)
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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.
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noWizardme
Half-elven
Jan 19 2017, 6:02pm
Post #52 of 60
(1069 views)
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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
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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....
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...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. . .
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No One in Particular
Lorien
Jan 22 2017, 3:09am
Post #54 of 60
(1017 views)
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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
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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...
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... 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. . .
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No One in Particular
Lorien
Jan 22 2017, 3:50pm
Post #56 of 60
(992 views)
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I may have to take a trip to the library then.
While you live, shine Have no grief at all Life exists only for a short while And time demands an end. Seikilos Epitaph
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CuriousG
Half-elven
Jan 22 2017, 9:27pm
Post #57 of 60
(981 views)
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As if you think you could mention a book and someone named "Curious" wouldn't read it? My comments about it are in the Off Topic reading thread.
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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//
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~~~~~~ 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
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dormouse
Half-elven
Feb 4 2017, 11:04pm
Post #60 of 60
(881 views)
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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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