LotR: What do you dislike about the Books?

[Alatar]

No need to yell Cerin. I can hear you quite well.

[Pearly Di]

Saying one never found anything to dislike in the books is not the same as a claim that they're perfect in some objective sense!

*pets Cerin*

I agree with you.

Do I care if others think they are trash? No. Not one bit.

Actually, I did care.

I was the only Tolkien fan I knew for years.

Everybody else I knew didn't think much of the book at all.

So I was very shy of declaring my Tolkien colours. I felt embarrassed to. This wonderful book just had this huge great GEEK notice over it. If you read it, you were a hopeless GEEK. *sigh*

That all changed, in December 2001.

[axordil]

You know, when people ask me what I think the greatest movie ever made was, and I tell them, they look at me funny and ask "you think that was the best movie ever made?"

I remind them that's not what they asked.

To love someone, or something, is to love them in spite of, or in some cases because of, their objective flaws.

[Pearly Di]

To love someone, or something, is to love them in spite of, or in some cases because of, their objective flaws.

That's why I love LOTR more than P&P.

(And I happen to regard P&P as one of the most perfect novels in English literature.)

[Cerin]

That wasn't yelling. That was making use of the variations in color and text size available to us, to make my comment stand out.




eta: I've gone back and reduced the size a bit.

[Alatar]

It was yelling. But I forgive you.

Edit:

Thanks for fixing the size!

[Cerin]

Thank you for your forbearance, Alatar.

I see that I went overboard with the type size, and I apologize.


eta: cross posted with Alatar

[Pearly Di]

That wasn't yelling. That was making use of the variations in color and text size available to us, to make my comment stand out.

:D:D

The yelling made me laugh.

[Alatar]

[Old_Tom_Bombadil]

Someday (next Thursday, perhaps) we'll have computer-written novels that will be without lapses in style or logic.

So, you really believe that something like a "correct" style exists?

My dear Hobby, Mr. was pulling our legs.

An example is the "sentient fox". It would not be out of place in "The Hobbit", but in "The Lord of the Rings" it's glaringly inconsistent.

But only in hindsight. At the time we're given insight into the fox's thoughts, it's not. (Thoughts, mind you. If you read carefully you'll see that he doesn't actually speak.) I would argue that a real fox might think along those lines, by the way, only in not quite so sophisticated a fashion.

I must also add that Galadriel is my favourite Elf bar none in LOTR. However, even Galadriel would not be quite the same without her Silmarillion background, which gives her far greater depth and, frankly, spirit.

I think Galadriel as a character stands fully on her own without the additional background from The Silmarillion. The only thing I can think that The Sil really adds to her in terms of LOTR is it gives the reader a greater understanding of her situation as an Exile.

To love someone, or something, is to love them in spite of, or in some cases because of, their objective flaws.

Very profound...and very true.

[Primula Baggins]

I think Di is onto something here. I have a lot of the same feelings. Pride and Prejudice seems just about perfect to me in every way, and I reread it with great pleasure—but like Di, I'm not passionate about it, as I am about LotR.

Some works just seem to be able to inspire passion. And it doesn't correlate with their flawlessness as art. In fact at some point there's a negative correlation; I've read books written with astonishing artistry and beauty that were cold as ice and that I forgot almost at once.

LotR is—warm, somehow.

[Pearly Di]

Just so, Prim.

[axordil]

I think of LOTR to a certain extent as "comfort lit," like "comfort food." It doesn't take an especially refined literary palate to enjoy.

That's not an insult.

And remember...there's a lot of BAD meat loaf in the world.

[Primula Baggins]

I've been thinking about this while running errands, and I think one of the things about LotR that draws me in is the idea that this is a look into a real, complex, interesting world with a long history and with plenty going on outside the narrative. Most of the books I dearly love seem to have that quality, as does the science fiction I like best.

P&P is a little bit of ivory, exquisite and beautiful, but it tells me everything I need to know about the places and people in it. It's self-contained. It's small, somehow.

LotR has mystery. There are things we aren't told. There are things we see hints of, but no more. There are inconsistencies as maddening as any in real life. The borders are hazy and you can see things moving in the distance, but you can't make them out. Even the ending, the ultimate fates of all the main characters, is cloaked in "It is said."

You could live there for a lifetime and not explore a fraction of it.

[axordil]

Prim--
Austen was and remains the greatest miniaturist in English-language literature. Sort of the Anti-Dickens.

[Maria]

I always skim over the poetry. Even in the audio books, when the songs come up, my husband and I fast-forward through them.

I'll be the first to admit I don't *get* poetry. I don't like it and don't appreciate it and certainly don't get anything beyond mere factual information from it. So, I have no idea whether the poetry in LOTR is even any good or not.

But I don't enjoy it and always skip or skim it- but I would never dream of editing it out of the book. It's just this part I don't read: a blank spot with a POETRY stamp over it.

[Alys]

Maria, I was just working up the courage to say much the same thing...

I do enjoy other poetry though, just not a lot of Tolkien's.

[yovargas]

Darn, Maria just beat me to it. But it's worth repeating.

What do you dislike about the Books?

THE POETRY!!!

[Erunáme]

I skipped over the poetry before, but this time, I'm doing my best to give it a good read. I don't really get a lot of poetry either, but some of Tolkien's stuff is nice.

Although I do find it strange that these characters just break out into song or reciting poetry and are also somehow able to come up with good poems on the spot. It does take me out of the story a bit.

Tom, you said not enough Bombadill...I'm the opposite I'm afraid. Tom's "Hey dol, merry dol" stuff is annoying to me.

[yovargas]

While I don't particularly care for Tom Bom (the character, not the poster!! ), I'd find him much more palatable minus THE POETRY!!!