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larryhammerRandom thoughts on rereading The Lord of the Rings:
Old Man Willow and Barrow Wight: pick one, for pacing. My preference is ditch the first, as the escalations of Brandywine Ferry → Barrows → Knife in the Dark → Weathertop make a nice arc for the hobbits finally taking the world’s dangers seriously, but I can see a different editor choosing to keep the Old Forest’s thematic resonance with later events—plus without Tom Bombadil it’s harder to escape the Barrows. OTOH Bombadil arguably interferes thematically with the Ents and other Elder Entities. Not to mention his house gives too much comfort compared with the amount of peril so far. So 🤷🏼♂️
Théoden is freed from his diet of Fox News waaaaaay too easily.
I have trouble believing just how much land is completely unsettled. (This is not a new reaction.) Ditto how few herders there are in Rohan. (This is new.)
Skulking through the wilds outside Mordor remains a slog. It was very tempting to skip Book IV (again).
For added amusement, mentally replace every instance of “palantír” with “ansible.” (However “Gandalf” > “Ged” does not work, by Le Guin’s design.)
I remain convinced that the entire book exists solely to give emotional weight to that last line. 1008 pages of coherent story has immense heft. Oof. Seriously, this is the best example of sticking the landing I know.
---L.
Subject quote from Mr Jones, Counting Crows.
Old Man Willow and Barrow Wight: pick one, for pacing. My preference is ditch the first, as the escalations of Brandywine Ferry → Barrows → Knife in the Dark → Weathertop make a nice arc for the hobbits finally taking the world’s dangers seriously, but I can see a different editor choosing to keep the Old Forest’s thematic resonance with later events—plus without Tom Bombadil it’s harder to escape the Barrows. OTOH Bombadil arguably interferes thematically with the Ents and other Elder Entities. Not to mention his house gives too much comfort compared with the amount of peril so far. So 🤷🏼♂️
Théoden is freed from his diet of Fox News waaaaaay too easily.
I have trouble believing just how much land is completely unsettled. (This is not a new reaction.) Ditto how few herders there are in Rohan. (This is new.)
Skulking through the wilds outside Mordor remains a slog. It was very tempting to skip Book IV (again).
For added amusement, mentally replace every instance of “palantír” with “ansible.” (However “Gandalf” > “Ged” does not work, by Le Guin’s design.)
I remain convinced that the entire book exists solely to give emotional weight to that last line. 1008 pages of coherent story has immense heft. Oof. Seriously, this is the best example of sticking the landing I know.
---L.
Subject quote from Mr Jones, Counting Crows.