tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5723077228948447528.post7613847547387572843..comments2024-03-27T19:07:19.133-04:00Comments on The Silver Key: The Hobbit: Awakening the Took in usBrian Murphyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05563309422791320114noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5723077228948447528.post-91950632274582953262009-07-31T12:28:13.457-04:002009-07-31T12:28:13.457-04:00Hi Shimrod, thanks for stopping by. I hope I didn&...Hi Shimrod, thanks for stopping by. I hope I didn't leave the impression that Tolkien is guilty of writing one-dimensional characters. He gets a lot of unfair criticism for his alleged use of shallow, "unwearingly wholesome or unrelently evil" characters (novelist Richard Morgan accused him of just that recently, which I took him to task for in a recent post). You're correct in all three examples you've cited.Brian Murphyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05563309422791320114noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5723077228948447528.post-40785771282044666382009-07-29T12:33:38.272-04:002009-07-29T12:33:38.272-04:00I have to disagree with the comments about the rul...I have to disagree with the comments about the rulers of ME. Denethor and Theoden are major leaders of men, who are led astray by madness or wicked counselors. Saruman is a leader of men (and Orcs), engaged in brutal warfare out of corrupted self-interest and fear of a greater evil. And that’s not even counting any of the nations under Sauron’s sway.<br /><br />Overall I tend to agree that LotR has great and shining men (like Aragorn), suited to being heroes of the “might have been” English mythology Tolkien wanted to write, but neither is Tolkien’s world guilty of the oversimplification of making all rulers good ones.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5723077228948447528.post-3049103096071416102008-11-24T19:22:00.000-05:002008-11-24T19:22:00.000-05:00Hi Anonymous, thanks for stopping by. I feel much ...Hi Anonymous, thanks for stopping by. I feel much the same way about The Lord of the Rings. I'd be willing to follow a true and just king like Aragorn, but unfortunately, our world has never seen his like. The "historic" King Arthur was probably our closest parallel.Brian Murphyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05563309422791320114noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5723077228948447528.post-40450228706902714012008-11-23T12:58:00.000-05:002008-11-23T12:58:00.000-05:00I just found this website (after re-reading lotr m...I just found this website (after re-reading lotr myself), and i had to jump in here and comment, esp. after reading your two comments. LOTR is basically the only fantasy book i've ever read, or at least the only one i've really enjoyed, but i can truly say that it is the only book where i have had the overwhelming feeling of, "God, what i would give to live in this story". I think it has to do, not only with the sights and wonders that ya'll have already mentioned, but also with some sense of a clear morality; in this world, we know orcs will always be malicious, we know hobbits will generally be good. Honor and bravery seem such more easier, and more respectable, when there are no disagreements about their worth, and about their purpose. How many wars in real life can we say that about? <BR/>Also what I love is how many of the leaders in middle earth possessed not only the strongest might, but also the most wisdom. It seemed like the hierarchy worked; those who had power deserved it, those who had trust deserved it. How jaded we've become with our leaders- with corruption, weakness, and myopia. When Aragorn becomes king, we never for one second have any doubts about his future.<BR/><BR/>Anyway, just thought i'd share that. Thanks for the site.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5723077228948447528.post-3096398933601774582008-08-12T22:22:00.000-04:002008-08-12T22:22:00.000-04:00Hey Falze, you're right. Every time I pick up The ...Hey Falze, you're right. Every time I pick up The Lord of the Rings or the Hobbit, and look at the exquisite maps in the beginning of the books, I imagine myself as a wanderer in Middle-Earth. To drink an ale at The Prancing Pony, listen to the elves' songs in the Hall of Fire in Rivendell, or to gaze on the white towers of Gondor ...Brian Murphyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05563309422791320114noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5723077228948447528.post-73481022447861303052008-08-12T21:11:00.000-04:002008-08-12T21:11:00.000-04:00How often do you read a novel, truly, and think "I...How often do you read a novel, truly, and think "I wish I was going with them" as they set off? Surely not as the last survivors of a zombie apocalypse charge out their front door with a chainsaw. Nor science fiction, usually. But even with fantasy, how often would you really want to be there? Perhaps Eddings' Belgariad, because you're surrounded by superpowered larger-than-life heroes. Maybe a hair of Herbert's Dune, because of his grim, but noble, view of the Atreides' fate. But I think most people feel that tug in their midsection as Bilbo and even Frodo set off on the road that begins at their front door, accompanied by no more than some curious dwarves...a disreputable wizard...a few friends.<BR/><BR/>Good post.Falzehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13481333222029372752noreply@blogger.com