Taking the other side of the argument, it drove me crazy every time the action switched between the Frodo and Sam group and the other two groups. At the beginning of every book, it took me many pages to get over my resentment at these interlopers and recover my readerly empathy for them. It didn't matter who the story switched to, I just found the transitions wrenching. I resented Frodo and Sam for intruding in the story, then I resented Merry, Pippin and Aragorn for intruding in the story. Each time, I got over it and fell just as deeply into the new story, but it took a while.
However, I can't say I wish it were otherwise. Today, a writer would probably organize the story into shorter segmants and do rapid cutting as in movies. Those long books had a certain hypnotic effect-- particularly the Frodo and Sam and Gollum story. I think on the whole that that effect was worth a little frusteration.
[ June 18, 2002: Message edited by: Nar ]
[ June 18, 2002: Message edited by: Nar ]
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