Escapism has it's place.
When I read a really good book, I do tend to get absorbed in it and, temporarily at least, I forget the everyday hassles of life, so yes it is a sort of escapism, which I feel is a good thing so long as it does not cause you to neglect your everyday life. When I'm down, I'll read a good book, (not always LoTR) for a bit.
But I think there's much more to it than that, novels set in the real world educate us without us realising it, we learn about new places, jobs, history, all sorts of stuff. My family calls me their mine of useless information because reading so widely has given me a smattering of knowledge about a lot of things. Fantasy writing, on the other hand, can, if done as well as Tolkien, give you a wealth of education in other things. Tolkien does not preach about religion or moral values, but the messages are all there in the words and actions of his characters, some are very basic, the triumph of good over evil, some very subtle, and I think this is one of his greatest achievements. We start off reading as an escape from problems, or just as a darn good story, and without noticing, we absorb much more than just the story.
The way the characters develop and change, attitudes alter according to experience, these are all things that relate to our own world, in a setting that stops it being a moral lecture. As we 'escape' our world, so we bring back from LoTR things that help us to cope and overcome our own problems, together with, for me personally, a renewal of the spirit, a feeling that I CAN cope, and do what I need to do.
Before I stop rambling, just one more thing.
Some people read to escape, some watch mindless drivel on tv, others listen to music, it all amounts to a time out from the world, and within reasonable limits there's nothing wrong with that. In a way it's no different from me going up the garden and smoking a cigarette, in order to prevent myself from strangling my kids at times [img]smilies/rolleyes.gif[/img]
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