[Eurytus]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR> Tolkien has given English literature some of the most quotable dialogue ever! <HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P>Totally and utterly disagree. This dialogue is simply not quoted at all outside of Tolkien fan circles.<P>Whatever the quality compare quotes from Star Wars, Jaws, Casablanca or in literature, The Godfather, A Clockwork Orange.<P>I am sorry but Tolkien is not good at dialogue and it was not because he was trying to create an old-english style mythology. He was with the Silmarillion and hence I have no problem with the dialogue in that. But LOTR is first and foremost entertainment and it was written as a book for the 20th century. Taken in that context it is simply not good in terms of dialogue and characterisation.<P>As for a suggestions as you ask. I already mentioned it, A Song of Fire and Ice. Simply put the characters in that are 10 times more believable in their motivations and reactions than Tolkiens.<BR>LOTR may be a classic. But to claim it is nearly flawless is not realistic. Put simply there is better dialogue in the SS Indiana scene in Jaws than in nearly the whole of LOTR. That one scene, with a minimum of dialogue tells us more about the three lead characters in Jaws than does the whole of LOTR tell us about Legolas. And he is one of the major Characters!