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Child of the 7th Age · 06-03-2004, 03:37 PM

Fordim -

My hat is off to you. This is an excellent idea, and I will gladly take part.

In a previous post, Lyta Underhill mentioned the small read-along group at Yahoo that is, in my opinion, one of the best on the web. This actually grew out of a netscape discussion board. For the past six months, I've followed along silently with the Silmarillion, learning a lot in the process. Before that, they did the entire LotR text, and have now started on The Tolkien Reader. Individual posters come and go, but the discussion continues on.

Lyta did not have the link so I will post it in case anyone wants to look and get an idea of how such a group functions. Kransha -- Maybe it would help to look at the ebb and flow of discussion there to see how people contribute. Everyone brings forward new ideas, and each speaks from a different angle. Some express things from a personal view, i.e, how they actually felt when they read something in the text, and others bring in outside text and ideas, but everyone contributes and is listened to.

Here are the archives for the LotR discussion and for the first half of the Silm: archives. Here are the more current discussions: message board They have a lot of fun and share some good ideas.

While we obviously have to make initial decisions about the pace of reading and how material should be grouped and presented, I think some of this will play itself out in the actual discussion. If and when it's obvious that a particular discussion is still ongoing, posters will just naturally congregate there. Folks who disappear on vacation for a few weeks in the summer may want to go back and add their two cents in. Anything we can do to keep the discussion flexible, at least in this sense, is a good idea.

To be very truthful, one of the reasons I like this idea is that I feel it could get posters with different backgrounds and approaches together, all working on a common goal. Too often, we go off in our little corners --this group to Middle-earth Mirth, another to "lofty, philosophical" discussions in Books, another to RPGs, and then there are the quiz mavens! Yet the one thing we all share in common is the actual text of the books. It would be good to have a thread where that takes center stage.

~Child

06-03-2004, 03:37 PM	#47
Child of the 7th Age Spirit of the Lonely Star Join Date: Mar 2002 Posts: 5,133	Fordim - My hat is off to you. This is an excellent idea, and I will gladly take part. In a previous post, Lyta Underhill mentioned the small read-along group at Yahoo that is, in my opinion, one of the best on the web. This actually grew out of a netscape discussion board. For the past six months, I've followed along silently with the Silmarillion, learning a lot in the process. Before that, they did the entire LotR text, and have now started on The Tolkien Reader. Individual posters come and go, but the discussion continues on. Lyta did not have the link so I will post it in case anyone wants to look and get an idea of how such a group functions. Kransha -- Maybe it would help to look at the ebb and flow of discussion there to see how people contribute. Everyone brings forward new ideas, and each speaks from a different angle. Some express things from a personal view, i.e, how they actually felt when they read something in the text, and others bring in outside text and ideas, but everyone contributes and is listened to. Here are the archives for the LotR discussion and for the first half of the Silm: archives. Here are the more current discussions: message board They have a lot of fun and share some good ideas. While we obviously have to make initial decisions about the pace of reading and how material should be grouped and presented, I think some of this will play itself out in the actual discussion. If and when it's obvious that a particular discussion is still ongoing, posters will just naturally congregate there. Folks who disappear on vacation for a few weeks in the summer may want to go back and add their two cents in. Anything we can do to keep the discussion flexible, at least in this sense, is a good idea. To be very truthful, one of the reasons I like this idea is that I feel it could get posters with different backgrounds and approaches together, all working on a common goal. Too often, we go off in our little corners --this group to Middle-earth Mirth, another to "lofty, philosophical" discussions in Books, another to RPGs, and then there are the quiz mavens! Yet the one thing we all share in common is the actual text of the books. It would be good to have a thread where that takes center stage. ~Child __________________ Multitasking women are never too busy to vote. Last edited by Child of the 7th Age; 06-03-2004 at 03:47 PM.