Feanor, great point. A few lunkheads like Ted Sandyman and greedy busybodies like Lobelia Sackville-Baggins keep things interesting without being really dangerous. You've got to have
something to rebel against, even in an idealized society. Otherwise you'll end up bored stiff. I hope Squatter won't mind if I borrow a quote from
one of his old posts (from a thread which, incidentally, is good reading on its own hook):
Quote:
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Originally Posted by The Squatter of Amon Rûdh
...I'll throw in my lot with the "Shire as an idealised society" thesis: I can't imagine living in, for example, Gondor or Lothlorien; Rohan would be a good place to visit for a couple of years if you like mead-halls, riding competitions and Saxons being Saxons; but the Shire is a comfortable nostalgic fantasy of rural England as it should have been, flawless in its small imperfections.
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Everybody likes being the mischievous rascal who bucks social conventions -- which is what the heroes of Hobbit-centric stories always turn out to be, to one degree or another. It's an odd but true paradox, I think, that "ideal" includes "conflict" and "challenge".
Kuru and
Boromir88 -- different strokes, I guess. I
love forewords, prologues, afterwords, footnotes, appendices, what have you. I live for that stuff, especially when it gives a glimpse inside the writing process. Some of my favorite bits from my favorite authors are from fore- or afterwords.