Quote:
Whence came the wish, and whence the power to dream,
or some things fair and others ugly deem?
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There is a lot of threads on this subject, and friends of mine always hound me on it as well. There is an element of truth to every myth, and every successfull book ever published for that matter. Otherwise, it wouldnt be successfull durrrr.. but IMO, there were a few truths identified and deemed important by JRRT, and those were incorporated to his story. These elements comprise the theme, and have remained the same truths always. I think he and other great authors recognize that its the truth, and not the story, thats important.
JRRT was an academic, not a novel writer. The magic for me was, and better stated by previous posters, his use of literary devices and layering that made the reader become immersed in the world. Also, it taps into the oral history tradition that has been long lost. Does that history stop becoming Real if its forgotton? One must jump beyond the world of History because history usually is only from the winners point of view. JRRT gives us the opportunity to look back from a different point of view. As if one was sitting around a fire listening to a shaman describe what the Fathers of old accomplished in the days when the stars were young... For me thats more "real" than anything I see thats projected on a screen.