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Originally Posted by davem
This is all a matter of opinion, of course, & one responds subjectively to events in the book, but what breaks the enchantment for one reader doesn't break it for another, so I can only say again, that I don't think we can ever state that Tolkien 'failed' at any point, & where the enchantment is broken for each individual reader it is that reader's individual 'baggage' that is responsible. So, we learn more about ourselves from this exercise than we do about the story or its writer..
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What you say, Davem, and what you say in your next post, got me to thinking...
I agree with your general idea that reading is subjective, and that what breaks one person's spell will not necessarily break someone else's, and that it is thus impossible to determine on that basis that Tolkien failed.
However...
When you say that "I don't think we can ever state that Tolkien failed...", I'm not so sure that I agree. I would say that there is one definitive test that could be taken (in a purely theoretical world) that would determine whether or not he had failed:
His OWN reaction.
Several years later, sometime in the mid-60s, I believe, Tolkien states in one his letters (no idea which) that after re-reading the
Lord of the Rings, he thought it a rather good book on whole, and that he had done a rather good job on it.
I wish I had a copy of
Letters, or could remember this one better, because I seem to recall Tolkien's sentiment in it being that he had done a good job, and not one that he felt inclined to seriously change, but...
But he didn't think it perfect.
Now, we all ought to know that Tolkien's first and primary audience was himself. Had he been writing for the public, we would have gotten
The Hobbit. Had he been writing for his job, it would have been
Sir Gawaine and the Green Knight. So, if there were any places that Tolkien found, in his reflections at a more objective date, to have "broken the enchantment", these would seem to be me to be the most conclusive test.
Of course, such a test is purely hypothetical....