[Formendacil]

I find it interesting, Anguirel, in light of a certain opinion by a certain Lhunadaga regarding the "similar" natures we exhibit on the 'Downs that you consider yourself an aspiring member of the Literary Establishment (albeit a more Tolkienly enlightened one than most) whereas I am, for all intents and purposes, very much non-Literati.

However, that's a mere aside to the conversation at hand, and with regards to your comments regarding the insidious use of Tolkien-references as a tentative grab at popularity, I am in generally complete agreement.

I too can recall about two-three years ago, when the Iraqi campaign was getting started and we were right in the middle of the theatrical releases, the annoying comparisons between the Lord of the Rings and the world political situation. What I found really annoying, however, was a certain attitude in the media (at least over here) that tended to think that the [i]Lord of the Rings[/b] applicability to the situation, in a situation supported and pushed by a largely Evangelical Christian movement, meant that the Lord of the Rings was a very Evangelicalish book- and thus they cleverly supported the anti-war bias of the media with the anti-Lord of the Rings bias of the critics.

Which is, of course, absurd, since the Lord of the Rings is a much more complex and deeper book than the critics would have us believe. Furthermore, I'm a perfect example of being a non-supporter of the war (following my pope here) while being a big fan of the books.