Quote:
|
Originally Posted by The Minute Poetic Guy
The Silmarillion? .... mythic epic
The Lord of the Rings? .... a quest romance
The Hobbit .... a coming-of-age story redolent of Grimm fairy tales
|
The trouble with choosing is that... well... a choice must be made.
What Celuien says about the distance of characters keeping you from really being drawn in, which characters are distant aren't always the same from reader to reader. I am a big Feanor fan. I can see where he's coming from. As a simple example, I've got some artwork that I'd neither sell nor give as a gift in any foreseeable future, since it's simply too tied to me, and I'm merely an inexperienced teenager. Hobbits, though, astound me. They're so content with the average. No adventures... I'm rarely content with anything, so I don't often side with them. However I do side with the occasional adventurous hobbit that is willing to give up their comfort for the sake of others. I can easily feel tied to Bilbo or to Frodo and Sam, even to Merry and Pip.
In my characters, I like a bit of restlessness and willingness to do what others have not. This goes with good guys and bad guys. If I need a character that I can identify with, those are the two main attributes.
I can find them in all of Tolkien's stories! Heroes in general git into those categories.
My choice for reading material must go deeper, it seems.
The Hobbit is a fun tale, guiding you across Middle Earth with the party, showing you peoples and places, letting you observe their adventures, and eventually, sitting at Bilbo's kitchen table, it's done.
The Silmarillion, The Lays of Belariend in particular, never ends. It just keeps going. You read, and you're pulled into the beauty, majesty, and wonder of a time long passed, and you turn the page and see several hundred more to go and at some points, are somewhat like
.
And yet, it has its allure. The characters amaze you, and there are some that specifically catch your eye: Feanor and Fingolfin are two. You see battles beyond your realm of experience, but that you can relate to. Against Morgoth; who hasn't felt that they were striving fruitlessly against overwhelming odds, but that their fight was too important to give up? Hm? Whose pride hasn't gotten them into tight spots? Who hasn't gone into something with an expectation to fail?
And yet it comes down to The Lord of the Rings. It ties in all aspects of every book you've ever liked (including, as you once mentioned to LMP, the Bible). You have your humble characters (Samwise the Loyal), your self-sacrificing (um... everyone, pretty much), other-sacrificing (Sauron, Saruman, Denathor, etc), unreachable (Galadriel, Gildor, Glorfindel, Aragorn), your nice guys (Faramir and Co., Butterbur), your jerks (Bill Ferny)... the list goes on. Pick an archetype and you'll find it.
But it also has the adventure! Whether it's Frodo's reminiscence of teenage shenanigans on private property or meeting Elves in the woods or marching to the Black Gate with the expectation of death, it's there.
And the love... fraternal love abounds, but if you're a fan of romance, you'll find it.
Sacrifice. Wonder. Really great imagery. Smell.
From start to finish, you aren't reading, you're witnessing. You're in the fog with Farmer Maggot, shivering with fear over hoof beats on the road. You're resting in the sun at Rivendell, restless in the City with Pip, weeping on the battlefield beside Eomer.
If another author could do it justice, I would say that The Lord of the Rings is what to aspire to.