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Originally Posted by Inziladun
I am fearful of not heeding Gandalf's advice to Saruman, about not breaking something to discover its workings. I really have no interest now in how the books were constructed. I don't care about real or imagined symbolism. I know what I feel when I read of Tuor seeing the Great Sea for the first time, and spreading his arms as if to embrace it; or picturing Galadriel standing with Frodo in front of her Mirror, struggling with her own longing and temptation to use the Ring.
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You know, I think this is an important distinction between two approaches to literature I've encountered in my studies back at the university: one that starts with a theory, or a predetermined mode of reading, and tries to prove it on the text; and the other, which starts from the text and how it affects us, and how it does that (one of my best teachers told us not to ask 'What does this poem mean?' but 'What does this poem
do?'). In the latter case, symbolism and what have you got may all come to bear, but the starting point is always the text and how it makes us feel.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Formendacil
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I don't think I've ever read that, but the title leapt at me out of the screen and yelled "Bookmark and read me!" Thanks for the hint.