Mythological Literature

[Neferchoirwen]

I just finished reading THe Hobbit last summer (which is March to mid-June from where I come from), and I am in the middle of The Fellowship right now. I find everything so "creamy" in terms of the rich descriptions Tolkien has done about ME.

But to answer the question, I read for a number of reasons, including escaping from the "real world." Tolkien has created a world that we can literally get into. Everything seems so real, and I feel like I'm entering my past dreams about Middle Earth.

Before I started the fellowship, I was reading novels set in this present time and world. I was stressed as well. Though "She's Come Undone" was comforting, the familiarity with the setting and the character made me hungry for another world; and so I craved for an escape.

As a kid, I'd browse through our encyclopedia index and look for Greek Mythology characters and try to figure out how to tie everything up. In the 6th grade, my dad bought me "The Little White Horse," which has something of a fantasy quality in it, and to date, it is the first book I've read twice, and the only fantasy book (aside from Lotr)that I've read. I never realized the I was huingry for an "escape" until now...

And for the Bible reading individuals out there, I recently went back to the Exodus, and was surprised and delighted to read the descriptions of the Red Sea parting to sound pretty much like a snippet from a fantasy novel!

Happy escaping for everyone!

[ September 12, 2002: Message edited by: Neferchoirwen ]