A friendly conversation

[drigel]

love this thread
littleman, the first thing i thought about was L'Engle as well. What a wonderfull tangent, and a great read - for any age of reader!

I'm fascinated with the notion of the interconnectedness of all of reality. There is enough space "built" into the structure of all that is, such that there is much room for that which cannot be seen to be in the same time and place as that which is seen.

The magic of LOTR for me lies partly in the fact that took place when the world was much younger and there was less obstruction (intellectual, technological, societal, cultural) between its inhabitants and the ______(fill in the blank - spiritual, supernatural, other dimensions etc). To me, its part of the long deafeat - not just the loss of the fair peoples and lands, its the loss of the awareness of this part of life.

The reigious aspect I tend to shy away from, although i am interested in reading peoples thoughts on it. It is fortuitous though, that the author was genuinely grounded in his spiritual life to portray this aspect in a way that is not trivial or chimera like. Its as vital and important to the story (and the mythology), and "real" as ents, dragons and talking swords. And it all fits nicely in his sub-creation without any affront to his Creator.