|
Hi VivRules,
(Sorry for not responding sooner.)
LOTR 1 & 3
I love them. I was a teenager when I first read the series, and the idea of hobbits and other magical creatures was a revelation to me that there could be fairy tales for adults. When I got older and the aforementioned lit degree had a course in fantasy fiction, I learned that Tolkien, like Geoffrey of Monmouth* 700 yrs earlier, had been trying to concoct a mythical heroic past for a butally beaten post-WWII Britain. When I re-read the series for the class, comparing it to greek and roman mythology, I got a whole new and fascinating reading from Book 1. Then when the movies came out, I read it again just for fun.
* Geoffrey of Monmouth sort of "invented" King Arthur in the 13th century. Geoff was a scribe in the Norman court in England, serving under an occupying ruling class that still regarded the Britons as 2nd class citizens.Geoff scraped together fragments of history and legend and wrote a "true" history of England, including a heroic King Arthur. Many experts believe the purpose of his book was to try to create a heroic mythology in order to revive a sense of national identity among the Britons.
DixieGal, the Career Secretary
And they said a lit degree would be worthless... Oh wait, it was!
|