Hello all,
This is the week! I am putting in all the time I can this week to try to finish my novel. My self-imposed deadline is February 20th! I won’t let it fall by the wayside this time. I’ve made good progress so far today, and I feel like I’m on the right path with things. My main character is currently having a huge fight with who he considered to be his friends. One by one I’m pulling apart this group, fanning the flames and watching as they soar. It’s been a lot of fun.
Writing is exhausting work. I’ve put out a good chunk of words today, met my daily goal and I’m struggling to keep my eyes open. So, I figure I’ll relax a little and do today’s Lord of the Rings read-a-long blog post. It’s mid-month and time for the check in to see how the book is going. Be warned of spoilers, all ye who enter!
Thanks go out to The Literary Omnivore for hosting this month’s read-a-long. She’s also provided some discussion questions that I’ll be going through.
If you’ve been with us since the beginning, how do you feel about the narrator compared to the narrator in The Hobbit?
I think this was the part I was most looking forward to. When I was younger and first tried transitioning between The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, I didn’t appreciate the change in narrative voice at all. I’m not sure it was something I completely recognized, being as young as I was, but I distinctly remember feeling like it was a completely different thing from The Hobbit. I missed the good-natured humor, the light voice, the easy flow of it. I was curious to see how I’d react to the change now.
I can’t say I’m disappointed at all. I love the change in narrative voice, and I find that it’s wholly appropriate. The tone has grown up a little, but it hasn’t lost a single bit of its charm. We’re not seeing such a light play of a story — Lord of the Rings seems less of a folk tale and more of a solid legend, etched somewhere in stone tablets. With The Hobbit, we often have Tolkien passing through what we would consider “present time” of the novel. He’ll occasionally mention events from further along in the book, or even elsewhere in the world. In The Fellowship of the Ring, we don’t get that — instead, we get a more sobering and realistic view. Tolkien is more firmly rooted in what is currently going on in the story.
What results is that we’re left with much more uncertainty of what will happen with Frodo and his friends. In The Hobbit, we get enough glances and peeks ahead to pretty much assume Bilbo is going to make it out alright. In Fellowship, we have no such guarantee. Still, the voice is charming, likes to poke fun where it can, and does not lack for wit. I think it’s a huge success, this time around.
How’s your pace going? Is it smooth sailing or have you found passages that are difficult to get through?
Like I’ve mentioned around here, I’m neck-deep (way worse than knee-deep!) in writing work, so I often only get a chance to read Fellowship during class breaks or before bed — as such, it can be frustrating to not have a vast amount of time to dedicate to it. Still, I’ve felt the pacing pretty smooth. I’ve more recently seen the movies than read the books, so it was interesting to see how much more time was spent between the Shire and the Prancing Pony, as compared to the movies. I enjoyed the lingering, slow and winding travel to the start of the journey. Tolkien takes his time, and it’s just the kind of thing you need to accept. If you can accept it, it’s a beautiful thing. He’ll take you through the woods by the hand and paint this picture of a vast world.
If you’re a little impatient, or if you don’t feel that you have time for the painting, I think it can get frustrating. Personally, I wanted to take my time with it, and I’m enjoying going along for the walk, watching as the shadows creep over and things get quite dreary, with hints of sunshine.
If you’ve read this series before, is The Fellowship of the Ring, for the most part, as you remembered? If not, is it what you expected or something else?
I’ve read this series before, but it was quite a while ago. Long enough that I don’t really remember reading it, so I have no memories to compare to.
The one thing I didn’t expect was liking Tom Bombadil as much as I like this time around. The first time I read the book, I remember feeling like I was slogging through that portion. Here was this goody two-shoes guy getting in the way of the action, singing, leaping around, what have you. Now, though, I love him. He is absolutely charismatic and such a strong figure. When he came for the Hobbits in the Barrow Downs, I cheered. He is magnificent. I love how Tolkien sometimes gives us these glimpses of characters that are near immortal, perhaps even demigod like, without overshadowing the rest of the story with it. Tom Bombadil is certainly a powerful man, but he knows his place and he has his boundaries.
Plus, I love his songs. They are so cheerful!
Are you using any of the extra features- maps and indexes, for instance- in your book?
My book is old and ratty, needing quick replacing (hopefully soon)! So, the most I have at hand is a single map at the front, which I actually haven’t really been using. I’m honestly a little bit afraid that the book will fall apart if I’m constantly trying to pry it open enough to look at the map. Oh well, haha, it will be much appreciated when I upgrade to new copies!
Overall, I’m really enjoying my reread, and I’m taking it nice and slow. I’ll finish it by the end of the month for sure. I’m greatly looking forward to reading more! Now if only I could keep my eyelids propped open for long enough.
No comments:
Post a Comment