the da vinci code
francis
the da vinci code
My name's Friday. I'm a cop.
Sorry! Wrong tape.
Foretaste of déja vue ..
"FACT : The Priory of Sion .. "
Bingo! Dive right into the murk ..
In the lounging area of Blackwell's sedate establishment, I take another
mouthful of hot chocolate - grande with extra whipped cream (which
donates a superflous moustache on the unawary) ..
.. turn the page ..
"Renowned curator Jacques Sauniere .. "
Sauniere .. oh boy, oh boy, oh ..
It must be real, of course. All the secret rituals in this novel are
accurate. That must be so. Dan Brown tells me so, so it must be ..
It's the Curé come back to life. Reincarnated. Transmogrified.
Transillient. Back in familiar territory. Down (up?) in the Pyrenees. In
der Nahe von der Buchhandlung dass 'always has 666 volumes in stock'.
Gesundheit. Dios atenderme, por favor. santa mater dei ora pro nobis
nunc et in hora ..
The writing is atrocious. Like a schoolboy's weekly comic book. Leaves
Geoffrey Archer standing on the starting blocks. Along with Mickey
Spillane. A plethora of guidebook inessentials ..
je t'adore ..
'santa' mater dei ?? too good to edit .. it's Merryfest time .. blow up
the trumpet in the new moon ..
--
Francis
"Folly is an endless maze" - William Blake, 1789
Gale
> wednesday 17 december 2003
>
> the da vinci code
>
> The writing is atrocious. Like a schoolboy's weekly comic book. Leaves
> Geoffrey Archer standing on the starting blocks. Along with Mickey
> Spillane. A plethora of guidebook inessentials ..
I've found interesting ideas obscured by the words of poor writers
before -- thus I found myself willing to endure all and read it to the end.
...
After which I note that Dan Brown appears to have flunked out of mystery
writers' school, as the ending is a bust by *those* standards; the book
doesn't even stand up as a genre piece.
--
Blessed Be,
Gale
"I don't pretend to understand the Universe
--- it's a great deal bigger than I am..." -- Thomas Carlyle
original poetry, fiction at http://www.capjewels.com
modstaff alt.religion.wicca.moderated: http://arwm.net
-A.
> francis wrote:
>
>> wednesday 17 december 2003
>>
>> the da vinci code
>
> <snip>
>
>>
>> The writing is atrocious. Like a schoolboy's weekly comic book. Leaves
>> Geoffrey Archer standing on the starting blocks. Along with Mickey
>> Spillane. A plethora of guidebook inessentials ..
>
> <snip>
>
> I've found interesting ideas obscured by the words of poor writers
> before -- thus I found myself willing to endure all and read it to the end.
> ...
> After which I note that Dan Brown appears to have flunked out of mystery
> writers' school, as the ending is a bust by *those* standards; the book
> doesn't even stand up as a genre piece.
>
>
No spoilers, anyone, please. This one is next on my list once I finish
Kafka's _The Trial_. In other words (knowing my tarrasque-like appetite
when it comes to books), I'll be starting it on Friday...
Blessed Be,
-A.
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Gary Ives
>francis wrote:
>> wednesday 17 december 2003
>>
>> the da vinci code
><snip>
>>
>> The writing is atrocious. Like a schoolboy's weekly comic book. Leaves
>> Geoffrey Archer standing on the starting blocks. Along with Mickey
>> Spillane. A plethora of guidebook inessentials ..
><snip>
>
>I've found interesting ideas obscured by the words of poor writers
>before -- thus I found myself willing to endure all and read it to the end.
>...
>After which I note that Dan Brown appears to have flunked out of mystery
>writers' school, as the ending is a bust by *those* standards; the book
>doesn't even stand up as a genre piece.
I bought DiVinci and Angels and Demons because the waiting list was so
long at the library. Which is a bit odd, considering the quality of
the writing? I didn't think they were all that bad, but the endings
were a bit stranger than the rest of the storys. As to genre, I'm not
sure where they belong.
Gary
Remove NOSPAM to reply by email.
francis
<gal...@bellsouth.net> writes
>francis wrote:
>> wednesday 17 december 2003
>> the da vinci code
><snip>
>> The writing is atrocious. Like a schoolboy's weekly comic book.
>>Leaves Geoffrey Archer standing on the starting blocks. Along with
>>Mickey Spillane. A plethora of guidebook inessentials ..
><snip>
>
>I've found interesting ideas obscured by the words of poor writers
>before -- thus I found myself willing to endure all and read it to the
>end.
>...
>After which I note that Dan Brown appears to have flunked out of
>mystery writers' school, as the ending is a bust by *those* standards;
>the book doesn't even stand up as a genre piece.
I read it in more or less one sitting. Started in Blackwell's at
lunchtime. Finished it round about three this morning. Only one passage
provoked any emotion from me. That was the too near the end to reveal. I
found I was often several pages ahead of the text, though I admit to
being mislead about one particular character. I wanted to include in a
review : 'has more clichés than the first Kodaks'. Would anyone have
known what I was talking about?
Baird Stafford
<snip>
> ...I wanted to include in a review : 'has more clichés than the first
> Kodaks'. Would anyone have known what I was talking about?
Not I. IIRC (and I very well may not!), the first Kodaks were of such
sights as Nigh Angora Falls (he said, feeling woolier than usual) and
other subjects that later *became* photographic clichés - but I don't
quite see how the first expression of anything at all could quite be
considered in that light, yet....
Blessed be,
Baird
noting that this article is somewhat in the nature of a test, since
postings have been exceeding sparse for the past couple of days....
francis
<ba...@newstaff.com> writes
>francis <fra...@topdeck.demon.co.uk> wrote:
>
><snip>
>
>> ...I wanted to include in a review : 'has more clichés than the first
>> Kodaks'. Would anyone have known what I was talking about?
>
>Not I. IIRC (and I very well may not!), the first Kodaks were of such
>sights as Nigh Angora Falls (he said, feeling woolier than usual) and
>other subjects that later *became* photographic clichés
I keep too many old photographic magazines. The first Kodaks were box
cameras pre-loaded with film for 100 exposures. When all were taken, the
whole caboose was sent back to Kodak for processing. Cliché is the
equivalent for snapshot, especially snaps of familiar subjects.
Quite off topic - probably. But it's near Merryfest so I crave
indulgence. :)}
Baird Stafford
> In message <1g661x3.xqlephwof2n6N%ba...@newstaff.com>, Baird Stafford
> <ba...@newstaff.com> writes
> >francis <fra...@topdeck.demon.co.uk> wrote:
> ><snip>
> >> ...I wanted to include in a review : 'has more clichés than the first
> >> Kodaks'. Would anyone have known what I was talking about?
> >Not I. IIRC (and I very well may not!), the first Kodaks were of such
> >sights as Nigh Angora Falls (he said, feeling woolier than usual) and
> I keep too many old photographic magazines. The first Kodaks were box
> cameras pre-loaded with film for 100 exposures. When all were taken, the
> whole caboose was sent back to Kodak for processing. Cliché is the
> equivalent for snapshot, especially snaps of familiar subjects.
Ah - that's where the misunderstanding arose: you spoke of Kodaks as
the cameras and I read Kodaks as the pictures produced by the cameras.
Interesting that Eastman Kodak has returned so wholeheartedly to the
original concept, isn't it? Except modern "disposable cameras" don't
have anything *near* a hundred exposures in 'em....
<snip>
Blessed be,
Baird
Frenchy
and funky and cried:
Ya wanna talk cliches? I wandered through an art museum a few weeks ago
going, "Aw, not another bowl of fruit! Not another Crucifixion scene!
Cripes, didn't these people ever tire of myths and battles?"
Frenchy
--
"If [SCO President & CEO] Darl McBride was in charge, he'd probably make
marriage unconstitutional too, since clearly it de-emphasizes the
commercial nature of normal human interaction, and probably is a major
impediment to the commercial growth of prostitution." - Linus Torvalds
Find the cure for the common religion! Deify Yourself at
http://www.tftb.com/deify
Childfree - It's A Choice! http://www.tftb.com/childfree
Holy Crap! Frenchy's Religion Blog http://frenchytheyanqui.easyjournal.com
Reply to frenchy AT tftb DOT com
-A.
And they're coming out with "digital disposable" cameras. I have no
clue how that is a viable business idea, but I have heard that it is in
the works.
Then again, everytime I hear the phrase "Eastman Kodak" I mentally add
on "Eastman: He came out of the East to do battle with The Amazing
Rando!" so perhaps my lack of knowledge on this subject can be best
explained by 'Bots on the Brain.
francis
writes
>Then again, everytime I hear the phrase "Eastman Kodak" I mentally add
>on "Eastman: He came out of the East to do battle with The Amazing
>Rando!" so perhaps my lack of knowledge on this subject can be best
>explained by 'Bots on the Brain.
whereas ..
"Young Lochinvar came out of the West .. " :)}
In The Darkness
> francis, disco-slamdancing to Barry Manilow through the newsgroup, got down
> and funky and cried:
> going, "Aw, not another bowl of fruit!
I have a theory, they are all actually in a competition
spanning the centuries... everyone has to paint at least
ONE bowl of fruit, to compete with every -other- artist
in the world, down through history.
> Not another Crucifixion scene!
> Cripes, didn't these people ever tire of myths and battles?"
Well, yes, to many, a bowl fo fruit is mythical....
:P
>
> Frenchy
Gale
> Frenchy wrote:
>
>> francis, disco-slamdancing to Barry Manilow through the newsgroup, got
>> down and funky and cried:
>> Ya wanna talk cliches? I wandered through an art museum a few weeks
>> ago going, "Aw, not another bowl of fruit!
>
>
> I have a theory, they are all actually in a competition
> spanning the centuries... everyone has to paint at least
> ONE bowl of fruit, to compete with every -other- artist
> in the world, down through history.
Absolutely! One day, when they have a proper quorum of Great Critics in
the Summerland at the same time, an official judging will be completed,
the painter (if not busy in some other incarnation) will be awarded a
county fair style blue ribbon, and painters will have to stop painting
bowls of fruit (or at least will find there is no further reward in it).
-A.
> In The Darkness wrote:
>
>> Frenchy wrote:
>>
>>> francis, disco-slamdancing to Barry Manilow through the newsgroup,
>>> got down and funky and cried:
>>> Ya wanna talk cliches? I wandered through an art museum a few weeks
>>> ago going, "Aw, not another bowl of fruit!
>>
>>
>>
>> I have a theory, they are all actually in a competition
>> spanning the centuries... everyone has to paint at least
>> ONE bowl of fruit, to compete with every -other- artist
>> in the world, down through history.
>
>
> Absolutely! One day, when they have a proper quorum of Great Critics in
> the Summerland at the same time, an official judging will be completed,
> the painter (if not busy in some other incarnation) will be awarded a
> county fair style blue ribbon, and painters will have to stop painting
> bowls of fruit (or at least will find there is no further reward in it).
>
>
I got my revenge on grade school art class by doing a bowl o' fruit
still-life where the bowl was cracked, the fruit was rotting and flies
were feasting on a decaying apple. The piece, entitled "An Exercise in
M&M (morbidity and mortality)", shocked the teacher, caused me to have a
mandatory meeting with the school shrink and, since our next assignment
was portraits and they feared that I might do something even more
grotesque, I got an A for the course and a free class period. Pity I
lost the painting years ago as it was the only artistic thing I have
ever completed to my liking (damned dysgraphia!).
Daniel Cohen
> >Then again, everytime I hear the phrase "Eastman Kodak" I mentally add
> >on "Eastman: He came out of the East to do battle with The Amazing
> >Rando!" so perhaps my lack of knowledge on this subject can be best
> >explained by 'Bots on the Brain.
>
> whereas ..
>
> "Young Lochinvar came out of the West .. " :)}
Presumably, then, "Never the twain shall meet."
--
Send e-mail to the Reply-To address;
mail to the From address is never read
Jackdaw
"Daniel Cohen" <dan...@f2s.com> wrote in message
news:1g6b9bb.12op92l13lrneoN%dan...@f2s.com...
> francis <fra...@topdeck.demon.co.uk> wrote:
>
> > >Then again, everytime I hear the phrase "Eastman Kodak" I mentally add
> > >on "Eastman: He came out of the East to do battle with The Amazing
> > >Rando!" so perhaps my lack of knowledge on this subject can be best
> > >explained by 'Bots on the Brain.
> >
> > whereas ..
> >
> > "Young Lochinvar came out of the West .. " :)}
>
> Presumably, then, "Never the twain shall meet."
head on!
I think!
--
Jackdaw ( UK )
collector of facts, trivia and bright twinkly things!
Please remove the spam things to get the bird!
In The Darkness
Me , I would have applauded your thinking outside the Box,
and made particular note of the colors and tones needed
to communicate the rot of the fruit.
That is the problem with the changes in society we are seeing
early this century... the are placing too high a value on
conformity. So much so a painting such as yours earns
"therapy time" so you will "think like everyone else".
Obviously your teacher wasn't a real artist.
A real artist rarely conforms.
One of the Old Masters, I seem to recall,
did a painting "Portrait of an Ugly Girl".. I can't
seem to recall who, just that the artists was on the
order of Monet, or perhaps Davinci...
Before you laugh, next time you decided to paint,
-try- painting an ugly person and conveying it...
It isn't as easy as it sounds. One instinctively
covers the flaws that communicate ugly... it is
an entire order of -magnitude- of challenge
to communicate ugly.
Never forget, think outside the box.
Say, BTW, do you think it is TV that is making this
generation (of the ruling class) so obsessed with conformity ?
Daniel Cohen
> "Daniel Cohen" <dan...@f2s.com> wrote in message
> news:1g6b9bb.12op92l13lrneoN%dan...@f2s.com...
> > francis <fra...@topdeck.demon.co.uk> wrote:
> >
> > > >Then again, everytime I hear the phrase "Eastman Kodak" I mentally add
> > > >on "Eastman: He came out of the East to do battle with The Amazing
> > > >Rando!" so perhaps my lack of knowledge on this subject can be best
> > > >explained by 'Bots on the Brain.
> > >
> > > whereas ..
> > >
> > > "Young Lochinvar came out of the West .. " :)}
> >
> > Presumably, then, "Never the twain shall meet."
> Well, not really, if Westy moves East and Easty moves West, they will meat
> head on!
> I think!
Of course, these two may be "two strong men" in which case "there is
neither East nor West."
Gale
<snip>
>
> I got my revenge on grade school art class by doing a bowl o' fruit
> still-life where the bowl was cracked, the fruit was rotting and flies
> were feasting on a decaying apple. The piece, entitled "An Exercise in
> M&M (morbidity and mortality)", shocked the teacher, caused me to have a
> mandatory meeting with the school shrink and, since our next assignment
> was portraits and they feared that I might do something even more
> grotesque, I got an A for the course and a free class period. Pity I
> lost the painting years ago as it was the only artistic thing I have
> ever completed to my liking (damned dysgraphia!).
You observed, you painted, and you likely indulged in the child's
impulse to "reach for the extremes." I applaud your creativity and your
artistry. I responded to grade school art classes by "hating art"; I
couldn't draw, had no sense of drawing perspective, and did not enjoy
being told how inferior I was to those "talented" ones who could
actually color within the lines.
School shrink? For drawing flies? That's appalling, but I'll skip the
rant for now. I think In the Darkness already offered a good one.
Shez
<gal...@bellsouth.net> writes
>-A. wrote:
><snip>
>>
>> I got my revenge on grade school art class by doing a bowl o' fruit
>> still-life where the bowl was cracked, the fruit was rotting and flies
>> were feasting on a decaying apple. The piece, entitled "An Exercise in
>> M&M (morbidity and mortality)", shocked the teacher, caused me to have a
>> mandatory meeting with the school shrink and, since our next assignment
>> was portraits and they feared that I might do something even more
>> grotesque, I got an A for the course and a free class period. Pity I
>> lost the painting years ago as it was the only artistic thing I have
>> ever completed to my liking (damned dysgraphia!).
>
>You observed, you painted, and you likely indulged in the child's
>impulse to "reach for the extremes." I applaud your creativity and your
>artistry. I responded to grade school art classes by "hating art"; I
>couldn't draw, had no sense of drawing perspective, and did not enjoy
>being told how inferior I was to those "talented" ones who could
>actually color within the lines.
>
>School shrink? For drawing flies? That's appalling, but I'll skip the
>rant for now. I think In the Darkness already offered a good one.
>
I hate to admit that I won a county wide competition for a painting of a
bowl of fruit, in fact it was quite a good feat of memory because things
like bananas had not been seen in this country for some years during and
after the war.
I often wondered if the judges all decided they wanted some of that
fruit, because I remember other painting being better :)
Actually Francis if you try reading Lord of the rings again and skip the
chapter on the Birthday party, which I have always found boring, then
you might find your really enjoying the book.... My Daughter when she
first read it got bored with that first chapter, I told her what it was
about and said skip it and go on, and she loved the rest of the books.
She was about 10 at the time.
She won a scholarship to a private school on those books, because the
Teacher who was interviewing her, had a copy on her desk and they talked
about it for an hour, and forgot the interview :)
The teacher thought the first chapter was boring to.
--
Shez sh...@oldcity.f2s.com
Baird Stafford
<snip>
> School shrink? For drawing flies? That's appalling, but I'll skip the
> rant for now. I think In the Darkness already offered a good one.
Feh. My twin-in-law was also sent to the equivalent of the school
shrink and his *parents* were "counseled" heavily because he always used
the black Crayola in artwork drawn during one of his elementary school
classes.
...And never mind that the black Crayola was the only one left in the
box by the time it reached him....
Blessed be,
Baird
-A.
> -A. wrote:
> <snip>
>
>>
>> I got my revenge on grade school art class by doing a bowl o' fruit
>> still-life where the bowl was cracked, the fruit was rotting and flies
>> were feasting on a decaying apple. The piece, entitled "An Exercise
>> in M&M (morbidity and mortality)", shocked the teacher, caused me to
>> have a mandatory meeting with the school shrink and, since our next
>> assignment was portraits and they feared that I might do something
>> even more grotesque, I got an A for the course and a free class
>> period. Pity I lost the painting years ago as it was the only
>> artistic thing I have ever completed to my liking (damned dysgraphia!).
>
>
> You observed, you painted, and you likely indulged in the child's
> impulse to "reach for the extremes." I applaud your creativity and your
> artistry. I responded to grade school art classes by "hating art"; I
> couldn't draw, had no sense of drawing perspective, and did not enjoy
> being told how inferior I was to those "talented" ones who could
> actually color within the lines.
>
> School shrink? For drawing flies? That's appalling, but I'll skip the
> rant for now. I think In the Darkness already offered a good one.
>
Since you referred to ITD's rant in this post, I am going to reply to
both of you here.
The irony is that the school shrink was on *my* side. How do you think
I got the free class period?
As for tv causing the conformity crisis in modern, Western culture, I
believe that it is a two-way street feeding into an ouroboric mess.
Society wants people to conform so society's entertainment conveys
messages that conformity equals success which, in turn, further
reinforces society's addiction to conformity.
-A.
I'd always thought that story was something of an educational urban
legend. But if it happened to your "twin-in-law" (and, might I add, I
don't understand what exactly a "twin-in-law" is...), then I'll
reconsider my stance on this tale's veracity.
Baird Stafford
<snip>
> I'd always thought that story was something of an educational urban
> legend. But if it happened to your "twin-in-law" (and, might I add, I
> don't understand what exactly a "twin-in-law" is...), then I'll
> reconsider my stance on this tale's veracity.
Vouched for by both the SO, who was in the same class, and his twin
(ergo, my twin-in-law). Also by my mother-in-law. Can't ask my
father-in-law, or at least not conventionally, since he died a decade
ago....
Blessed be,
Baird
Frenchy
and funky and cried:
> Actually Francis if you try reading Lord of the rings again and skip the
> chapter on the Birthday party, which I have always found boring, then
> you might find your really enjoying the book.... My Daughter when she
> first read it got bored with that first chapter, I told her what it was
> about and said skip it and go on, and she loved the rest of the books.
> She was about 10 at the time.
> She won a scholarship to a private school on those books, because the
> Teacher who was interviewing her, had a copy on her desk and they talked
> about it for an hour, and forgot the interview :)
> The teacher thought the first chapter was boring to.
I have to confess, having read the LOTR trilogy earlier this year, I found
*most* of it pretty boring. My Goddess, could Tolkien go *on* about
*nothing*! Enough already with the descriptions of the landscape, and the
whole pieces that did *nothing* to advance the plot (like the birthday
party or Tom Bombadil). And what was up with continuing the last book for
about fifty pages after it ended? Who cared what happened to Frodo
throughout his life after he returned from the Caverns of Doom or whatever?
He never did anything interesting again, apparently. For the most part,
the books are beautifully written, but short on plot. Or maybe not so much
short as thin..."Here we are, out on a quest to destroy the Ring of Power
in the Valley of the Shadow of Death, where the dread black wizard Lord
Volde--er, I mean Lord Sarumen, a wizard so evil they named him after ear
wax--lives and practices black magic, and we're pursued by a nasty little
naked villain who bears a startling resemblance to Richard Brien and who
wants to steal the ring for himself, and if it falls into the wrong hands a
lot of Really Bad Things will happen, but we're really not entirely certain
what because in all the volumes of explanation we've had so far, in which
we can describe every effing rock and tree root in this place with more
analysis than is given to a satellite's pictures of Jupiter, because no one
has ever really explained just why the world would come to an end if Lord
Ear Wax and his boss, whose name escapes me at the moment but it's probably
another one of those poufy British names, came to power and ruled the whole
world. I mean, what's the worst that could happen, Eastenders gets
cancelled? Khadafy decides he wants to keep his weapons of mass
destruction after all? One of the Royals does something embarrassing
again? You know what? This is an awful lot of trouble to go through, and
my feet are effing killing me because I'm a Hobbit and I don't wear shoes,
although no one's ever explained THAT either even though I live in England
where the ground is often rocky and the weather is usually the pits, and
it's a wonder I haven't lost any toes to frostbite. What say we Bilbo
Baggins this whole ridiculous quest and go quaff a pint or two down at the
The Maiden's Bodice? I saw a cute piece of elf I had my eye on last time
we were there...
Frenchy
--
"Once, there was intense competition between two people who insisted on
sending patches that fought each other's patches. I refused to accept
patches from either, until one of the developers lost interest. That's how
King Solomon would have handled things if he ran a preschool." - Linus
Torvalds, "Just For Fun: The Story Of An Accidental Revolutionary"
Frenchy
and funky and cried:
> Actually Francis if you try reading Lord of the rings again and skip the
> chapter on the Birthday party, which I have always found boring, then
> you might find your really enjoying the book.... My Daughter when she
> first read it got bored with that first chapter, I told her what it was
> about and said skip it and go on, and she loved the rest of the books.
> She was about 10 at the time.
> She won a scholarship to a private school on those books, because the
> Teacher who was interviewing her, had a copy on her desk and they talked
> about it for an hour, and forgot the interview :)
> The teacher thought the first chapter was boring to.
I have to confess, having read the LOTR trilogy earlier this year, I found
pmendhall
"Frenchy" <fre...@spam-me-not.com> wrote in message
news:06NFb.626497$Tr4.1623087@attbi_s03...
> Shez, disco-slamdancing to Barry Manilow through the newsgroup, got down
> and funky and cried:
>
>
> *nothing*! Enough already with the descriptions of the landscape, and the
> whole pieces that did *nothing* to advance the plot
This in large part describes EXACTLY how I feel about reading Terry Brooks.
I've tried to read Sword of Shannara 3 times
and still haven't accomplished it.
Phil Mendenhall
Shez
me-not.com> writes
Barbarian....:)
Its a myth...
--
Shez sh...@oldcity.f2s.com
Shez
<pmen...@kc.rr.com> writes
either,
--
Shez sh...@oldcity.f2s.com
Frenchy
I'm a Merk, whaddaya expect. ;)
Frenchy, who's got a fur bikini somewhere...;)
mist
Urk/. Don't bother!
Long to Short: invincible bad guy, only killable by one weapon in
whole world...chase bits/close escapes/blah blah.."ordinary guy
heroes" backed into corner by evil master of the world. Sword turns
out to be perfectly mundane item. Heroes stick evil guy with sword,
evil guy realises its only a normal sword and that he could've die
anytime someone stuck him. So it's a "big truth" moment. Readers
pretend to be impressed by the depth of ordinary reason. As it turns
out, yeah, this was the sword, an ordinary sword, that he's dying on.
Mystic glance of predestiny and self-fufilling prophecy ( and the
sounds of a witch retching in the otherworld.)
At least in LOTR: we see the fight of the everyday fellow. His hoards
of imaginery and petty fears and challenges. Look into the quests and
pauses in their lives that give them meaning. All of Tolkiens
monsters are "twisted perceptions" of "good" folk. Likewise many of
the horrors in the real word are twisted attempts of people desires
and weaknesses.
It's sad that PJ left of the ending but I'm sure it'll won't make
good-movies after the epic events leading up to it. To me it spelled
out the whole point of the book. It takes the myth Tolkien wove for a
simple "hero" story to one of growth in which the hero "comes home",
perhaps as Tolkien himself came home to a changed England.
I also miss the Tom scenes as it sets up the whole "people are of
the Land" conciousness. Some thing that comes into contrast when when
get to the "bigger, more immportant" concerns of the humans and their
cities, the elves and there unobtainable perfection of art and grace,
and of dwarves and their mega corporations and factories. For all
the gold and treasures are handled/mined/produced by dwarves or very
rare elven smiths - and the latter specialise in rediculous one-offs
tantamount to rolls-royces, palaces of the sun, private art galleries
of master works or equivalents. The humans are the future and laws of
the realm and as humans we are supposed to identify with that. Yet
Tolkien does not choose another human to carry the ring. Why not.
In The Darkness
> Shez, disco-slamdancing to Barry Manilow through the newsgroup, got down
>
>
> Frenchy, who's got a fur bikini somewhere...;)
North, who has Wax to solve the problem.
* RIP *
Nori Otaku
> Tolkien does not choose another human to carry the ring. Why not.
Considering Tolkien was thoroughly Christian, we can guess that it's a
shade of the lesson of "power that no man should have": i.e. the power of
God.
Or, removing that lens, the archetypical lesson of "power corrupts", in
that the only hope for Middle Earth was to destroy the only absolute power
(which, if you recall, always resulted in Evil - even when used with Good
intent).
--
NoriOtaku :: Change 'spam' to 'com' to send mail
Frenchy
got down and funky and cried:
What problem? It covers enough. ;)
Frenchy