WTH JRRT?

Spoiler for the beginning of The Two Towers book or the end of tFotR movie.

In the Fellowship of the Ring movie, Boromir's death was this great event of redemption. He fought of tons of Orcs single-handed. It was, to put it simply and colloquially, epic.

In The Two Towers, his death is practically glazed over. Aragorn hears Boromir's horn and runs to help him. But, alas, Boromir was "pierced with many black-feathered arrows; his sword was still in his hand, but it was broken near the hilt; his horn cloven in two was at his sing. Many Orcs lay slain, piled all about him and at his feet". Then, Boromir and Aragorn have a brief conversation, in which Boromir tells Aragorn that the Orcs took the "Halflings" (which is his word for "hobbits"). But, he fails to mention which hobbits were taken before he died.

This is just another instance of how the movies go into more emotional depth than the books. Which, as a contemporary reader, appeals to me greatly.

Just a quick note: now that I'm back at school, things might be going more slowly than I hoped. I'm taking eighteen hours at college, and also balancing a social life with two groups of friends. But, that will not hinder me!

DFTBA!

I Finished FotR!

Yes! I finally finished the Fellowship of the Ring! It took me about a month, which is an unusually long time by my standards. But because I finished the book, I watched the movie. This is my opinion of the books/movies thus far.

I think that the books are really difficult to get into, just because they are not written in a format that is typical with contemporary literature. While I was reading Fellowship I noticed that Tolkien focuses more on the setting and the lay of the land, over the characters. I found myself wishing there was more emphasis on the action scenes, like I'm used to from modern media. Tolkien is letting us into his world through a small, albeit pivotal, event. I don't dislike his writing, and I definitely respect him, but it's not my "cup of tea" exactly.

Movie-wise, I saw lot more of what I wanted from this book. There were exciting action scenes and focus on the characters. I was partially distracted the whole movie though because Merry is played by Dominic Monaghan, who was "Charlie" in LOST and "Simon" in FlashFoward. Anyways, here were my major problems with the movie: not enough of Lothlorien, which was one of my favorite locations from the book, and that it made Boromir's greed so obvious. But beyond that, it was an excellent movie. Gandalf's death was well done. The way he fell reminded me of Dumbledore's death in HBP, which made the scene a stab in the heart for me.

Another small note is that I made a video about this project and it's on my YouTube channel! The link is: http://dft.ba/-hpo21yt. If you do the YouTube thing as well, please subscribe to me!

Much love and DFTBA!

FotR SPOILER ALERT

SPOILER! (huh, what do you mean no one needs a spoiler alert because they've all seen the movie? Yeah, uh-huh. Well I kept away from everything until I read the books, so there!)

I just finished Chapter 5 ("The Bridge of Khazad-dum") of Book 2. Holy freakin' crap, if Gandalf is really dead I'm gonna be so pissed. He can't die! He's the wise old mentor, like Dumbledore or Brom. He's not allowed to die until about 4/5 of the way through the series! Ugh...

Oh, and Chapter 5 was by far the best chapter, in terms of suspense and 'hook', thus far. It was the first time while reading this novel that I didn't want to put it down. Then I finished the chapter and I wanted to throw it at the wall, but I resisted because he can't die yet.

DFTBA!


P.S. Arguing with the voice inside your head is probably not the best sign of good mental health.

P.P.S Sorry if this doesn't make much sense, it's 3 in the morning and I'm exhausted. But I couldn't sleep without venting.

A Few Awesome Quotes

I'm about 3/4 done with Fellowship. YAY! While reading, I've found it hard to break the habit of marking quotes that stand out to me, as I was trained in four years of advanced English class.

The first one is in Chapter 1 ("Many Meetings") of Book 2. Frodo and his companions have arrived in Rivendell, an "elven outpost" (as defined by the LotR wiki). Here, Frodo finally gets to see Bilbo again and they are discussing the outpost. This is the quote from that conversation that struck me the most, just because it made me pause my reading and think about what it truly meant.

"Time doesn't seem to pass here: it just is. A remarkable place all
together."

The second one is in Chapter 2 ("The Council of Elrond") of Book 2. Gandalf is telling his portion of the story of the Ring. He is discussing his conversation with Saruman. This passage struck me because of the symbolic significance. Note: As Gandalf is called 'Gandalf the Grey', Saruman was 'Saruman the White'.

"'For I am Saruman the Wise, Saruman Ring-maker, Saruman of Many Colors!'

I looked then and saw that his robes, which had seemed white, were not so, but were woven of all colours, and if he moved they shimmered and changed hue so that the eye was bewildered.

'I liked white better,' I said.

'White!' he sneered. 'It serves as a beginning. White cloth may be dyed. The white page can be overwritten; and the white light can be broken.'

'In which case it is no longer white,' said I. 'And he that breaks a thing to find out what it is has left the path of wisdom.'"

The third and final quote is also from Chapter 2 ("The Council of Elrond") of Book 2. In this part, the council is discussing what to do with the Ring, and they have decided to destroy it. This excerpt is from the mouths of Erestor and, you guessed it, Gandalf.

"'Thus we return once more to the destroying of the Ring,' said Erestor, 'and yet we come no nearer. What strength have we for the finding of the Fire in which it was made? That is the path of despair. Of folly I would say, if the long wisdom of Elrond did not forbid me.'

'Despair, or folly?' said Gandalf. 'It is not despair, for despair is only for those who see the end beyond all doubt. We do not. It is wisdom to recognize necessity, when all other courses have been weighed, though as folly it may appear to those who cling to false hope. Well, let folly be our cloak, a veil before the eyes of the Enemy! For he is very wise, and weighs all things to a nicety in the scales of his malice, But the only measure that he knows is desire, desire for power; and so he judges all hearts. Into his heart the thought will not enter that any will refuse it, that having the Ring we may seek to destroy it. If we seek this, we shall out him out of reckoning.'"

Well, that's it for now. DFTBA!

A Small End and a Big Beginning

Happy New Year! I hope all is well in your lives as we begin 2011. I'm really excited to see what this year has in store for me, 2010 was amazing, but 2011 promises to top it!

A Small End

I just finished Book 1 of The Lord of the Rings! YAY! It just took me forever and a day. Since my last post, I met Strider AKA Aragorn. I was wary of the character at first because I really wanted to like him, but he's proven trustworthy thus far. Book 1 ended with the Riders (evil workers of Mordor) almost catching Frodo, and then something attacked them and Frodo passed out. It was a nice suspense scene, and a welcome change of pace from the constant journey of the hobbits. I'm still enjoying the series, I just have a little less time to read now that I have a job. But I am working on it and want to continue with this project.

A Big Beginning

Today is January 1st, the first "official day" of this project. I used the last half of December, but considering the lack of significant progress, I deem that fact negligible. This is my New Years Resolution- the YLC project. I hope to continue it and have my life impacted in some way by these works of literature in the coming year.

DFTBA!