Tolkien Gets Personal

Well, I'm a bit disappointed to have to draw a close to the Open Sesame Challenge, but nobody has added anything, so perhaps it's time to get onto the voting. Which of the three entries do you think is the most interesting opening to a book? Make sure you read all three, and vote on the poll. You can find links to the entries and the poll on the right hand side of the screen. Please do.

My dad and I have made fantastic progress on The Lord of the Rings today. We spent hours reading this morning and even after lunch, and managed to nibble steadily into the final chapters. Three left to go! But there is something I've noticed in it, that I can't explain all to clearly but has given me such a warm and homey affections for the book that it just cannot go unmentioned. I wholeheartedly adore the love and totally real relationships that connect all the characters. It has popped up and out like the most flamboyant of pop-up books in the last couple of chapters. The One Ring has been destroyed and everyone has been reunited, and the things they say and give to each other is so gorgeous. It is terribly cute. It is healthy and ruddy and fresh and beautiful. And it makes me sigh and smile longingly at how healthy it all is. It's not something that I can point to, or read you - it's just the whole. It's unlike everything else. J. R. R. Tolkien just really understood something very important about relationships and it is beautiful to read.  It is very personal. 

Sadly, Frankenstein is becoming increasingly disappointing.  It's a clever concept, but the execution of it as a whole is so slow that it has failed to keep taut any thread of suspense for me whatsoever.  It might just get better - I don't know - but I don't have much left to read now.  I might get it finished tomorrow morning, if I read in bed for a hour or so.  I'm sorry I haven't had much to share from it.  It hasn't been terribly quotable.   

Ah well, The Lord of the Rings has been plenty sustainance for me these last few days.  I am going to be such a mess when we finally finish it.  Would you believe if I told you we'd been reading it since this time last year?  I have formed very strong relationships with every single character, Sam especially, and I have laughed out loud and cried painfully with them.  I will probably have to hold a funeral.  Wow.  OK.  I'm going to start crying prematurely if I dwell on this too much longer. 

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