Post #428099
2025-12-19 23:14 UTC
“Why I Keep Returning to Middle Earth”.
This, by Tolkien scholar Michael D. C. Drout, is fascinating: textual analysis reveals the connection between how _The Lord of the Rings_ was written (and revised) and how it feels to read.
But, and also: In the words of @glennf , it “stabs you with a Morgul-blade halfway through”.
In the heart.
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/19/opinion/tolkien-grief-lord-rings.html?unlocked_article_code=1.908.cHMV.eG9y1OxU9wRB&
Replies (4)
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@tobiaspatton@cosocial.ca 2025-12-19 23:25
@debcha @glennf Crying at work is so unseemly, but this is a good read regardless.
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@glennf@zeppelin.flights 2025-12-20 02:29
@debcha I was so gutted. I am looking forward to his book now.
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@RFPatterson@mastodon.nz 2025-12-20 07:24
@debcha And see lotr.fandom.com.
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@rebekka_m@fnordon.de 2025-12-21 09:42
"“The Lord of the Rings” is different. Its chapters group in a complex hierarchy with three large groupings and several outliers, a pattern of clustering not typical for a modern novel. It is closer in form to multiauthor composite texts from the Middle Ages. Not only do the clusters not match the point-of-view characters; they don’t seem to be related to volume, book, setting, type of action or pacing." The above article is among other themes about why those texts do grip us. @debcha @glennf