[HairOfTheDog]

More from the same issue of TIME that ran the Cover Story Lure of the Rings posted earlier today....

[HairOfTheDog]

OK Jen! - Shoot the messenger!

[JenB]

Thank you, Hair. My main beef is with the next to last paragraph or so, though the whole article is stupid, badly written, and just wrong.

And at its core, The Lord of the Rings isn't a story about frilly shirts and talking frogs; it's a tale about temptation. Frodo isn't a knight in shining armor; he's not even a wizard in a pointy hat. His only claim to fame, his sole superpower, is his uncommon ability to resist the seductive, corrupting temptation of the all-powerful Ring he carries. And as hard as he fights against that temptation, in the end he fails.

Well, let's ignore the SPOILER for the ENTIRE TRILOGY that they throw in and see that they're completely wrong. LotR is not primarily about temptation. It's about power. Tempation figures in as resisting - or not - power. And Frodo did give in but Tolkien is quite clear that Frodo could not have done otherwise; only a perfect being could have. It's a very Christian idea, that even our best is not good enough, but that God will make it work.

The other issue in this article, that fantasy is more popular than SF, is also wrong. They are two sides of the same coin. We look back and forward in order to better understand today. And what do they expect to get if they interview the SCA, anyway?

[Sam Cree]

Hi, Hair.

I like the last two lines, but otherwise the political correctness of the article is kind of overwhelming. They don't get it, at all.

[John Farson]

Bah! There is so much wrong with this article.

In Middle-earth, unlike the Middle East, you can tell an evildoer because he or she looks evil.

So much for... "a servant of the Enemy would look fairer and seem fouler"... Saruman? Sauron to the people of Numenor?

The only people with dark skin in Middle- earth are the Orcs.

Orcs aren't people. The people of Bór were good guys and had dark skin.

[My back yard]

Well, if that one made your blood pressure rise, take a gander at this one. (I rate the Bush/world and Tolkein/Middle Earth as two issues intertwined.)

The Battle Hymn of the Republicans

http://www.time.com/time/covers/1101021118/story.html

Consider the source. The line from Pelosi says it all -- Pelosi says she's ready for combat: "We cannot allow Republicans to pretend they share our values and then legislate against those values without consequence."

[Charlie OK]

bump for later reading!

[redhead]

"The clarity and simplicity of Middle-earth are comforting, but there's also something worryingly childish, even infantile, about it. Things are too simple there. Everyone has his class and his place—funny how feudalism works that way—and he's either good or evil, with no messy gray area in between."

This guy needs to get a grip. This IS a fantasy, and it was written almost 60 years ago in a foreign country. Helloooo!!??

[Chemist_Geek]

Hmmm...

[Lil'freeper]

The clarity and simplicity of Middle-earth are comforting, but there's also something worryingly childish, even infantile, about it.

What nonsense. The only thing worryingly childish is the author's inability to deal with "real" literature. Clearly the layers of meaning and nuance, the themes and examination of humanity were too difficult for this aspiring coffee-house snob of a writer to grasp.