[piasa]

I'm a woman and I loved Tolkien's books. But then, I liked the nautical Hornblower Saga books as well, so my tastes aren't typical.

American women seem to prefer movies that show women getting beat up repeatedly by drunken or jealous men, if the cable 'Lifetime' station is an indicator. And they cling to daytime TV talk shows with psychopaths scratching each other's eyes out, or short sitcoms with a lot of cruel sarcasm from snotty New Yorkers. I have no idea why these genres are so popular, since I despise these three basic types of programming for women. None include adventure... not that popular romance novels seldom stray far from home either.

[livius]

Another female Hornblower fan! I think you're the first one I've met, actually...

I, too, went on to love the Ring trilogy. In fact, I read the books aloud to my kids (2 girls and a boy) when they were fairly young. Needless to say, at the rate of a few pages a night, this took quite some time. They loved it, although occasionally I had to abridge or summarize some of the description and move along to the action when I felt that the younger two were getting restless.

I agree that most of what passes for "women's literature" is either sappy or ugly, or, if one is really unlucky, a combination of the two. I realize that we are in no way responsible for the tastes of all other women, but it's still a puzzlement to me.

[sneakers]

Re#35: As a woman, all I can say is "Well said!" I loved these books because of the sense of brotherhood and the adventure. My greatest fear about this movie was that Jackson would try to turn it into a love story! (Thank goodness, it sounds like he didn't). I, too, avoid the Lifetime channel like the plague. If I want a fine romance, I can watch Pride and Predjudice - one of my favorite movies. Meanwhile, I'm waiting for LOTR with great anticipation!