Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring ( reviewed by Tolkien Scholar )

TORN ^ | 10th Dec | Daniel Timmons, Ph.D.

[strela]

Tim, Tim Benzedrine
Hash, boo, Valvoline
Clean, clean, Clean For Gene,
First, second, neutral, park,
Hie thee hence, you leafy narc!

ROFL!!! Beats the heck out of "Neener, neener, so's your ma!" don't it?

[strela]

Heinlein? PUH-LEEZE! Talk about "overblown, tripemeister"!

I see from some of the responses that your low opinion of Heinlein is not universal on FR. Nothing further to add here on that subject.

You left Keith Laumer out of your replies - have you ever read him and what did you think of his work, particularly the "Retief" books?

[HairOfTheDog]

Not the Pig I sounded like in my rant, prisoner6

Because of your well-thought out response and accompanying apology to Reagangirl, I will take what you say at face value. Although I think it is hard to accidentally throw as many anti-woman slams into one post as you did, I will cautiously accept that you just didn't mean it the way that it came out. (which should worry you as a writer, by the way....)

Thanks... and I hope you enjoy the film!

[GatorGirl]

I haven't read through the entire thread yet, so at the risk of being repetitive:

HEY -- it's a kid's story about monsters and magic, people! Get real! Look out the window! There are no monsters in real life. There is no magic in real life.</ I>

I guess you don't think terrorism, abortion, moral relativism or myriad other real evils are present in the world, and I guess you've never been in love. Those are my monsters and magic. Here's hoping you at least find the magic, my friend! Gator

[LurkerNoMore!]

WHOA. Did that poster ever call us 'wimmin'?

I am all over JRRT, and I have a degree in ART!

(I think he needs to spend a lunch hour with you and dio in a true 'pub' watching 'football'!)

[Goldi-Lox]

I believe that Tolkein, in his own way, was every bit as talented as William Shakespeare. WS was a wordsmith and story plot virtuoso. JRRT was an imaginative story-telling virtuoso. That he created maps of the imaginary world, created languages, and cultures, and myths etc etc is simply mind-boggling.

[Goldi-Lox]

How'dja like "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress?"

[Goldi-Lox]

There's about a thousand Orcs right now over in Tora Bora fighting and doing evil.

[Goldi-Lox]

Maybe he's really Orc-Sama.

[Thud]

I'm taking the whole week of Christmas off and plan to see LOTR at least 3-4 times with one of my sons. The rest of my family (wife, daughter and another son) plan to see it at least twice each. So we'll do our bit for the economy, etc.

And I'll finally get a wide-screen TV with DVD player when this puppy comes out on DVD.

[HowlinglyMind-BendingAbsurdity]

Yep. The genius is really clear in the context of his scholarship. His work on the text of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and his lectures especially. There are so many good books on him. Tolkien: A Celebration, edited by Joseph Pearce is very good. There's an archaic sort of English countryside pastoral at work in his prose. He writes directly from folklore with an observant ear for natural conversational style, the way people talk. A little perhaps like Twain or even Salinger, although in a different context, in this sense as well. And there is more than a little divine comedy at the heart of his mythopoetic imagination. I hope the film measures up. We can all use a good story now and then. Storytelling is very much a part of the American psyche, something that gets lost in our ideological PC combat. It's great sucks to libs that Tolkien was a Christian and not of their party.

[HowlinglyMind-BendingAbsurdity]

LOL! Good call! (Dr. Moreau)