The 2020 Book Club Thread Strikes Back!

I of course already knew I liked LOTR, while it has been a long time since I saw the movies I like them a lot and as such already knew I would like the story on some level. What I feared was the books would be slow going and drag on a lot, with a lot of needless verbosity and meandering. Kind of like how Lovecraft will spend ten pages describing pointless details and then half a page describing the actual subject matter of the story (I love Lovecraft a lot so I dont really say this to be harsh, but even as a fan of his I cant deny a lot of his stories are "I could describe this part thats actually interesting, but I wont, now sit down and shut up while I talk about what this identikit east coast town looks like"). Thankfully, LOTR was not this, and apart from a few moments did not feel as slow as a lot of people have told me that it is. I feel like once you get past the first third of Fellowship, the story is reasonably fast paced for a novel of its style and while its not exactly a quick read, there are MANY books out there that are way worse for being slogs.

This brings me to my realisation I had upon reading the second to last chapter "The scouring of the Shire." As this chapter was not adapted into the movies, I had no idea what to expect of this but upon reading it it cemented in my mind that the entire story of LOTR from beginning to end is analogous to the experience of going off to fight in a war (which of course Tolkien did in real life) just filtered through the context of it being a fantasy narrative and not a real life one. The hobbits leave their pristine corner of the world to take part in a far away conflict because they know that if they dont the conflict will come to them. They meet up with other people from other walks of life and form a fellowship to go off and take part in this conflict. Along the way, this tight knit fellowship is sundered, characters die suddenly, and different groups go off to different places, still part of the conflict but on different fronts. Then, in the end, Frodo goes home and realises that he no longer recognises the place he fought to protect because he has changed; he started the journey a fresh faced young (by hobbit standards) man and finished it a weary veteran wracked with what is essentially PTSD and nursing a lifelong wound. Of course there is much more than this going on, there is a lot of biblical allegory going on as well, as well as the interpretation that Sauron represents industrialisation destroying the heart and soul of a nation, with Tolkien describing the countryside so much because it is that beautiful pristine nature that Sauron yearns to obliterate.

What I think adds credence to the war theory is the way Orcs behave throughout the narrative. Of course within the lore Orcs are corrupted elves birthed through dark magic, but one specific part in ROTK makes it clearer to me what the intent may have been. In ROTK its said that the orcs themselves do not want to fight, but are forced into it by the higher ups, by the Uruks and the Nazgul. This seems like a contradiction at first, considering we already know Orcs hate other races, but to me it makes perfect sense if you view the orcs not as fantasy creatures but as opposing soldiers dehumanised and debased by the engines of war and the machinations of malicious leadership. While LOTR is, first and foremost, an excellent fantasy adventure, it also serves as a commentary on war, but unlike a lot of stories, it is a commentary on how war is ugly but necessary, as a way to oppose evil and preserve your traditions and way of life.

Maybe I am off base about a lot of this, but I think what is great about LOTR is its ability to operate on so many different levels, and still be really good. I could easily read it again and arrive at a different conclusion, but for now, I need to think of what to read next.

 

Honestly I am unsure. I still have the same books on my shelf I just cant settle on one thing yet. I'll probably take a day or two off to decide, I'm so far ahead of schedule on my reading goal for the year that I can afford to do that.

 

I was still undecided on what book to read next so I just started reading the next book on my shelf, Lunar Park, the self written memoir of Bret Easton Ellis.

 

It is a memoir of the famous/infamous author Bret Easton Ellis, who wrote a bestseller while still in university and is most famous for writing American Psycho.

 

Definitely worth reading, I've enjoyed every book from him that I have read so far.

 

I've been taking my time with Lunar Park, as I have enjoyed it so much. I definitely recommend it, but only to people who have at the very least read the authors other works. It is clearly intended to be read by people who are already fans of Bret Easton Ellis and the novel makes many references to his past stories. To anyone interested I would start with the well known classic American Psycho, then move onto his others in what ever order you see fit after that. His work is not for everyone but I personally love his style.

 

Lunar Park is complete, next up "Old Mans War" by John Scalzi. Being a military sci fi story, I hope to be inspired in my own writing by reading this, plus it has been a while since I have read anything in this sub-genre.

 

Finished Old Mans War. After a pretty rough start I enjoyed it more and more, it ended up being more imaginative than I expected of it. Next up I will be reading "The devil all the time" by Donald Ray Pollock.

 

Atomic Tango, the intense look of your avatar must have some reason behind it, but reading what you write I don't see the same level of determination? If that's a good way to describe it. Can you explain your choice of avatar, or is it personal?

 

Its just a scene from a game series I like called Yakuza, ran through some facial recognition software to give him that grin.

 

Thanks for the explanation. It looks rather sinister. Was that your intent?

 

I didn't actually make the image, I just found it online and picked it for my picture when I was getting bored of my old one.

 

Well, I don't read you as a sinister person so it's a good disguise. Lol