Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="nikolai" data-source="post: 1707541" data-attributes="member: 10130">There are lots of fantasy fans who dislike Tolkien, for all sorts of reasons. You are not alone, and - even if you were - I wouldn't flame you for which books you do or don't like. The standard response to your points are:<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The book is very slow to start. And isn't in the sword and sorcery prose style many people like. Tolkien takes a different path in having more evocation of the world and less action. This makes the book very rich, but also makes getting into it hard.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The "failure" of the quest is part of the atraction of the book for many people. It reinforces the power of the ring, and the fortitude of Frodo in making it as far as he did. It also (despite the books status) make LotR an anti-fantasy: the quest is to destory the artifact - not gain one - and the hero doesn't achieve the goal himself. The "failure" gives the book the bittersweet ending, as Frodo - even though he "succeeded" in destroying the ring - is broken in doing it.</li> </ul>I can see why you didn't like the book because of these aspects. But I guess my point is, without them, I wouldn't like it so much.</blockquote>