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Message: <blockquote data-quote="replicant2" data-source="post: 1790559" data-attributes="member: 16498">On the contrary, I found a lot of this "essay" (a sarcastic, nasty dig at Tolkien, let's be honest) way off the mark.Let's start with section 8, "Skip the hard parts." So Tolkien doesn't spend pages of exposition describing battles, and that's "skipping the hard part?" Tolkien spent YEARS creating entire languages, a rich history, a pantheon of gods, a myth of creation, all BEFORE he began the story. That's skipping the "hard parts?" Wow.My guess is that a WWI veteran with first-hand experience in the trenches at the battle of the Somme could have written some very realistic battle scenes, had he chosen to. LOTR has far more going on it than just strings of battles, however. That's one of the reasons why its great.And the section on "bad expendables" -- that's borderline offensive. More or less accuses Tolkien of racism and prejudice ("unacceptable by middle class Caucasian standards"). In fact, some of Tolkien's most evil creations were strikingly beautiful (see Melkor in the Silmarillion, predecessor to Sauron). And am I misreading the theme where all the races must unite to defeat evil?I also take great exception with point 1: Make your main character a loser because "most of the people who read your book will be unconfident males." Not only is that an insult to the reader, but by extension Frodo (and Sam, the story's other main character and hero) are "losers ... aimless, shy, cowardly, guilty, ill, lazy, rural." Two normal, quiet people who somehow find the courage to leave hearth and home, journey to strange lands and confront the greatest evil their world has ever known, are losers? Why, because their courage vacillates, even breaks at times? Because they want to abandon the quest and flee back to Hobbiton? Because they fear death?I guess the writer's definition of brave is different than mine. Perhaps he/she would have just strode right up to the gates of Moria and punched Sauron in the nose. Too bad we all can't be that "tough." Me, I find heroic those stories of ordinary people finding the courage to do extraordinary things. Those are real heroes.</blockquote>

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