> Oh, you're one of *those* people, are you? Personally, I slogged through LotR once, and will probably never subject myself to that again. I do not pretend to have even a fraction of Tolkien's abilities in either world design, linguistics, Germanic myths, or even fiction writing, but the mans prose style puts me to sleep so quickly it's not even funny. I had to force my way through most of the series. It's not enough for Tolkien to say "they traveled from Bree to such-and-such a place in 12 days" he has to go on and give a description of the entire landscape and layout of the surrounding hills and valleys. Fellowship reads more like a travelogue than a novel.

Okay, I'll admit it; I am one of *those* people. And I won't bother trying to refute most of the criticisms leveled against LotR in this and the ensuing posts, because most of those criticisms are pretty accurate and fair. LotR *is* impossibly dull in many places, and reads like a travelogue, and so forth and so on. And no, even I never got through the Silmarilion, although I plan to try again someday.

Admittedly, much of my devotion to LotR is childhood attachment. This is not, to my mind, a bad thing. It's largely from LotR that I formed my ideas of nobility and authority, courage, loyalty and adventure. I count this as a valuable service that Tolkien's works rendered to me during my formative years.

And finally, even if others find The Two Towers and other parts of the saga unendurable, they are very much to my taste. I still get a thrill from the charge of King Theoden, breaking the siege of Helm's Deep. I enjoy the council scenes, even if they serve the purpose of "information dumps". I love the noble dialogue between characters such as Aragorn and Eomer, even if they seem a little cheesy to a sophisticated reader. I love these things because I'm immersed in the books. I'm one of *those* people, and if other people aren't, that's okay; it doesn't bother me. LotR is very close to me, so I have a post-critical relationship to it and can laugh at its weaknesses without rejecting it outright.

Iss "stand by your hobbit" achar