LMP: Yes, I've always been bothered by the Arthurian legends myself-- they never appealed to me much. Whatever it is I find in some stories and legends I don't find there. I found Once and Future King charming as a novel, greatly enjoyed it, but it doesn't fit me as LotR does-- hard to say why.
Bombur:
Quote:
|
Realization that the worlds rulers are like us, blind mice, is painful.
|
What a lovely phrase, Bombur: sad, wise, heartfelt and well-put. It feels very alive to me. Something will come of it for you; or has already.
I would argue that reading or otherwise experiencing fantasy that has real value is something beyond escape: it's a contemplative act.
Contemplative acts: meditation, service, pilgrimage, prayer, sacrifice, counseling, voluntary ordeals (fasting, climbing mountain, walking on hot coals, surfing), ritual or spontaneous spiritual observance, bar brawls (well, maybe not bar brawls), dancing, family gatherings, friend gatherings, responsive debate (truth-seeking debate, not victory-seeking debate-- like this thread!), holidays, long thoughtful walks ... the telling of stories and listening to same ...
Any contemplative act can result in far-reaching changes to a person's understanding and mode of living-- if the challenge of contemplation is met with strength of purpose and intellectual integrity. The right story under the right circumstances can trigger successful contemplation.
The mind is confronted by something that cannot be born. The mind longs for escape. The mind moves into a story for the purpose of escape, but the deeper patterns of the story fit into the mind like a lock to a key and the mind reaches an understanding during this interlude of escape that it could reach no other way.
Use another analogy. Is storytelling the anesthesia, relieving pain only? Or is it the surgery, saving the life and painfully reordering the body so that natural processes can heal it? Merely escape is merely anesthesia; I would argue that storytelling at the level of LotR or similarly deep-impact books is not merely anesthesia but also surgery. I find this personally true in my own life; I am not reasoning from rhetoric but from my own experience. I have also read other discussions of the effect of this book from people who had similar reactions.
[ September 17, 2002: Message edited by: Nar ]