[Kalla]

I think...and I'm sure I'm reiterating what someone else has said at some point on some post, but my emotions are up so I have to do somethign with them. [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img] I think that his books are sorta like Beethoven or any other great work...how they become great is that they transcend through the ages and generations and people can continue to relate and find better understanding of themselves, others and the world around them through these works. The great thing about it is you can take from it what you will, be it a nice escape, a moral guidebook, or something that makes you think and find others of like mind to discuss the world around you. In that sense, I feel he very much succeeded because look at how many people his works have touched. Look at just this forum and how many people are discussing matters that relate to real life. I sorta view any work be it literature, music, art, whatever, as an extension and expression of life and so long as that remains true, I see no way that it can become just another story without meaning. I think what his works have helped, at least for me, is not so much to promote good morals, but to define what I believe is good and poor. In sharing this experience with others, I move closer towards the truth within myself of who I am and what I believe. A reflection of life. A search for the truth. I do not think our problems so different today than from Frodo's time. They just have different names and shapes. Instead of Sauron we've had Hitler, instead of the War of the Ring we've had WWI. We may not have rangers roaming around, but we have homeless that are often mistunderstood the same way. PLus the moral dilemmas of right/wrong are still very present today. Like in the other thread about mercy and death, or in about responsibilty and sacrifices...those are all still very present today...perhaps it is just the realization that our actions DO affect those around us and so long as that is the case...these issues will always be in the present. It's obvious from posts or even just watching how people react that we are not agreed upon these issues...and a work such as Tolkien's world becomes a springboard to jump from to discuss, learn and define and in time discovery what is true to our hearts.