My use of 'charm' was dry; my above absolutism is, as correctly pointed out, inaccurate and exclusionary, for which I apologise. For this reader, despite appreciating greatly Tolkien's hand, his perspicacity and underestimated wit, there are distinct and quite noticeable flaws in the novel; this applies to the mechanics as well as my more aloof and indefensible positions regarding structure and the use of voice. My above point had been intended, gently (failed on all points), to point out that many appreciators of this novel shy unnecessarily from criticism of the text.
[ April 01, 2003: Message edited by: Rimbaud ]
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And all the rest is literature
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