( Read more... )

Back in 2003, when Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire was published, the writer A.S. Byatt put up a snarky essay in the New York Times condemning JKR and her work. I have not been able to find the entire essay online, but you get the idea:

(Quote) According to Byatt: "Ms Rowling's magic world has no place for the numinous. It is written for people ( Read more... )

The operative word here is "blogging," which is a more informal, stream-of-consciousness activity than writing and endlessly revising an essay or story. It’s a genre I’m trying to master because-well, mainly because I want to. And because I believe that those happy hours we spent posting on Harem and Tolkien topics got all of us thinking on our ( Read more... )

 I saw this meme elsewhere and, nerd that I am, thought it looked interesting:

1. Reach for the nearest book that has at least 123 pages.
2. Open it to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the next three sentences in a comment or your LJ or wherever.  [I took this to mean four sentences in all, but I could be mistaken.]
5. Tag five people or ( Read more... )

This is J.R.R. Tolkien’s 116th birthday. That means it was 16 years ago that a certain young lad named Daniel (he’s my first cousin, on his mother’s side) proudly showed me his copy of the centennial edition of LotR, with the color plates by Alan Lee. Not long after, I owned it myself. At that time I had been a Tolkien fan since 1966, 26 years.  I’ ( Read more... )