Re: JRRT again: CS Lewis was: Darwin, Jesus and Moses... and Wilderness

Deja vu, that strange feeling.....

In article <4oLcqeB++woDFwzi@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>,
Chris Townsend <Chris@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>>>>>Lord of the Rings...
>>>And before Tolkien.
>>He would put whatever he wanted in his world.
>
>But unlike Lewis who mixed Greek, Roman, Norse and Christian figures and
>stories (the Ice Queen, fauns, Aslan/Jesus) Tolkien set out to create a
>coherent world based on Germanic mythology (Anglo-Saxon and Norse). He
>felt that England needed a mythology of its own and set out to create
>one.

I think NPR implied that LOTR came first (actually Hobbit).
The Mixing came later.

My friends point out that Oxfrod's dark Nationalist Socialist secret was
Hitler's plan to make Oxford New London had he conquerored the British Isles.


>>>>>Harry Potter is, I think, patchy. The third one is the best. The latest
>>>>>film is pretty good.
>>>I think the plot is stronger in the 3rd book and the atmosphere is
>>>darker and more serious. This comes out in the film too. The 4th and 5th
>>>books are too big and baggy and could do with editing. There are good
>>>stories in there but too much other stuff.
>>Does it have to be dark and serious to be better?
>
>Not necessarily. But the first two are very much light children's books
>with potentially dark and serious subjects and moments backed away from.

I thought that was the point of the first 2 and the later more recent
ones being for adolescence......

Bilbo as a Hobbit wasn't very deep either.
Sometimes too much is made of depth.
But then there is the issue of history....


>>Again, Watson isn't here about the whole lit. community insisting on
>>moody pieces to make great works of literature.
>Hamlet rather A Midsummer Night's Dream. I don't go along with that.

"George Lucas in Love...."

>>the UK was a small place and you guys all knew each other.
>
>Scotland seems a bit like that! As does the outdoor world. At an annual
>trekking company party (KE - for whom I lead occasionally) down south in
>the English Lake District I met another leader who I had first met in
>Kathmandu and discovered she lives ten miles from me.

I need to check bait in c.s.s. (another group.)
Nick responded that he had a fan come up to him in Seattle and say
"You really do exist." I have to find his collection of conference bootie.

>>I just found out (Dave Roberts knows Rick Millikan who is one of
>>Mallory's grand kids). I just met Rick last year and have been meaning
>>to as Roberts for a reprint.
>I went to the conference where the reconstruction of Mallory's clothing
>was unveiled back in September. Interesting stuff. It was better than
>anyone guessed.

Yeah, I think I told you Rick think's his grand Dad made summitted.

Now calling Mr. Irvine....

>>Over time, my opinions of Asimov has tarnish a bit, but he's OK.
>>The Silicon Valley is a comparatively small community among the tech types.
>
>I haven't read any Asimov for decades.

Actually I think Asimov's intellectual descendents may be more topics.
Orson Scott Card, Neal Stephenson (fun friend), Kim Stan Robinson (just
in the area, but didn't go see him, he's not far away).

>>>We both like travelling.
>>We are on similar wavelengths.
>On some things :-). I'm not a scientist.

That's just the day job.

>>>>>Julian Baggini's The Pig That Wants To Be Eaten is entertaining and
>>>>>thought provoking.
>>>100 thought experiments of various kinds (not all moral/ethical ones).
>>Gedanken-experiments are overrated.
>>Realexperiments, real observations need to be taken.
>
>Baggini is a philosopher.

A strike against him.

>Some of the experiments are rather artificial.

Artifical or contrived?

>>>The title comes from Douglas Adams of course - who Baggini credits.
>>Oh yes, I forget the precise name of the creature breed to be eaten.
>
>A cow.

I thought Adams gave him a different name. He did talk after all.

--
.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Visual & Verbal are not as disparate as language suggests
    ... fight to keep my books from going too dark. ... But whilst I do dark, I don't generally do unremittingly grim ... I still haven't worked out why my books are so bleak because my ... Also, I like people by default; but in stories, I can also like many people ...
    (rec.arts.sf.composition)
  • Re: The Condition of the Church in the UK vs USA
    ... The books may be seemly innocent, ... Christian Research Net, and Apprising Minstries. ... I only looked at this one, I'm not a great fan of Rick Warren. ... his books are Biblically lightweight and take the Bible in particular ...
    (uk.religion.christian)
  • Re: Series that are completed
    ... I like them fairly dark. ... to 7 or 8 of the Jordan books. ... by the author to bog down the plot in the later books of the ...
    (rec.arts.sf.written)
  • Re: How to read books on iPod Touch
    ... I searched Google for Amazon Kindle iPhone reviews. ... There are three major things I prefer about reading books on ... I can read in the dark. ...
    (comp.sys.mac.advocacy)
  • Re: Speaking of book lists.........whats on yours?
    ... The Thomas Convenat books have been on my list for a long time. ... To The Last Man - A Novel Of the First World War - Jeffrey M Shaara ... The Road To The Dark Tower - Exploring Steven King's Magnum Opus (Bev ... First Ark To Alpha Centauri - A Ahad. ...
    (rec.music.artists.springsteen)