Greetings and a thought

Clifford Drane · 19 Mar 1999, 19:57 · from urth-v0024.mbox · original

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From: "Clifford Drane" <dranec at hotmail.com>
Subject: (urth) Greetings and a thought
Date: Fri, 19 Mar 1999 13:57:50 CST
Message-ID: <urth-v0024-0077 at digest.urth.net>
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I've been lurking around for the past 3 weeks, enjoying the posts and=20
the archives - so it's about time I introduce myself.

My name is Cliff Drane, a New Media Developer in Houston. I'm on my=20
second go-round of TBOTNS (Sev and Agia just entered the Jungle).=20
Between the list archive/postings and the re-read, I'm deep deep deep=20
into these books and their mysteries. In fact, I fear TBOTNS has spoiled=20
me - the intellectual stakes have been raised and other books are=20
failing miserably in comparison.

I've recommended the series to a couple of friends, the first of which=20
failed to catch ~90% of the nuances (which I, of course, wanted to talk=20
about) so she's decided to stop midstream and start over. Wish her luck.=20
:)

One topic I did want to touch on is a point made by a literary critic=20
(I've forgotten who) about The Lord of the Rings. He was very critical=20
of the mythmaking devices Tolkien used, ie. names and places mentioned=20
only once or in passing and in the context of that name/place being=20
extraordinarily important to Middle Earth. Tolkien did employ this, and=20
other 'superficial' means, quite a bit. I understand the devices, can=20
catch them when they happen, but don't get offended by them. It struck=20
me that Wolfe also employed the device in TBOTNS, but for the most part=20
the name/place/thing mentioned actually *is* important or can be=20
researched and debated as to their true meaning, which may have=20
subsequent meanings/relationships, etc. In TBOTNS there seems to be=20
substance behind the device.

Anyway, I thought I'm glad to be a part of the list and would enjoy any=20
added perspective to the above thought.

cd
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