Quick Review: The Return of the King

Well, it's over.  After 25 years I read TLOR again.  And I'm glad I did.

The suspense was absent as I remembered most of what happened - although in this third part I had got some of it muddled. Having said that, I did find myself wanting to catch up on another strand of the story whilst following the present one (volume1 is a united narrative;  volume two divides into two;  but in volume three there are often three strands unfolding).

SPOILERS (little ones, but you might want to read with one eye closed)

So what stands out here?  Especially striking is the friendship and bravery of Sam, who tends to fade into the background in memory.  In fact friendship, trust, courage and sacrifice run throughout as possibly the most constant theme of the book.   Also, the intrinsic power of a noble King - to inspire overturn darkness, establish justice and to inspire loyalty. And in narrative terms, the co-ordination of the big spectacular battle (the Pellenor Fields) and the tiny movements of the Ringbearer, and how one cannot succeed without the other.

A big difference from my 17-year old reading, is that I'm no longer befuddled by the end.  In those days I think I felt "Hey, it's a magical world - why does this have to happen?".  But I'm older now, and the idea that darkness could wound one so badly that it cannot ever heal; and that there is an undying land of life and peace and rest...that all makes a lot more sense.

So last time, it was the epic scale, the internal consistency, the fantastical lands.  This time that was all still there, but also as a frame that hold a picture of the deep themes of life.

Yep: it's still a great, great book.  And I shan't wait 25 years again - currently I'm planning 5...

Postman: fully-armed 19thC technocracy

There on the wings of technocracy, the United States soared to unprecedented heights. That Jefferson, Adams, and Madison would have found such a place uncomfortable, perhaps even disagreeable, did not matter...
 ...Technocracy did not entirely destroy the traditions of the social and symbolic worlds...In nineteenth century America, there still existed holy men and the concept of sin.  There still existed regional pride, and it was possible to confirm traditional notions of family life.  It was possible to respect tradition itself and to find sustenance in ritual and myth.  It was possible to believe in social responsibility and the practicality of individual action.  It was even possible to believe in common sense and the wisdom of the elderly.  It was not easy, but it was possible.

The technocracy that emerged, fully armed, in nineteenth century America disdained such beliefs, because holy men and sin, grandmothers and families, regional loyalties and two-thousand year-old traditions are antagonistic to the technocratic way of life.

Technopoly p45-46

Postman: technology changes thinking

New technologies alter the structure of our interests: the things we think about.  They alter the character of our symbols: the things we think with.  And they alter the nature of community: the arena in which thoughts develop.

Technopoly p20

Quick Review: The Two Towers

Well it has been a different experience reading volume 2 this time.

Some epic moments turned out to be only a few pages long (eg. Helm's Deep).  And the parts last time that felt like they were holding up plot developments were great this time.  This is especially true of some key conversations.  The best example would be Aragorn, Gimli and Legolas running through the plains of Rohan and encountering the Riders.  The suspicion gradually giving way to a recognition of noble hearts of similar cast, fighting one enemy, was great - as cultural barriers and the paranoia of the times gradually fall before a warm-heartedness.

This nobility of heart was largely lost in the movie, which tended to play relationships like buddy-movies where the protagonists fall out until united by need.  In TLOR Tolkien recognises sometimes people simply are noble-hearted.  Treebeard does not need to be provoked into action by the ecological disaster effecting him in his quiet safety: in the book, he knows Saruman is evil and has merely been taking time deliberating what to do.  Faramir does not have to struggle long and hard to resist the ring:  as written by Tolkien and not Peter Jackson, he soon works out what the situation is and is one of several characters (eg Sam) who seem largely unaffected by the ring.  Ah, a time when a true-heart was seen as possible.

But alongside this, one other thought that bypassed me last time.  25years ago Middle-Earth seemed like a wondrous place to live, and it is.  However, what I realise this time is that for the characters in the book these are difficult times and much that was great has passed or is passing.  The men of Gondor are not as their ancestors, the woods of the Elves have shrunk, the number of Ents who sleep has risen.  The Third Age is ending...and much that is golden will not be seen again.

3 Irrational beliefs - excerpts

He identified three irrational core beliefs that cause the most trouble:

#1: "I absolutely MUST, at all times, perform outstandingly well and win the approval of significant others. If I fail in these important—and sacred—respects, that is awful and I am a bad, incompetent, unworthy person, who will probably always fail and deserves to suffer."

#2: "Other people with whom I relate absolutely MUST, under practically all conditions, treat me nicely, considerately, and fairly. Otherwise, it is terrible and they are rotten, bad, unworthy people who will always treat me badly and should be severely punished for acting so abominably to me."

#3: "The conditions under which I live absolutely MUST, at practically all times, be favorable, safe, hassle-free, and quickly and easily enjoyable. If they are not, it's awful and horrible and I can't ever enjoy myself at all. My life is hardly worth living."

 ....But many pastors, me included, are self-identified people-pleasers. We know that it's irrational to expect everyone's approval, yet we still sometimes feel devastated by one unhappy congregant.

What are the consequences of this irrational belief? Your sense of worth becomes as unstable as the fickle opinions of others. You ride a roller coaster of ecstasy and pain. Your identity depends on the person who sings your praises today, or who calls for your resignation tomorrow.

...Anyone who has ever led a church knows that expecting everyone to treat you nicely is the whopper of irrational beliefs. Church is a place for broken, sinful, messed up people, yet we're surprised when they behave like broken, sinful, messed up people. Pastors should know better, but we don't.

...We cannot eliminate hassle from our lives, but we can diminish its impact. Many of life's stressors can be attributed to the lack of margin. With no margin, one delay, one extra crisis, or one walk-in appointment can be enough to tip us over the edge. Margin is one of the least expensive luxuries in life and costs no more than the time it takes to sit down in front of a calendar and mark certain days and times as off limits.

Leadership