I've been re-reading The Twin Towers, J.R.R. Tolkien's second Lord of the Rings novel. (I re-read The Fellowship of the Ring 1-2 years ago.) Aside from the fact Tolkien is great, the Lord of the Rings has a constant sense of lurking possible doom in the background, and the characters also sense that even if they come out OK things will never be the same as before. That fits the current mood.
Illuminatus! would seem to be a modernistic "reply" work to LoTR which also has a large cast of characters, a long narrative and appendices. More on Illuminatus! soon.
7 comments:
Tolkien seems appropos to the time. Tolkien is a great describer of things. Another great describer is Marcel Proust. I'm currently reading Within A Budding Grove, the second volume of In Search of Lost Time by Proust.. I'm also reading Crossing the Abyss by Jerry Cornelius which is about Frater Achad, Charles Stanfeld Jones, who was Aleister Crowley's magical son at one point. The third volume I look at from time to time is Led Zeppelin All The Songs, The Story Behind Every Track by Jean-Michel Guesdon & Philippe Margotin.
Oz, I hope you continue to enjoy Proust. I have begun “ The Mirror and the Light” by Hilary Mantel. I loved the first two volumes of this trilogy. I just finished “The Broom of the System” by David Foster Wallace. I also do a lot of reading for my classes.
Just finished The Overstory. My goodness, what a book. Here’s to the trees.
I reread Lord of the Rings last February/March when Adie bought me a set for V-day. Twin Towers was always my favorite. Specifically Book III. Fucking Ents!
I finished Helen Dale's Kingdom of the Wicked last week and am now reading Jack Vance's Emphyrio. Also listened to Keith Olberman read Thurber the other day.
I’m reading The Books in my Life by Colin Wilson and The Collapsing Empire by John Scalzi, the publisher was giving it away for free so thought I’d try it.
@Oz, I think your comment that Tolkien "is a great describer of things" points to one of the reasons "Lord of the Rings" has become a classic. His vivid descriptions of the natural settings the characters find themselves in and the depth of the linguistics makes the work seem very vivid and realistic, even though he is describing fantastic events.
@Chad, I love Richard Powers. I was really happy "The Overstory" won the Pulitzer.
@Rarebit, as you know, I've read most of Jack Vance's work and I love "Emphyrio." I also really liked "Kingdom of the Wicked" and I feel it hasn't gotten the attention it deserved in the U.S.
Thinking of “Prometheus Rising”, I have begun rereading Jane Eyre. Bob asks the reader to analyze her character in PR.
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