This:
There, peeping among the cloud-wrack above a dark tower high up in the mountains, Sam saw a white star twinkle for a while. The beauty of it smote his heart, as he looked up out of the forsaken land, and hope returned to him. For like a shaft, clear and cold, the thought pierced him that in the end the Shadow was only a small and passing thing: there was light and high beauty for ever beyond its reach.Most recent posts here. Follow us on Twitter here. Amazon store here.
Samwise! Thanks.
ReplyDeleteEver read David Stove? ON ENLIGHTENMENT is the best political book I've ever read. Stove thinks egalitarianism is what we should toss into Mount Doom.
Sam is my hero. No, haven't read that. Thx for tip.
ReplyDeleteWow, you and Candy (my wife). Is it a male/female difference? My hero's Frodo, and I think most guys agree.
ReplyDeleteSam's wonderful, especially cooking conies in Ithilien. His courage is situational, though - tactical. Frodo's the farseeing one who walks into danger - a strategic courage that must be admired even though it fails at the very end (so human).
Maybe it's the loyalty women prize more highly - like in PERSUASION. "All that I can claim for my own sex - and it isn't a great boon, you needn't covet it - is that of loving longest, when all hope is gone." (From memory, but that's the gist.)
Wow! I was thinking of Mordor and the "quest" right after the election. Great minds thinking alike, I guess.
ReplyDelete:) I didn't think of it myself but when I saw it the beauty of it smote my heart. Haven't read LOTR in 10 years but it may be time to do so gain.
ReplyDeleteLoyalty yes. And humility.
Can't go wrong on a diet of JRRT and Jane Austen.
Actually, my husband maintains that Samwise is actually the hero of the entire LOTR series. Mainly because he was the only one to give up the ring voluntarily.
ReplyDeleteHi, Barb. Your husband sounds like he has a generous heart. He forgets Bilbo gave up the ring after having it for most of his life, though. Bilbo had to be cajoled, and he gave it up grudgingly, but it was voluntary.
ReplyDeleteAnd don't get me started on Tom Bombadil.
Frodo walked into certain death to save the world - and he meant to go alone. It was brave of Sam to follow, Sam's great.
What I don't like about the LOTR movies was that they took away from Frodo to give to Sam. I dislike screenwriting that messes with character - that scene in Osgiliath still rankles, even though the movies were wonderful. (The charge of the Rohirrim!)
The worst example of a movie messing with character is the recent version of Mansfield Park. A BOISTEROUS Fanny Price, I ask you! The worst is what they do to Sir Thomas - a complicated hero turned into a simple villain. Young Tom (played by James Purefoy, Mark Antony in HBO's ROME) gets more depth because of it, but he's not supposed to have depth! Lady Bertram (played by the woman who does Servilia in ROME) is a Laudanum drinker in the movie - horrid. Austen drew a perfectly indolent character, there was no need to spice her with opiates.
The best recent Austen film is the Amanda Root version of PERSUASION. Very loyal to the book. Corin Redgrave plays Sir Walter perfectly - nothing like a Trotskyite actor to mock a nobleman!