The Fellowship is Finished!

Literally. My March follow-up post for the LOTR Read-Along, hosted by Lorren at The Story Girl, contains SPOILERS.

The last part of The Fellowship of the Ring is one of my favourite parts of The Lord of the Rings. Escaping the orcs of Moria, the fellowship finds refuge in Lothlórien, an enchanted forest from where no one comes out unchanged. There is “the heart of Elvendom on earth” where ancient things still live and time passes differently.

There is a lot of poetry included in this part of book, hinting at ancient people and events, which makes a reader more and more curious about the Elves and their history. I enjoyed the poetry very much. The following sadly beautiful verses particularly speak to me:

I sang of leaves, of leaves of gold, and leaves of gold there grew:

Of wind I sang, a wind there came and in the branches blew.

Beyond the Sun, beyond the Moon, the foam was on the Sea,

And by the strand of Ilmarin there grew a golden Tree.

Beneath the stars of Ever-eve in Eldamar it shone,

In Eldamar beside the walls of Elven Tirion.

There long the golden leaves have grown upon the branching years,

While here beyond the Sundering Seas now fall the Elven-tears.

O Lórien! The Winter comes, the bare and leafless Day;

The leaves are falling in the stream, the River flows away.

O Lórien! Too long I have dwelt upon this Hither Shore

And in a fading crown have twined the golden elanor.

But if of ships I now should sing, what ship would come to me,

What ship would bear me ever back across so wide a Sea?

Lórien is ruled by Lord Celeborn and Lady Galadriel. Galadriel is a strong, wise woman, a High Elf from ancient times and she is a likable character, although she is surrounded by an aura of mystery. 

The Company gets time to rest and regain their strengths back in Lórien, but is also tested, because Galadriel can read their secret wishes and tests what would they do if she made those wishes possible to come true.

Nevertheless, accordingly to the Elves’ custom, the Company does not get advice. They are left to make their decisions on their own. In Lórien and after leaving it, a reader witnesses Aragorn weighing between going with Frodo till the end of his Quest or with Boromir to help defend his rightful kingdom. Aragorn never doubts his strength or his rights as the heir of Elendil. However, I think this weighing between the possible roads was probably mistakenly interpreted as Aragorn doubting in himself by the LOTR film trilogy makers, which resulted in presenting Aragorn a weak exile who refuses to follow his fate, and I disliked that.

There is also great example of a paradox between what people say and do. Boromir calls men such as himself true in their hearts, men who cannot be corrupted by the Ring. Yet, it is him who actually is influenced by the Ring, desiring it to the extent which makes the Fellowship fall apart in the end. This is an illustration about how evil wants to convince people it does not exist, which is its greatest victory.

However, even though the Fellowship ends up scattered, the road goes on. So, I’m looking forward to The Two Towers and continued battle between good and evil. Even though it is all happening in a remarkably strange, invented world, I like the LOTR because of the realistic lessons I can draw inspiration from to help me face the harsh present world.   

Seasonal Blog Makeover

This is just a short post to let you know I've been feeling spring-y today and decided to spring-ify my blog's looks a little.

As you can see I went for young-grass green and warm earthly tones. I love it, it reminds me of a smell of newly ploughed fields and dewy meadows in the morning.

What do you think about it?

Do you stick to one blog look or change it? What makes you change your blog look - season, tiredness of the same appearance or something else?

P.S. By the way, I have trouble writing these days, but I'm on a reading spree, so I'll eventually write a stack of reviews.

Book Blogger Hop, March 25 – 28, 2011

Book Blogger Hop is hosted by Jennifer at Crazy-for-Books. It is a great way of discovering new blogs and meeting fellow book bloggers, talking about books and authors, and sharing our love for literature.

 

“If you could physically put yourself into a book or series…which one would it be and why?”

MY ANSWER:

The Lord of the Rings, of course. I love the world Tolkien created, its stunning landscapes, peoples and languages. The hobbit way of life would fit me perfectly. I’m much of a stay-at-home, peace and nature loving person. The Shire seems a delightful place to live in. I wouldn’t mind being an Elf either. Or a citizen of Gondor, living in the beautiful Minas Tirith / Minas Anor (preferably after Sauron is destroyed). 

Booking Through Thursday – Serial

Series? Or Stand-alone books?

This is a serious dilemma. I read both stand-alone book and series, although I have noticed I have been reading an awful lot of series lately. That is probably because it is difficult to come across a stand-alone book these days. Every decent book I pick up is a part of a series. It has started getting on my nerves.

I have several problems with series.

Firstly, they take a lot of time.

Secondly, I borrow most of the books I read from the library and it takes ages to get a hand on the next book in a series. If I start reading something, I like to read it through. It is unnerving to have to wait to read on, especially when I like the book/series and want to find out what happens next.

Thirdly, some series are apparently written just because the first book in the series was popular and the author wants to milk some more money from it. So, he or she writes some more books, dragging on the subject, not knowing which direction to pursue, just to write another book. A mild case of this kind of a book is Eclipse. Although I love The Twilight Saga, it is obvious to me that Meyer had no idea where to lead the story and how would Bella finish up when writing the Eclipse. There are of course much worse cases, such as the middle books of Benzoni’s Marianne series which could be two or three books shorter. 

Naturally, there exist compelling series, where nothing is redundant and I only wish them to continue. For instance, Iggulden’s Emperor series (the reviews of which you can find listed on My Reviews page) could continue, I would definitely like to read on about Octavian’s rule, etc. Also, short series, such as trilogies, written to actually tell the story are great. I also like series, where books can be read as stand-alone, such as many of Nora Roberts’ trilogies.

I think there should be more stand-alone books. It just does not get better than a well-rounded book with a conclusive ending. That kind of books which does not leave the reader unsatisfied and longing is the most enjoyable.

To conclude, both stand-alone books and series are enjoyable if they actually say something. I take delight both in stand-alone books and series, in any case it all depends on the content.  

Cambridge Wizard Student Guide: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Richard McRoberts

SUMMARY: The Guide contains chapter summaries and character analysis with quotes, information about autism, sample essay questions and sample essays.

MY OPINION:

My review is based on the helpfulness of this student guide to ESL high schools students.

I think this book is somewhat useful to ESL students with advanced knowledge of English and above average grades. Those students might use the guide as a quick reference book to refresh their memory. The same goes for teachers in this case. Essay samples might be helpful to those same students in terms of showing them the level of writing they should aim to achieve.

Apart from the above, the guide has little use. The summaries are too general to be of any real help and character portrayals and other analysis too demanding for students struggling with mediocre and low grades.

RECOMMENDATION: I am somewhat disappointed by this book. Its main value is in serving as a reference book, but both teachers and students would have to use other resources when approaching Mark Haddon’s The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time.

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon

SUMMARY (from Goodreads): Christopher is an intelligent youth who lives in the functional hinterland of autism – every day is an investigation for him because of all the aspects of human life that he does not quite get. When the dog next door is killed with a garden fork, Christopher becomes quietly persistent in his desire to find out what has happened and tugs away at the world around him until a lot of secrets unravel messily.

MY OPINION:

The first time I started reading this book (I have just re-read it), I thought Christopher is a rude, troublesome kid, even worse – psychopath as a friend of mine called him. But that was only in the beginning. As I read on and learned more and more about Christopher and his way of thinking and the way his mind functions, my prejudices vanished making way for understanding.

Haddon’s writing in the first person point of view makes the readers put themselves into Christopher’s place and see the world as he does. In this way the problems he has to face become clear. The readers can see themselves from the opposite side, from the viewpoint of a person with Christopher’s disability and it may not be a nice sight. However, this is precisely the essence of Haddon’s book – to make the readers aware of their attitude towards people like Christopher, and, even more importantly, to make them open up to learning how to change their attitude and improve their interaction and relationships with autistic people.

Christopher’s story is also an inspiration for not letting a disability hinder a person’s life. Christopher does not give in to the stereotypes about what he is able or not able to do, he has dreams and plans, and he works hard to achieve them. He is a courageous person who surpasses his fears and difficulties to do what he decides to.  

RECOMMENDATION: This book is a window into the world of an autistic person and a mirror to the rest of us at the same time. It is a very educational and inspiring book.

England’s Perfect Hero by Suzanne Enoch

SUMMARY (from Goodreads): Lucinda Barrett’s best friends ended up married to the men to whom they delivered their “lessons in love”. So Lucinda decides to choose someone who definitely needs lessons, but someone who will not complicate her life. And that person is definitely not Robert Carroway.

Robert is nothing if not complicated, and though he is a brother of a viscount, he rarely goes about society, and finds the weather and hat fashions ludicrous subjects for discussion. Robert is attracted to Lucinda’s unpretentious ways, her serenity and her kindness. When she chooses someone for her love lessons, Robert offers to help her deliver her lessons, but sets out to convince the woman he has fallen for to take a chance on love ... and on him.

MY OPINION:

This was a nice relaxation read, interesting enough to read it smoothly through but not too complicated to spend too much energy contemplating it.

Lucinda is a pleasant girl, well-mannered, very attentive towards her old father and generally a likable character. She is polite, compassionate, able to think for herself, but I had a feeling there was something missing. Perhaps it was her calculated choosing of a man who would make a good husband from purely practical reasons, or it was her too quick a surrender to Robert, or perhaps her slow acknowledgment of her feelings and her naïve trust into her father.

I am fine with the heroine having faults, after all faults make a character intriguing. However, I have problems with the fact that her choices and her change are not supported with enough arguments to make her completely credible.  

Despite the slight weakness of Lucinda’s character, the book is well worth reading for the sake of Robert Carroway. He is a suffering figure, an ex-soldier who returned home wounded both physically and mentally from the Napoleonic wars. The memories of war torture him and cloak him in darkness, so he stays at home and rarely speaks, which earns him a reputation of a lunatic in the society.

Lucinda is the first person who treats Robert with compassion and sympathy but at the same time does not tip-toe around him as his family members do. Their re-encounter is what firstly encourages him to try to return to life again. Robert’s journey from his seclusion and his emotional pain to revival and love is very well developed. It is compelling to observe the struggle between his fears and the pure effort of his will he has to put in to regain his life.

In the end, England’s Perfect Hero is both an easy book you read to unwind and an absorbing life story with some well written laughable scenes.

RECOMMENDATION: If you want to read a book which doesn’t take a lot of your time and effort, but still captures your imagination, this is just the kind of book I recommend. 

The Face of Death

Red Writing Hood is a weekly meme hosted at The Red Dress Club. I haven’t done this for a while, because I had been so busy. This week's assignment was to write a short piece, either fiction or non-fiction, about something ugly - and find the beauty in it. I don’t know if I quite nailed the prompt but I found it really inspiring and this came out of it.

 

The cold was cutting through the bones. The trees were creaking, their black, rotting trunks towering up menacingly. The barren branches offered no shelter from the breathing frost whirling sinister mists above the ground. Under a thin layer of snow twisted roots were crawling as snakes.

Infrequent sunrays which pierced through the mists were now and then reflecting from the icy rubies in the creek. The stream was quiet, the water was frozen together with the spots of blood in crimson gleam. A pair of legs was sticking out of the ice, the water half frozen back above where the rest fell in.

Men and horses were scattered on the bank. During the night mud and blood consolidated into a reddish brown rock. A black horse was lying on it side, eyes wide open, guts gushing from its corpse. Another one not far away had a skull split down the middle, legs coiled in their deadly spasm.

The limbs of men on the ground were all unnaturally bent, some almost severed by the sharp blades of the enemies. Two bodies were hung on a nearby tree, their mouths ajar in the eternal last gasp for air. The stained uniforms were stripped of insignias, the faces covered with wounds and dirt, some unrecognizably crushed with heavy boots.

A lock of wheat-coloured hair glistened golden at the touch of light. A young soldier was lying on his back, his broken right hand strangely curved, his uniform bloody on his chest, a long wide cut on his neck, the ground all rusty red underneath him.  

His handsome face seemed untainted. The pale skin was flawless, as smooth as ever. His hair was set aside from his face as if someone had just combed them. His eyes were all but closed, sparkling blue behind the eyelashes, as though he had been only pretending to sleep. Fine wrinkles formed round his lips, curved to smile any minute.

But Christopher was gone. A searing pain surged through her body. She abruptly opened her eyes. It took her a while to realise she was in her bed. It was only a dream. She rubbed the tears from her eyes and tried to calm the thudding of her heart. A terrifying thought sent chills down her spine. What if it wasn’t just a dream?