Yes, composition, means of artistic expression, syntactic constructions used, types of rhyming are objective criteria for text analysis.I'm applying the terms to the difference between the direct experience of literature and the use of critical methods to examine it. Northop Frye likens it to the difference between shivering and reading a thermometer; we can certainly do both, and each has its own validity.
What passes for objectivity is when sufficiently large - possibly more often sufficiently influential - groups have reached a consensus; which is a group subjectivity. The consensus tends to be on a general level; if the group were to start discussing details, they would probably find that the consensus doesn't go as far as they thought - or as the (often small) influential part of a group would like the group to believe.Taste is subjective in general but there's an objective minimum of taste that allows to distinguish high-quality literature from low-quality books.
Fine. But do you use a thermometer using the Fahrenheit, the Celsius, or the Kelvin scale?I'm applying the terms to the difference between the direct experience of literature and the use of critical methods to examine it. Northop Frye likens it to the difference between shivering and reading a thermometer; we can certainly do both, and each has its own validity.
I read it the summer I was thirteen. I can still remember my dad handing me paperback versions of The Hobbit and LOTR, saying, "I think you'll like these." I had never read fantasy before but became completely captivated. And for me too, Will, the thing I remember most clearly is crying when Gandalf fell in Moria. He was my favorite LOTR character at the time, though Frodo is now.I read it in high school, 1969. My best friend loaned me the books, but did not give any spoilers. I was devastated when Gandalf fell. I cried to my friend, who simply agreed, yeah that was bad. But then when Gandalf returned I was elated beyond belief, and kinda mad at my friend for not telling me! I get it, but to this day I prefer to have spoilers.... I will watch the spoiler reel BEFORE watching a film, because that episode with Gandalf was such a load of needless grief.
Oh I remember crying for Gandalf too... Had to be one of my absolute favorite characters since I read The Hobbit first and loved his character in that. It was the first time I had actually cried in a book, and it felt so odd. I remember that I would even cry after the fact, like in later chapters the moment something was mentioned of him. When he returned, it was a joyous occasion for me. I also like Frodo's character, but I must admit from LOTR, Legolas has to be high on the favorites list.I read it the summer I was thirteen. I can still remember my dad handing me paperback versions of The Hobbit and LOTR, saying, "I think you'll like these." I had never read fantasy before but became completely captivated. And for me too, Will, the thing I remember most clearly is crying when Gandalf fell in Moria. He was my favorite LOTR character at the time, though Frodo is now.
This reminds me: I'd stopped listening to pop music a couple of years before reading Tolkien, because I was tired of the junk on Top 40 radio-- which was all there was at the time, unless you lived in a large city.I am embarrassed to say I do not remember a lot about the first time I read through the books. But what I do remember is.....I was listening to the Cheap Trick "Dream Police" album during the first time I read the books, so now it is indelibly ingrained in my head...every time I hear a song off that album, I see images from the books. I don't think that's a bad thing!
I love the maps. Mere days after I started reading I made a huge detailed map of Middle-Earth I remember. Had all the names of places and everything, and roads. It was very nice to have all the places at my fingertips, particularly because I read it from a library first. Later on, I bought the books myself and have read them MANY times since.I am another case of "saw the movies first". So I remember that back after seeing the Fellowship, first thing I did was draw a map based on my memory and impressions from the movies, which I then updated over time. As you can see from my memory-based redrawing, it was... rather different from the books.
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Thankfully, I read all three books almost immediately after watching Return of the King, so this misconception did not last for long. Suffice to say, however, map was the thing that impressed on me the most in the first reading of the books.
Congrats getting into it so young! I am sure it was difficult if you did not understand it however.Back in 2002, I was 5 years old and I already became a LOTR fan (yet, I weren't aware of Tolkien at all); despite my age, I began to read the 70's Spanish edition of the Return of the King, they were my mother's book, she had read the books in her teenages.
Whatever, I remember that I didn't watch The Return of the King since it was 2002. I just couldn't read too much since it was quite difficult to me indeed. Shamelessly, I admit it since I was a child and I believe that no one has ever read Tolkien when they were that young despite what some people could say.
What I want to tell is that I remember reading some part when Pippin and Gandalf met Faramir, and for me, I imagined Faramir as a truly old man and the whole fellowship was there at the moment. As you may imagine, I just couldn't continue reading since I hadn't understand anything at all.
I'm curious, Zusthratuk -- have you read the original English edition since then? And if so, how would you compare the two?I began to read the 70's Spanish edition
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