A sandwich

[Geoff Bannister]

No: HPFGUIDX 178679

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, Lee Kaiwen <leekaiwen at ...> wrote:
>
> Geoff:
> 
> I bet that even someone as meticulous as JRRT didn't debate
> > why every sentence was there.

Lee:
> Apparently you haven't read the History of Middle Earth; yeah, he pretty 
> much did. And then spent a lot of time revising and correcting the 
> published editions afterward -- right down to the implications of his 
> (then-novel) spelling of "dwarves", ranting at the publisher for 
> changing "bride-price" to "bride-piece" and spending countless days 
> plotting the movements of his characters down to the hour. Gave new 
> meaning to the word "meticulous".
> 
> You may not have read Tolkien to criticize every sentence, but many folk 
> do (just try reading the debates over balrogs' wings), and Tolkien's 
> fanatical attention to detail is part of the reason LoTR is a classic in 
> ways HP can never hope to be. Tolkien's universe hangs together with a 
> consistency the Potterverse long ago gave up any hope of claiming.

Geoff:
Yes I have. I have also read LOTR at least 30 times in the last 
50 years. 

What I am raising an eyebrow about  is Annemehr's comment:   

"Why, yes. Well, one doesn't insist on "subversive" and certainly
not "questionable," but, yes, every sentence *should* be there for a
purpose, and you know we are going to seek it. That's how finely
crafted literature is written. And if a story is not so finely crafted, 
then each sentence will be thoroughly critiqued, you can be
sure."

I don't think that JRRT went through EVERY sentence with a fine 
toothcomb. Don't forget also that there were inconsistencies in 
"The Silmarillion" which Christopher Tolkien never successfully 
eradicated before it was published in 1977.

JRRT is exceptional. There are many, many authors, including, 
inter alia,  C S Lewis and JKR who have let inconsistencies in 
but many readers are prepared to let through for the sake of 
getting on with the reading. Real life can be a bit like that 
sometimes!   :-(