[the_old_crowd] Re: Whatever happened to nostalgia?

[Eileen Rebstock]

Pippin:
> Stories often lose some of their hold on us. I still adore Tolkien,
but I
> no longer try
> to fill in all the missing corners of his universe the way I now try
to
> fill
> in Jo's. 

This is a good point. I think it's a natural progress, that eventually
we change guiding stories, or experience fandom fatigue, even if the
story itself *doesn't* degrade. I was a Star Wars fanatic as a teenager,
to the point where it occupied my thoughts at every other second, and
featured my first forays into fanfic. Now, *that* story did go entirely
to the bad, in my opinion. I was shaken out of my fannishness by the
prequels, and it's difficult to speak of George Lucas without some
bitterness. 

On the other hand, I've not - and I cringe to admit this before several
fellow Tolkien fans - read the Lord of the Rings in full since high
school. I used to read it about twice a year, and read snippets from it
when I was bored. It's not that I ever lost my love for it. I remember
every single bit of it much clearer than any other book, and the
memories still move me. But you can't just go back to where you were
psychologically. 

As for Harry Potter... I may stand in a curious position here. I liked
HBP ever so much, more than any of the other books except perhaps GoF.
And yet, that still didn't catalyze the fan into me into rereading the
books, or writing fanfic, or discussing theories (much) etc. It just
doesn't appeal to me as much as other things.

Basically, it's not in the nature of things to last forever. Which isn't
a comforting thought to those missing the old fun, but it's true.

We'll always have Paris. Here's looking at you, kid.

Eileen