For many years, I was not a huge fan of this section of the book. I knew a lot of people loved it, and so every time I read it, I felt like I was missing something. I kept getting hung up on the religious imagery I saw, but couldn't figure out how it all tied together with the rest of the story.
For instance, at the end of the previous chapter, Tom hops away singing, "Tom's going on ahead candles for to kindle" and "Fear neither root nor bough! Tom goes on before you" (p. 118). To me. that sounds so much like when Christ told his followers, "I go to prepare a place for you" (John 14:2b). And when the hobbits ask Goldberry who Tom Bombadil is, she simply says, "He is" (p. 122), which sounds an awful lot like God telling Moses that his name is I Am (Exodus 3:14). And then, when the hobbits leave, Tom teaches them something to say if they get in trouble that sounds awfully prayer-like, ending with "Come, Tom Bombadil, for our need is near us!" (p. 131).
So I spent a lot of time trying to figure out who Tom Bombadil was supposed to represent, what this section was supposed to mean, and so on. I knew Tolkien had said this wasn't an allegory, but Tom Bombadil just didn't make sense in my head. Some people said he was based on a figure from Norse mythology, basically a guardian of the woods. And I think probably Tolkien wove that into this story, as he was fascinated with Norse mythology.
But the book Finding God in the Lord of the Rings by Kurt Bruner and Jim Ware suggests that he's also in some ways a personification of hope. "Hope" is a huge theme in this book. It delves a lot into what it means to hope, how one deals with losing hope, what someone does if their hope seems pointless, and how people behave if there seems to be no reason to hope anymore. And I do like the idea of Tom Bombadil being hope personified, because I think it shows that hope can be separate from what's going on in the world, even if it's also subject to the effects of events.
So anyway, we have a peaceful interlude here, which is nice. Also, reading about all that yummy food makes me hungry :-)
Favorite Lines:
The sound of her footsteps was like a stream falling gently away downhill over cool stones in the quiet of the night (p. 123).
As far as he could remember, Sam slept through the night in deep content, if logs are contented (p. 126).
Discussion Questions:
Any thoughts on Tom Bombadil, or Goldberry? Did they strike you as being more meaningful than just random cool people they run into?
Book reviews by a Christian writer/wife/mother
Thursday, November 30, 2017
Tuesday, November 28, 2017
Top Ten Tuesday: Winter is Coming
This week's prompt from The Broke and the Bookish is "Top Ten Books on Your Winter TBR List." So here are the ten books I want to read next.
For once in my life, I am NOT listing these in any particular order. It's possible I've had too much coffee already this morning. Somebody stop me -- I'm being spontaneous!
1. The Two Towers by J. R. R. Tolkien (technically, I'm already reading this, but who's counting?)
2. The Return of the King by J. R. R. Tolkien (which I obviously would begin right after TTT.)
3. The Austen Escape by Katherine Reay (will be starting it SOON -- possibly today?)
4. Skipping Christmas by John Grisham (my pick for this year's Literary Christmas Challenge.)
5. The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place by Maryrose Wood (I've read the first chapter aloud to my kids already, and it is So Much Fun!)
6. The Brass Compass by Ellen Butler (I got to hear the author speak this fall!)
7. How the West was Worn: Bustles and Buckskins on the Wild Frontier by Chris Enss (looks like it will be incredibly valuable for research purposes, but also fun.)
8. Raymond Chandler's Los Angeles by Elizabeth Ward and Alain Silver (cuz you know I love all things Raymond Chandler.)
9. If I'm Found by Terri Blackstock (because I loved the first book, If I Run, and really need to read the sequel before book 3 comes out!)
10. Death by the Book by Julianna Deering (I really dig the Drew Farthering series! I've read books 1 and 4 and am now filling in the gaps.)
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What's on your winter TBR list?
Sunday, November 26, 2017
Another LOTR Read-Along: The Old Forest (FOTR 1, 6)
To be honest, this is one of my least-favorite chapters of all the books. I find the Old Forest really creepy, for one thing. But also, even considering how much danger befalls Merry and Pippin, it's kind of a slow chapter. For me, anyway. It makes me sleepy!
And here we meet someone who is not in the movies at all: Tom Bombadil. I remember there was a great deal of fan outrage when The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) came out over the fact that he was entirely cut out. I can understand that, since he gets several chapters in the book and is a fascinating character. But I can also understand why Peter Jackson cut him out, because you can't put e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g in a movie that's in a book (unless it's a very short book, which this isn't), and the whole point of this chapter and the next two is that the hobbits have gotten sidetracked already, and they're barely out of the shire. Sidetracks are not great for a fast-moving movie.
Anyway, the hobbits get sidetracked. They start out with the best intentions, right? Let's avoid the road and go through the Old Forest so that we can avoid danger. But the Old Forest turns out to be dangerous too, much more dangerous than they ever dreamed.
Now, we know that Tolkien didn't mean this book to be an allegory of Christian life. But we certainly can see things in the book that remind us of Christian truths. Since Tolkien was a Christian whose faith infused every part of his life, naturally it would be reflected in his writings. And I think that the whole part in the Old Forest is a very good representation of how good intentions can go wrong.
It's so easy to think we're avoiding something bad, only to ensnare ourselves in something worse. That's one of the worst part of living in this fallen world, I think. Good intentions aren't enough. Especially if you don't know much about the decision you're making. None of the hobbits have been very far into the Old Forest. They don't know what they're getting into. They're naive, and that almost costs them their lives. The Bible tells us to be "wise as serpents and innocent as doves" -- to be aware of the dangers and sins around us, so aware that we know not to get involved in them.
Okay, so that's one thing that the Old Forest chapter has going on. The other is that it's a great image of the fact that we live in a fallen world. The forest was once part of a perfect creation. But now it's corrupted, twisted, evil. Just like our fallen world, it actively works against Frodo and his companions, deceiving them and harming them, finally trying to kill them.
But they get rescued. "Frodo, without any clear idea of why he did so, or what he hoped for, ran along the path crying help! help! help!" (p. 116). He behaves like a Christian crying out in prayer, not seeing any way that God could help, but asking for help all the same. And help comes to the hobbits in the form of Tom Bombadil. We'll talk a lot about him in the next chapter post
Favorite Lines:
Sleepiness seemed to be creeping out of the ground and up their legs, and falling softly out of the air upon them (p. 114).
Other Discussion Questions:
1. Did you get sleepy during this chapter?
2. Can you think of any ways Peter Jackson could have included Tom Bombadil in his movie?
And here we meet someone who is not in the movies at all: Tom Bombadil. I remember there was a great deal of fan outrage when The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) came out over the fact that he was entirely cut out. I can understand that, since he gets several chapters in the book and is a fascinating character. But I can also understand why Peter Jackson cut him out, because you can't put e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g in a movie that's in a book (unless it's a very short book, which this isn't), and the whole point of this chapter and the next two is that the hobbits have gotten sidetracked already, and they're barely out of the shire. Sidetracks are not great for a fast-moving movie.
Anyway, the hobbits get sidetracked. They start out with the best intentions, right? Let's avoid the road and go through the Old Forest so that we can avoid danger. But the Old Forest turns out to be dangerous too, much more dangerous than they ever dreamed.
Now, we know that Tolkien didn't mean this book to be an allegory of Christian life. But we certainly can see things in the book that remind us of Christian truths. Since Tolkien was a Christian whose faith infused every part of his life, naturally it would be reflected in his writings. And I think that the whole part in the Old Forest is a very good representation of how good intentions can go wrong.
It's so easy to think we're avoiding something bad, only to ensnare ourselves in something worse. That's one of the worst part of living in this fallen world, I think. Good intentions aren't enough. Especially if you don't know much about the decision you're making. None of the hobbits have been very far into the Old Forest. They don't know what they're getting into. They're naive, and that almost costs them their lives. The Bible tells us to be "wise as serpents and innocent as doves" -- to be aware of the dangers and sins around us, so aware that we know not to get involved in them.
Okay, so that's one thing that the Old Forest chapter has going on. The other is that it's a great image of the fact that we live in a fallen world. The forest was once part of a perfect creation. But now it's corrupted, twisted, evil. Just like our fallen world, it actively works against Frodo and his companions, deceiving them and harming them, finally trying to kill them.
But they get rescued. "Frodo, without any clear idea of why he did so, or what he hoped for, ran along the path crying help! help! help!" (p. 116). He behaves like a Christian crying out in prayer, not seeing any way that God could help, but asking for help all the same. And help comes to the hobbits in the form of Tom Bombadil. We'll talk a lot about him in the next chapter post
Favorite Lines:
Sleepiness seemed to be creeping out of the ground and up their legs, and falling softly out of the air upon them (p. 114).
Other Discussion Questions:
1. Did you get sleepy during this chapter?
2. Can you think of any ways Peter Jackson could have included Tom Bombadil in his movie?
Saturday, November 25, 2017
"The Screwtape Letters" by C. S. Lewis
And it's taken me seventeen years to finally read it. Partly because I didn't have a copy for a long time, and kept forgetting to get it from the library, and partly because I was pretty worried it was not going to live up to the hype she bestowed on it. I even bought a copy last year, and then just... didn't read it.
Sometimes, I'm so lame.
But now, I've read it! And wowwowwow. Witty? Yes. Brilliant? Yes. Funny? Not so much.
I mean, I can see how it could be funny, but it wasn't funny to me.
In fact, it was downright terrifying in spots.
Why? Because I saw so much of myself in this book. Complacent, distracted, and not very invested in my faith? Yeah, that is me just FAR too often. This was a very convicting book for me, and made me take a long look at how habitual my faith can become. Which is great, because it made me examine my prayer life, my Bible-reading habits, and my investment in my vocations and see so many places where I am not doing what I should to thank and praise, serve and obey my Savior.
Which is not to say that it didn't make me laugh, because it did make me laugh a couple of times. But it made me think much more than laugh, which I was not expecting, but which I appreciate so much.
In other words... this was way better than I had hoped.
If you've never read it, the whole book is letters from a demon named Screwtape to his nephew, a demon named Wormwood who is trying to prevent a human from remaining a Christian, but instead to win his soul for Satan. Fascinating concept that's executed so masterfully.
Particularly Good Bits:
It is funny how mortals always picture us as putting things into their minds: in reality our best work is done by keeping things out (p. 16).
The duty of planning the morrow's work is today's duty; though its material is borrowed from the future, the duty, like all duties, is in the Present (p. 77).
If we neglect our duty, men will be not only contented but transported by the mixed novelty and familiarity of snowdrops this January, sunrise this morning, plum pudding this Christmas (p. 136).
A woman means by Unselfishness chiefly taking trouble for others; a man means not giving trouble to others (p. 142).
It is not fatigue simply as such that produces... anger, but unexpected demands on a man already tired (p. 166).
(I underlined a LOT more than these, but they give you a taste, anyway. Fantastic book!)
If This was a Movie, I Would Rate It: PG-13 for non-explicit discussions of human sexuality.
This is my 12th book read and reviewed for my second stint at The Classics Club, and my 11th for the Mount TBR Reading Challenge 2017.
Friday, November 24, 2017
A Literary Christmas Challenge 2017
I had so much doing the Literary Christmas Challenge last year that I'm signing up most eagerly this year! It's hosted by In the Bookcase once again -- click here if you're interested in joining it yourself.
This year, I am challenging myself to read:
~ Skipping Christmas by John Grisham
~ One more unspecified Christmas book (I like keeping my options open)
I would sign up for more, but I know I'm going to get lots of entries for the Rooglewood Press contest to read and judge in December, so I'm not going to set myself up for feeling guilty by saying I'll read a bunch of books I might not have time for. Sound good? Good!
Wednesday, November 22, 2017
The Disney Princess Book Tag
I'm taking this from Rissi at Finding Wonderland -- she did it a while back, and while she didn't tag me with it personally, she did tag "anyone else who wants to join in," so I'm counting myself among those. I snurched the pretty graphic from her post too.
1. Snow White - Name your favorite classic
That one's easy! Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte.
2. Cinderella - Name a book that kept you reading well past your bedtime
A couple of years ago, I stayed up until like 2 am to finish reading North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell. I regret nothing.
3. Aurora - Name your favorite classic romance
Persuasion by Jane Austen!
4. Ariel - Name a book that's about making sacrifices and fighting for your dreams
Song of the Ean by Emily Nordberg, especially regarding Auria.
5. Belle - Name a book with a smart and independent female character
Oh, I'll use Jane Austen again and name Elizabeth Bennet from Pride and Prejudice :-)
6. Jasmine - Name a book with a character who challenged the social conventions of his or her world
I think Mary Russell in The Beekeeper's Apprentice (and the whole series) by Laurie R. King nicely fits that description. Whether she's wearing trousers, hanging out with a cantankerous "retired" detective, getting a university degree instead of sitting around spending her fortune, or keeping cheese in her dresser drawer, she's always defying conventions she sees as unimportant. And that's all just in the first book.
7. Pocahontas - Name a book with an ending that was a roller-coaster of emotions
A Slight Trick of the Mind by Mitch Cullin. (I much preferred the movie Mr. Holmes.)
8. Mulan - Name a book with a kick-a** female character
I'll go with Girl Waits with Gun by Amy Stewart. Title kind of says it all, doesn't it?
9. Tiana - Name a book featuring a hardworking, self-made character
True Grit by Charles Portis. That's Mattie Ross to a 't'.
10. Rapunzel - Name a book that features an artist
Middlemarch by George Eliot has an artist: Will Ladislaw.
11. Merida - Name a book that features a mother-daughter relationship
How about one book with many mother-daughter relationships? I speak, of course, of The Mother-Daughter Book Club by Heather Vogel Frederick. I've read 3 books in the series and thoroughly enjoyed all of them.
12. Anna and Elsa - Name a book that features a great relationship between siblings
Lizzy & Jane by Kathrine Reay is such a beautiful look at two sisters struggling to adapt to the absolutely wretched reality that one of them has cancer.
I wasn't tagged with this, but I'm going to tag a few of my bookish friends because I haven't tagged anyone with anything for a long time, and I'm overdue. Since there were 12 questions, I'm going to run mad and tag twelve people! So I hereby tag:
The Beckoning Hills
Book Geeks Anonymous
Bookshelves and Daydreams
Coffee, Classics, and Craziness
Greenish Bookshelf
The Language of Writing
Lavender Spring
Leatherbound
Movies Meet Their Match
Of Bookshelves and Daydreams
She Hearts Fiction
You, Me, and a Cup of Tea
There, now you have something to do over the long Thanksgiving weekend!
Which reminds me... Happy Thanksgiving!
1. Snow White - Name your favorite classic
That one's easy! Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte.
2. Cinderella - Name a book that kept you reading well past your bedtime
A couple of years ago, I stayed up until like 2 am to finish reading North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell. I regret nothing.
3. Aurora - Name your favorite classic romance
Persuasion by Jane Austen!
4. Ariel - Name a book that's about making sacrifices and fighting for your dreams
Song of the Ean by Emily Nordberg, especially regarding Auria.
5. Belle - Name a book with a smart and independent female character
Oh, I'll use Jane Austen again and name Elizabeth Bennet from Pride and Prejudice :-)
6. Jasmine - Name a book with a character who challenged the social conventions of his or her world
I think Mary Russell in The Beekeeper's Apprentice (and the whole series) by Laurie R. King nicely fits that description. Whether she's wearing trousers, hanging out with a cantankerous "retired" detective, getting a university degree instead of sitting around spending her fortune, or keeping cheese in her dresser drawer, she's always defying conventions she sees as unimportant. And that's all just in the first book.
7. Pocahontas - Name a book with an ending that was a roller-coaster of emotions
A Slight Trick of the Mind by Mitch Cullin. (I much preferred the movie Mr. Holmes.)
8. Mulan - Name a book with a kick-a** female character
I'll go with Girl Waits with Gun by Amy Stewart. Title kind of says it all, doesn't it?
9. Tiana - Name a book featuring a hardworking, self-made character
True Grit by Charles Portis. That's Mattie Ross to a 't'.
10. Rapunzel - Name a book that features an artist
Middlemarch by George Eliot has an artist: Will Ladislaw.
11. Merida - Name a book that features a mother-daughter relationship
How about one book with many mother-daughter relationships? I speak, of course, of The Mother-Daughter Book Club by Heather Vogel Frederick. I've read 3 books in the series and thoroughly enjoyed all of them.
12. Anna and Elsa - Name a book that features a great relationship between siblings
Lizzy & Jane by Kathrine Reay is such a beautiful look at two sisters struggling to adapt to the absolutely wretched reality that one of them has cancer.
I wasn't tagged with this, but I'm going to tag a few of my bookish friends because I haven't tagged anyone with anything for a long time, and I'm overdue. Since there were 12 questions, I'm going to run mad and tag twelve people! So I hereby tag:
The Beckoning Hills
Book Geeks Anonymous
Bookshelves and Daydreams
Coffee, Classics, and Craziness
Greenish Bookshelf
The Language of Writing
Lavender Spring
Leatherbound
Movies Meet Their Match
Of Bookshelves and Daydreams
She Hearts Fiction
You, Me, and a Cup of Tea
There, now you have something to do over the long Thanksgiving weekend!
Which reminds me... Happy Thanksgiving!
Tuesday, November 21, 2017
Another LOTR Read-Along: A Conspiracy Unmasked (FOTR 1, 5)
I love the contrast between this chapter's title and the previous one. We go from the whimsical "A Short Cut to Mushrooms" to the rather ominous "A Conspiracy Unmasked." There's nothing truly ominous about this chapter, however -- just Frodo coming to realize he's not as clever as he thought.
And now I'm going to talk about Sam some more. Here, he's the first to leave his comfort zone, crossing the Brandywine for the first time and striking out into territory that, while still in the Shire, is unfamiliar to him. Frodo, Merry, and Pippin have been here before, so for them, it's not that big a deal, but to Sam, wow. Enormous.
But before you can get yourself all comfortable with the idea of Sam Gamgee as a simple, one-note country lad, you find out he's a spy! And granted, he's just been spying on Frodo in a fairly innocuous way, but I think it would be harder to spy on someone who knows you well than on a stranger. Not that I'd know anything about such goings-on, of course ;-)
And we learn what lovely, loyal friends Frodo has. Merry and Pippin and Sam, of course, but also Fredegar "Fatty" Bolger, who got cut out of the movies and isn't in the book a whole lot either, but is equally doughty when it comes to pitching in to help his friend. What marvelous hobbits they all are.
Finally, I really like the little song Merry and Pippin got ready for the occasion of their departure. It really does work with the tune used in The Hobbit (2012).
Favorite Lines:
Sam was the only member of the party who had not been over the river before. He had a strange feeling as the slow gurgling stream slipped by: his old life lay behind in the mists, dark adventure lay in front (p. 97).
"We can't begin life at Crickhollow with a quarrel over baths" (p. 99).
Discussion Question:
Merry describes friendship this way: "You can trust us to stick to you through thick and thin -- to the bitter end. And you can trust us to keep any secret of yours -- closer than you keep it yourself. But you cannot trust us to let you face trouble alone, and go off without a word. We are your friends, Frodo" (p. 103). What do you think constitutes true friendship?
Quick Note: This will probably be the only chapter I post this week, as I've just finished having company and will be hosting a big Thanksgiving meal on Thursday, so... I'm kinda swamped.
And now I'm going to talk about Sam some more. Here, he's the first to leave his comfort zone, crossing the Brandywine for the first time and striking out into territory that, while still in the Shire, is unfamiliar to him. Frodo, Merry, and Pippin have been here before, so for them, it's not that big a deal, but to Sam, wow. Enormous.
But before you can get yourself all comfortable with the idea of Sam Gamgee as a simple, one-note country lad, you find out he's a spy! And granted, he's just been spying on Frodo in a fairly innocuous way, but I think it would be harder to spy on someone who knows you well than on a stranger. Not that I'd know anything about such goings-on, of course ;-)
And we learn what lovely, loyal friends Frodo has. Merry and Pippin and Sam, of course, but also Fredegar "Fatty" Bolger, who got cut out of the movies and isn't in the book a whole lot either, but is equally doughty when it comes to pitching in to help his friend. What marvelous hobbits they all are.
Finally, I really like the little song Merry and Pippin got ready for the occasion of their departure. It really does work with the tune used in The Hobbit (2012).
Favorite Lines:
Sam was the only member of the party who had not been over the river before. He had a strange feeling as the slow gurgling stream slipped by: his old life lay behind in the mists, dark adventure lay in front (p. 97).
"We can't begin life at Crickhollow with a quarrel over baths" (p. 99).
Discussion Question:
Merry describes friendship this way: "You can trust us to stick to you through thick and thin -- to the bitter end. And you can trust us to keep any secret of yours -- closer than you keep it yourself. But you cannot trust us to let you face trouble alone, and go off without a word. We are your friends, Frodo" (p. 103). What do you think constitutes true friendship?
Quick Note: This will probably be the only chapter I post this week, as I've just finished having company and will be hosting a big Thanksgiving meal on Thursday, so... I'm kinda swamped.
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