Drearily we stumble along, stumble along, stumble along...
As Tolkien himself says here, "The next stage of their journey was much the same as the last" (p. 611). Sam continues to suspect Gollum/Smeagol of ulterior motives, and to help Frodo by "supporting him if he stumbled, and trying to encourage him with clumsy words" (p. 617). Everything is ugly and horrible and ghastly.
And then we get to the Dead Marshes and discover that they're not just called that because nothing much grows there, but because there are dead bodies -- or the image of dead bodies -- under them Sooooooooo creepy. One of the creepiest things I've ever read, really. There was a big battle here many years ago, during the Last Alliance of Men and Elves when they tried originally to overthrow Sauron. The marshes were there before the battle, but smaller. After it, the marshes expanded to cover the graveyard gradually. Gollum says the dead bodies aren't really there, they're just images. Totally creepy.
This is where Aragorn found and captured Gollum back when he and Gandalf were hunting him -- remember hearing about that back in FOTR? Aragorn caught Gollum and brought him back so Gandalf could question him, and then they entrusted Gollum to Legolas' father Thranduil to keep him prisoner, but he escaped. That's why Legolas was a Rivendell, to bring the news that Gollum had escaped.
And here we learn that Gollum has a sort of dual identity crisis going on. Bad Gollum and Good Smeagol are warring inside him, a sort of literal representation of our Old Adam and New Adam in some ways. We shall see who wins out in the end.
Favorite Lines:
"Day is near," he whispered, as if Day was something that might overhear him and spring on him (p. 607).
Dead grasses and rotting reeds loomed up in the mists like ragged shadows of long-forgotten summers (p. 612).
Discussion Questions:
What do you think the lights above the dead things in the marsh might signify or represent or mean or whatever?
Frodo doesn't think that he and Sam will survive this, as we learn when Sam worries about how much food they have left. Do you think Sam believes that too now?
This is an enchantingly silly and endearingly sweet book. I read it aloud to my kids over the past month or so, and we all enjoyed it so much, we got the next book out of the library as soon as we returned this one.
In it, a fifteen-year-old governess undertakes to humanize three children who were literally raised by wolves in the forest outside a rich person's house. The rich people have taken the children in, more or less grudgingly as the case may be, and they've hired this governness to care for them and make them stop doing things like drooling and chasing squirrels and chewing furniture.
My husband and I laughed more over this book than our kids did, to be honest. A lot of the humor was aimed more adults, very subtle with lots of allusions to other books or the way the "real world" works. Nothing risque or "adult" so much as just turns of phrase that made us laugh or unexpected ways of describing something or someone.
If This was a Movie, I Would Rate It: PG for some intense scenes involving a hunting party and some potentially frightening moments.
The first time I read The Two Towers, I barely made it through, to be honest. The second time, I'd read somewhere that if you pay attention to Sam and his character growth and arc, all this is a lot more interesting, and I tried that. It does help, and keeps me from bashing my head against a wall, at least.
By which I mean, if this next section makes you weary, or you wonder if it's ever going to end, or whatever -- don't feel like you're a bad person. Or a bad reader. Or even a bad Tolkien fan. However, you might find it fascinating, you never know! I know quite a few people who think this is the best part of the book.
After all, Tolkien is Making A Point with how long and tortuous and dull Frodo and Sam's journey is at this point. Being heroic isn't always exciting. So I slog through it dutifully.
So anyway, we have Gollum with us now, and I'll write more about him another time. Meanwhile, look how cheerful Sam is! Faced with climbing (or falling) down a steep cliff, he says lovely, heartening things like, "I suppose it's always easier getting down than up," and "Looking's better than climbing" (p. 592). Dear, dear Sam, the sturdy hobbit. It says later that, when they're climbing down using the rope, Frodo "had not quite Sam's faith," (p. 596), and I find that such a telling phrase. Sam believes wholeheartedly that they'll get where they're going, that they'll succeed. He believes the rope will hold, he believes they'll find a way into Mordor, he believes they can somehow find Mount Doom.
And when they capture Gollum, although Sam doesn't trust him one bit and hates having him around, when it comes to tying Gollum with a rope, "Sam was gentler than his words" (p. 603). Doesn't that phrase warm your heart?
Favorite Lines:
"I wish there was a clear path in front of us; then I'd go on till my legs gave way" (p. 598).
Discussion Questions:
Do you find the Frodo-and-Sam-wandering-through-Mordor parts hard to get through or fascinating, or a bit of both? Or something different entirely?
Oh my stars. This book! It caused me such a serious book hangover, I've been finished reading it for DAYS and haven't yet quite figured out how to talk about it. But I'll do my best.
First off, thank you SO MUCH to Kara from Flowers of Quiet Happiness! She insisted I read this book because she thought I would loooooooooooooove it. How right she was! You can read her review here.
So basically, this is a YA retelling of Much Ado About Nothing by William Shakespeare. Set in the Prohibition Era just outside New York City. But it's much more than just a transportation of the characters to a new setting. It takes the basic premise of the play -- can two people who verbally spar and butt heads be convinced to fall in love? -- and runs with it.
Beatrice here is a strong-willed, strong-minded young woman who wants to become a doctor even though her stepfather thinks higher learning for women is a waste of time and refuses to fund her college education. Benedick is a rich boy whose father would love to pay for him to go to college, but Benedick wants to be a writer and thinks an education is a waste of time.
Beatrice gets kicked out of school and winds up at her cousin Hero's home, hoping her uncle and cousin will take her in. She doesn't know it until she gets there, but they run a speakeasy called Hey Nonny Nonny in their basement. Benedick is living in their house too, having run away from school with his friend Claude because... they can.
Then there's Maggie, a jazz singer and Hero's dear friend who provides the entertainment for the speakeasy. And there's Prince, who tends bar for Hey Nonny Nonny, and his brother John, who is... not a Good Guy, but still a good person deep inside. John ties with Beatrice for my favorite character, I think.
Claude and Hero get all infatuated with each other. Federal agents try to close down the speakeasy. Hero and Maggie try to convince Beatrice and Benedick they love each other even though they spend basically every waking moment annoying and being annoyed by each other.
And if that sounds kind a fluffy and not really the sort of thing I read... trust me, this book is deeper than I'm making it sound. It's got all kinds of stuff about race and class differences and ethics, not to mention some Very Wonderful character explorations. And then there's the writing! Snappy, insightful, witty, and profound by turns. I bought my own copy of this book already, that's how much I loved it. I couldn't be without it. I'm quite sure I'll be re-reading it soon.
Particularly Good Bits:
Leonard Stahr had replied: “I first met my late wife marching at the head of a women’s suffragette parade. So I must say, with respect to your position, that I have a deep fondness for rioting women, and you could not have made my niece more appealing to me if she came adorned with a cash prize” (p. 25-26).
Perhaps she didn’t know she was the sort of presence that required slow digestion at first. Her stare was direct -- channeled through absurdly big eyes, the kind a more inclined man might trip and drown in, if he weren’t watching his step -- but she was not exceptionally pretty. She was just aggressively there (p. 43).
“Whatever compels you to think I care to hear your opinion on my actions, kindly locate that inner switch and turn it off” (p. 64).
She was like… weather maybe? Instead of a person? (p. 105).
She was not surprised that she was once again trying to figure out how to be herself when herself was more than anyone wanted, but she was disappointed (p. 193).
Obviously friendly was too high a word for what they’d been, but she’d enjoyed, well, not him exactly but the challenge of him. The pleasing clang of their minds butting together (p. 194).
A brisk knock interrupted their conversation, followed by Beatrice. Benedick’s morning righted itself in time to her stride (p. 306).
Claude had decided to take his broken heart and return to the Vanderbilts, who would welcome him with open arms and crustless sandwiches and suntans (p. 325).
If This was a Movie, I Would Rate It: PG-13 for some violence, lots of alcohol consumption, some innuendo (kissing and some mildly suggestive dialog), and bad language.
This chapter is another beautiful representation of the cycle of temptation, sin, repentance, confession, and forgiveness. Pippin knows he shouldn't touch that glass ball, and even as he gives in to the temptation and tries to take it while Gandalf is asleep, his conscience is warning him not to. Gandalf later reprimands him for not listening to his conscience, saying, "You knew you were behaving wrongly and foolishly; and you told yourself so, though you did not listen" (p. 584). Pippin picks it up and thinks it's not really the palantir, but just a bundle of Gandalf's effects or something, and feels "a strange sense of relief" (p. 577). And yet, he gives in to that temptation still more, unwrapping it and then covering it again and sneaking away to hide his sin, not letting anyone see him.
But like all sin, what at first seemed attractive, fun, even harmless has dangerous effects. Pippin not only hurts himself, but puts all his companions and friends in potential danger. And once he realizes how he has transgressed, Pippin cries out, "Gandalf! Forgive me!" He knows he has erred, is sorry he's done so, and wants to be assured he will not be cast away as a result.
Before Gandalf grants him forgiveness, he first demands that Pippin confesses what he has done so Pippin will recognize its harmfulness and ask his help to never do that again.
Only once Pippin has realizes the seriousness of what he has done does Gandalf say, "I forgive you. Be comforted!" (p. 580). He tenderly carries Pippin to his bed and tells him that if he ever feels tempted to touch the Palantir again, to ask Gandalf for help in overcoming the temptation. If only Pippin had done that in the first place, he would have been saved much grief and pain.
Beautiful.
Favorite Lines:
"All Wizards should have a hobbit or two in their care -- to teach them the meaning of the word, and to correct them" (p. 574).
"Perilous to us all are the devices of an art deeper than we possess ourselves" (p. 583).
Discussion Questions:
Compare Pippin's temptation, fall, and repentance to Boromir's. Do you find one of them more poignant or effective than the other? (DO NOT take into account the fact that Boromir is my favorite character -- I really want to know what YOU think here.)
Why do you think Tolkien included two representations of this temptation-sin-repentance-forgiveness cycle instead of just one?
YAY! We finished book three! We are roughly half done -- a little more than, by pages. We'll be focusing on what Frodo and Sam have been up to for all of Book Four.
This week's TTT topic from That Artsy Reader Girl is "Top Ten Books You've Lost Interest In." Drawing on my Goodreads TBR list, the books I've put on a similar list on my local library's website, and my TBR list here on my blog, here are ten books that I once thought I might want to read, but have decided I'm not really interested in after all. They are getting removed from my TBR lists today!
Double Indemnity by James M. Cain. Although I love film noir and Raymond Chandler and Barbara Stanwyck, I really don't like the movie very well. I understand how good it is, but I don't LIKE it. So why would I read the book it's based on?
Flipped by Wendelin Van Draanin. I have no memory of putting this book on my TBR list. Hmm.
The Humanity Project by Jean Thompson. Not even sure what made me want to read this.
The Hypnotist by Lars Kepler. I've read it's disturbingly gory, so yeah... skipping that one.
The Lola Quartet by Emily St. John Mandel. Sounds depressing.
The Maid's Version by Daniel Woodrell. No longer interests me.
A Match Made in Texas novella collection. I'm guessing just the fact that it was Christian fiction set in Texas was what interested me?
Miss Christmas by Gigi Garrett. I added this to my TBR in a fit of holiday fervor, but now I'm thinking that nope, not my thing.
Moriarty by Anthony Horowitz. I didn't like The House of Silk, so not going to bother reading another one.
The Prague Cemetery by Umberto Eco. Now sounds creepier than I really want to deal with.
Okay, that's my ten! Any books here you've read? Do you think I should put them back on my TBR? Or do you agree I've got better things to read?
And after the happy little interlude in the previous chapter, we get heavy and serious here. And suspenseful. I mean, for a minute there, I started to think Saruman had totally gotten Theoden under his spell. And I've read this how many times? Seen the movie how many times? But I still got all worried.
Saruman reminds me so, so much of Adolf Hitler. The power of his voice, anyway. Hitler was said to have a kind of mesmerizing thing going on when he made speeches. And the guy convinced a nation to go to war, to either participate in or turn a blind eye to all kinds of atrocities. That's a lot of power. Look at how Tolkien describes Saruman's voice:
Suddenly another voice spoke, low and melodious, its very sound an enchantment. Those who listened unwarily to that voice could seldom report the words that they heard; and if they did, they wondered, for little power remained in them. Mostly they remembered only that it was a delight to hear the voice speaking, all that it said seemed wise and reasonable, and desire awoke in them by swift agreement to seem wise themselves (p. 564).
Just like it's hard to tell what color Saruman's cloak is, it's hard to tell just what he's saying or why. I find that so scary! Not being able to tell just what something is or means... yikes.
Favorite Lines:
"The treacherous are ever distrustful" (p. 568).
"Well, well, things will go as they will; and there is no need to hurry to meet them" (p. 571).
Discussion Questions:
Saruman says to Gandalf, "You are proud and do not love advice, having indeed a store of your own wisdom" (p. 567). Do you think people who don't like advice are that way because they have enough wisdom of their own?
Do you think Gandalf actually does not love advice? Or would he gladly accept advice from someone he trusts, like Elrond or Galadriel?
