XPost: rec.arts.books.tolkien   
   From: steuard@slimy.com   
      
   In message , Lewis   
    wrote:   
   > Troels Forchhammer  wrote:   
   >> I do, however, think that CJRT is being overly generous to the films at   
   >> this point -- the target audience appears to me to be rather the 12 - 18   
   >> crowd, and while you can certainly read /LotR/ at 10 or younger   
      
   > No, you really can't. It would be the exceedingly rare 10yo who   
   > could read LotR.   
      
   Yes, you really can. I first read it before second grade (I don't know   
   if I was seven or eight years old at the time). I'm quite certain that   
   I missed out on a *lot* my first time or two, but it was immediately   
   my favorite book by far. (I'll admit that I was a pretty smart kid,   
   though.)   
      
   [...]   
   >> That is utter nonsense. It is a far richer book than that, even   
   >> though it does contain elements of action and adventure, that is   
   >> certainly /not/ what the book /is/.   
      
   > It is not at all nonsense. A book can be many things. One of the   
   > things that LOTR is, is an action adventure. In fact, for most   
   > readers that is *all* it is.   
      
   I think we've all realized that we agree on this one after all. :)   
      
   Reminds me of a story, actually: Sometime when I was in college (or   
   grad school?), I was talking with an aunt and younger cousin of mine.   
   My said, "Tell me what it is you like about /Lord of the Rings/." So I   
   talked all about the moral depth of the story and the awesome sweep of   
   invented history that it's based on and everything that keeps me   
   coming back to it again and again. When I stopped, she had a slightly   
   frustrated look on her face, and said, "I was actually hoping you   
   could convince my son that he'd enjoy reading it." "Oh!" I said. "It's   
   also a fantastically enjoyable *story* about a quest to save the world   
   from an overwhelming force of evil..." and went on from there, talking   
   about the adventure and discovery and glory of it. It's funny how the   
   same question can mean very different things depending on context.   
      
   						Steuard Jensen   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)