Rachel Kovaciny's Blog, page 78

Another LOTR Read-Along: Many Partings (ROTK 6, 6)

The exchange between Gimli and Eomer makes me laugh aloud. Especially when Gimli says flatly, "Then I must go for my axe" (p. 953). They're so silly, arguing ultra-seriously about which elf is more beautiful -- I get such a kick out of them.

And I like the exchange between Eowyn and Aragorn, when she calls him her "liege-lord and healer" and he says, "It heals my heart to see thee now in bliss" (p. 955). Eowyn grows and changes a lot in these books, more than some of the more "main" characters...

Another LOTR Read-Along: The Steward and the King (ROTK 6, 5)

I love this chapter. Really, really love it. Even before I started appreciating Faramir more the last time I read this, I loved the way he wins Eowyn over. "Then the heart of Eowyn changed, or else at last she understood it. And suddenly her winter passed, and the sun shone on her" (p. 943). That is one of the most beautiful love stories ever, to me. He held out love and understanding, and "pity that is the gift of a gentle heart" (p. 943), and those gifts from him healed her of her internal...

Another LOTR Read-Along: The Field of Cormallen (ROTK 6, 4)

What a happy chapter! Ten pages of pure denouement, and isn't it lovely?

I noticed, in the little poem that all the people cry out about Frodo and Sam when they're brought to the King, that they refer to "The Ring-bearers." I wonder how everyone already knows that they both bore the ring. Gandalf has his far sight, of course, but back when the Tower fell, he said, "The Ring-bearer has fulfilled his Quest" (p 928). I suppose Frodo told him all about it while Sam was still asleep.

I really like t...

Another LOTR Read-Along: Mount Doom (ROTK 6, 3)

Oddly enough, I'd kind of forgotten that Frodo and Sam don't know Gandalf has returned. Sam says, "I can't think somehow that Gandalf would have sent Mr. Frodo on this errand, if there hadn't a' been any hope of his ever coming back at all. Things all went wrong when he went down in Moria. I wish he hadn't. He would have done something" (p. 913). Of course, we readers know that Gandalf is back and in fine fettle, and even now working for the good of all Middle-earth, even Sam and Frodo. But p...

Another LOTR Read-Along: The Land of Shadow (ROTK 6, 2)

And now we're back to slogging around in Mordor. But the end is in sight! For us, if not quite for Sam and Frodo yet.


Once again, we encounter the idea of having no hope, but doing what you can anyway. This time it's Frodo who says, "I am tired, weary, I haven't a hope left. But I have to go on trying to get to the Mountain, as long as I can move" (p. 897). I have days that feel like that, don't you? Like when I have zero hope of getting my house cleaned up before we have friends come over for...

Another LOTR Read-Along: The Tower of Cirith Ungol (ROTK 6, 1)

Sam. Oh, Sam. Loyal, brave, wonderful Sam.

I've got "aww" written in the sidebar from the second time I read this (first time I underlined or made notes, back in 2005), right where Sam "no longer had any doubt about his duty: he must rescue his master or perish in the attempt." Sam tells himself, "The perishing is more likely, and will be a lot easier anyway" (p. 878), and doesn't that say so much about him? He figures he's going to die, but he's going to try anyway, and while he's at it, he's...

Another LOTR Read-Along: The Black Gate Opens (ROTK 5, 10)

Look at that. Done with book five. Ready to start the last book. Wow. Only nine more chapters. Crazy, man.  I'm tempted to just post them all and be done with it, though I doubt I'll have time today for more than 2 or 3 again.  Takes a little while to copy them over and stuff.


Okay, so anyway, this chapter... blech. So depressing. Starts out so sad, with Merry not able to go, watching Pippin follow Aragorn and Gandalf to war, "a small but upright figure among the tall men of Minas Ti...

Another LOTR Read-Along: The Houses of Healing (ROTK 5, 8)

This is my favorite chapter in The Return of the King. It vies for my favorite in the whole trilogy. I love it so much, I usually read it twice before I move on to the rest of the book! Completely wonderful.

It starts out with Pippin and Merry reunited at last, which brings me great joy. Then Gandalf comes to find Merry and takes him up to the Houses of Healing himself. Love it! I get so happy when mighty and important people trouble themselves about seemingly small and insignificant people. O...

Another LOTR Read-Along: The Pyre of Denethor (ROTK 5, 7)

This is such a creepy and horrible chapter. I have a great fear of dying in a fire, so yeah... ugh. Not pleased at all by Denethor here. That whole image of him lying down in the middle of the fire, and the fact that anyone who ever looked at the palantir after that would see "only two aged hands withering in flame" (p. 836) -- that is one of the creepiest images I've ever encountered. Blech.

A big theme here is how The Enemy is working even in the midst of The Good Guys. Beregond has to slay...

Another LOTR Read-Along: The Battle of Pelennor Fields (ROTK 5, 6)

Quick Housekeeping Thing:  Since you participants are catching up at your liesure, and since my niece and I have finished reading LOTR together... I'm going to post these chapter posts a lot faster and finish off the book in short order, okay?  You can still take your time replying to them, but I've got a lot going on in the coming weeks and probably won't have time to post them M-W-F like I was for the last few months.  I might post 2 or 3 chapters a day for the next week, in...