The Life of Me

In my last post I said: "There are those who believe that Harry Potter is up there at the top of the fantasy pile, but believe me, HP comes nowhere even close to the amazing series that is LOTR."

To which, Krithiga said:
"I wish people stopped comparing the two. Each has its own merit and short comings. In Tolkien's case - it is the inability to sustain the interest of a casual reader and in JK Rowling's case it is the some times Hollywood type sub-plots. Both are vast, have adorable characters, both are rich in terms of beings and beasts. It's really impossible to rate one better than the other. May be the films, yes, LoTR is one of the best films ever made, but story wise it's just impossible. So is the case with other books in the "Fantasy pile" - Philip Pullman, for instance."

First off, let me clear up about the movies. Yes, LOTR is the much better adaptation - one of the few cases where I think the movie was almost as good as the book. Harry Potter movies, sadly, leave much to be desired. I wasn't referring to the movies when I said HP comes nowhere close to LOTR.

Yes, LOTR makes it difficult for the casual reader to stick with it and finish reading it - sad, but true. However, I never was a casual reader, and so I can't really sympathize with them. It still shocks me that people find LOTR "difficult to read", when such a beautiful work compels one to read on and on. Harry Potter, on that count, wins hands down. I know a few friends who started "reading" properly after getting on the HP series.

While HP may have it's fair share of good characters, and a wide array of "beings and beasts", it is not vast. It isn't, whatever people may say. It is a rather straightforward story about a boy facing a great, evil, Dark Lord. Not in it are the complex intertwining relationships where the deeds of many, big and small, finally affect the ending. Some may say that in LOTR as well, it all rested on whether Frodo destroys the One Ring or not, and that is all the story is about. LOTR is more than that. It is not just the overthrow of evil. It is also the establishment of that which is fair and good - where many wounds need to be healed and many wrongs set right, for such is the vast scope of that story.

LOTR is the product of a great imagination. To have built a whole world, and its history and mythology is definitely a lot more than a single story - however clever the plots and references made within it. LOTR encompasses many things which HP simply can't hope to - not any longer atleast, seeing as it is coming to its end. Anurag has said that HP has a lot of plots "flicked shamelessly" from LOTR. To that, I have this to say - "Dude, it isn't that HP flicks from LOTR, it is just that LOTR has so much that very few fantasy writers in the future can ever get out of its shadow!" Tolkien simply envisaged every kind of character that can be present in any "good vs. evil" plot. Period! That is why I said LOTR lies there, right at the top of the fantasy pile.

I can go on and on about why LOTR is much better. Die-hard fans of HP would never agree, and even when they like LOTR as much, they would still say that it is not fair to compare them both. I would say it is not fair to compare them both as well. Harry Potter is a good series, no doubt. And I am glad that it grew from a pretty children's story to a good "grown-up" (should I say?) one - makes for much better reading to those of us who are getting older. It has achieved cult status, but will not become a classic. The Lord of the Rings, on the other hand, is an epic and a classic. It wouldn't be fair to treat it on par with HP - that would be like comparing the Valar with mortal Men, Numenorean though they be! Noble they might be, but not for them the grace of the Eldar!

PS: I know that I haven't really put forth very well why LOTR is the best. I wanted to get some things out of the way, collect my thoughts, and put in a coherent piece here. But well, the previous post had too much discussion threatening to break loose. I wanted that to continue on this post - hence the hasty post. Krithiga, I also replied on Anurag's behalf about the discussion you wanted to be a part of in the comments for the previous post there.

OK, so it’s been quite a long time since the movies came out, and the craze obviously is not anymore there. And, I did write about the books and the movies already. But I think that there can’t be enough said about these books ever - I don't think I can ever be done talking about them. I don’t need to get into all the reasons why JRR Tolkein is a genius, and why LOTR is by far the best work of fantasy ever written. There are those who believe that Harry Potter is up there at the top of the fantasy pile, but believe me, HP comes nowhere even close to the amazing series that is LOTR. But let me get to the point of this post.

I was watching the LOTR movies on cable last weekend – hence the post. There are undoubtedly many fabulous characters in the series, and it would just be impossible for anyone who read the series to pick out just one whom they liked the most. Does one pick the King, Aragorn? The powerful and wise wizard, Gandalf? The fleet-footed, keen-eyed Legolas? The serious, stocky Gimli? The Elder Elf, Elrond? The Dark Lord himself, Sauron? The fair, intelligent Faramir? Frodo, who proved stronger than anyone expected him to be? Galadriel, the fairest of them all? How can one choose? And yet, in most lists that people (atleast those I know) seldom seem to mention Samwise Gamgee! And that, to me, is simply sad.

How could such a beautifully crafted character simply fall out of people’s attention? Of course, he was always second fiddle to Frodo, in a way. But, as Frodo himself says, “’Tell me about Master Samwise Gamgee’, and people would say, ‘Yes, Samwise Gamgee – Frodo couldn’t have gone as far as he did without Samwise, the brave’” or something quite close to that. Here is a hobbit who is true to himself and to his friends. One who goes willingly into peril for his master, his friend. One who provides Frodo the strength to go ahead with his rather burdensome task. One who retains his wonder at everything the world has to offer, inspite of all he has seen. A hobbit full of wisdom and commonsense, a true friend! And the list goes on… but what more does one need to say?

I admit that I can’t choose one character as my favorite among the many great ones in the series, and then not change my mind immediately. But I am sure that Samwise Gamgee is there right on top along with all the others I like, maybe more than most of the others.

Well, apparantly I still do have some crap to talk about... things kept popping up over these past three days on which I guess I can write. More to come... :)

The week's getting progressively worse. Did I hit the nadir, the rockbottom, blah blah blah? I hope so, 'cause from here there's only one way to go... But, from experiences past, I think there's still one more really bad day to come before the week is over... keeping my fingers crossed...

And, as I said, more shall come up here soon... and as the line goes "Good Night, and Good Luck!" I ain't having too much of either anyways, hope some of you do...

I just realized that I don't have anything to say! As sad as it may seem, that is how it is right now.

So I am off of here for quite some time to come. I guess I just need time by myself. It's been nice so far out here. I hope to come back soon enough, but am not really counting on it happening anytime soon...

Bye y'all. Stay safe and have fun! :)

Let me see...

14, 83, 1, 9, 5, 18, 23, 6, 27, 10, 15, 29, 5, 7-1, 515, 767, 878, 328, 265, 756, 120, 262, 801, 314, 784, 36, 8-20, 4526, 239, 208, 203, 4, 384, 12-8, 1, 14, 15, 24...

Can't think of any more. The first three are obvious to many. There are others who can get what many of the other numbers are about. Please people, silence! :)

I know this is the weirdest post ever here. I don't know why I put this up here now...

OK. On the request of many - well, not so many, but what the hell! - of my avid readers who have been dropping by here only to be disappointed to see nothing new posted, this is just a "calm down people" post! For those who are about to go "Screw you Sai! We don't care." - don't bother posting that in the comments. I already know!

I have been facing what I would hesitantly call a Blogger's block. I don't call it that outright because of a small technicality that probably exists only in my mind. You see, what I would call a Writer's Block or a Blogger's Block arises when one sits down in front of the computer, ready to expand on some idea waiting to be given form - hands ready to fire off words at whatever speed their hands and limited (or otherwise) talent at typing allows them to - and then realizes that one can't find the words to express whatever it is one wants to express. My problem was not that. No! My problem simply was that I did not feel like writing at all. Never in all these intervening days of sitting in front of the computer, working or simply whiling away my time, did I feel like putting in something here. Maybe that is an indicator of how well or how bad my life is going. But that is too lengthy a topic for me to delve into here. Besides, I am sure that quite a few of you know how that would go. Those who don't, I can assure you that you don't want to know.

I was just reading Aswathi's blog where she wonders about where writing comes from - the heart or the head. I am not sure, but I think it's a product of both. The traditional (again, according to me) writer's blocks are because of the failure of the head to deliver the goods while the heart has already developed the germ of what will eventually turn out as "writing". But what can the head do when the heart itself is not in it? I think that once you have the inclination to start writing, you can - no matter the quality of the end product. But, if you absolutely don't feel like writing, no matter how good you may be, you simply can't. And of course, if you are just doing it half-heartedly, like I currently am, you'll probably end up with the worst crap, like I am right now.

Anyway, last Saturday being the All Fool's Day, there was a lot of vellagiri I indulged in. Well, that is usually the case, but this time it was funny and enjoyable. Had been reading the world's best April 1st hoaxes - best according to the Museum of Hoaxes. Read them here - makes for great timepass, believe me.

The origins of the tradition of All Fool's Day remain unclear and under debate, and it makes little difference what they are. I had some good times when I was a kid on this particular day, and I guess that's all I care about. I haven't seen too many really funny hoaxes in recent times, of course with one notable exception. And, as always, it's Google that comes up with great ideas. Check out this year's April 1st fare from Google. Links to previous Google gags can be found from there. Have fun y'all!