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David Miller

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David Miller is currently reading

The Two Towers (The Lord of the Rings, #2)

by J.R.R. Tolkien

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Reading for the 2nd time

read in August 2018

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David Miller said: " In the northern locales of the Shire and Rivendell and all the other settings of The Fellowship of the Ring, Frodo's quest had a more fantastical feel to it. Far from the immediate vicinity of evil, and surrounded by eight armed friends, it was hard In the northern locales of the Shire and Rivendell and all the other settings of The Fellowship of the Ring, Frodo's quest had a more fantastical feel to it. Far from the immediate vicinity of evil, and surrounded by eight armed friends, it was hard to envision the mission would fail, even as they were assailed by orcs and wraiths. After all, there were still two volumes to go!

But for much of The Two Towers, set as it is on Sauron's doorstep in the south, the heroes struggle, often near convinced that they already have failed. Scattered into three groups, faced with armies rather than mobs of orcs (not to mention upgraded wraiths, a mad wizard, and an ancient being of pure malice), "despair" quickly becomes a watchword of the text. For Frodo in particular, as the darkness of Mordor grows around him, it is all too evident that the wise people who sent him to Mordor did not really expect him to succeed.

But the funny thing is, for all this gloom, the heroes catch a lot of lucky breaks. And "catch" is the appropriate term, because they run themselves ragged in pursuit of fortune, determined to not be disgraced even in the face of hopelessness. Battles are won and obstacles are overcome, and the reason is nothing short of hustle and stubbornness.

That's the positive aspect of this book - inspirational, even. Less inspiring are the more troubling pieces of the author's worldview. The dichotomies of high and low, master and servant, wise and foolish, can be unsettling in their endorsement of old fashioned imperialist hierarchies, the kind of things modern readers ought to be embarassed about. But none leave quite so bad a taste as the dichotomy of black and white, especially when it is perfectly clear that Tolkien is talking about skin. The text is too ambiguous to boil down to petty racism, but the familiar, conservative racism of conventionality pervades it all the same. Once we are asked to wonder if a dead man with brown skin was truly evil at heart, or just unlucky enough to be born under a regime of evil. But sometimes it's not enough just to wonder. ...more "

Aug 09, 2018 11:42PM · see review

David Miller is currently reading

The System: Who Rigged It, How We Fix It

by Robert B. Reich

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Dec 03, 2025 07:30PM

David Miller is currently reading

The Ultimate Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, #1-5)

by Douglas Adams

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Reading for the 2nd time

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Feb 28, 2012 10:03PM

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David’s Quotes

“He mistakes the seeing of his chains for the breaking them, delays action till action is of no use, and dies the victim of mere circumstance and accident.”
― Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Coleridge's essays & lectures on Shakespeare: & some other old poets & dramatists

tags: hamlet, william-shakespeare

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