Couldn't agree more. Books that avoid rambling in a beloved world aren't better. They're just different. The detail and textual ruins in Tolkien's works are two of the major draws for me. They make the story real for the reader.
Yes, exactly! One of the biggest draws of The Lord of the Rings is how everything feels like it's part of a larger story of its own, and if you are interested in lingering there's always more to learn. It's interesting and cool and appealing! I don't always find that depth in more recent fantasy.
Honestly, I don't like the modern cut stories. At the end of the day, I mostly feel like books were just a moment of zombie-mode reading for the sake of chilling, and not something I'll ever care to pick up again. Also, when all the Tom Bombadils are cut out, so many stories just sound like each other.
I think publishers and editors really need to focus on putting heart and the world, which is not so trimmed, into their works, once again.
Yeah, I agree! Even though I appreciate good shorter fiction and I don't mind the occasional direct and focused book, we've really lost something in our modern literature. It would be nice to let stories breathe and expand again!
You make a good point: cutting the "extra" stuff does make the books all sound alike after a while
Couldn't agree more. Books that avoid rambling in a beloved world aren't better. They're just different. The detail and textual ruins in Tolkien's works are two of the major draws for me. They make the story real for the reader.
Yes, exactly! One of the biggest draws of The Lord of the Rings is how everything feels like it's part of a larger story of its own, and if you are interested in lingering there's always more to learn. It's interesting and cool and appealing! I don't always find that depth in more recent fantasy.
Thank you for blogging about this.
Honestly, I don't like the modern cut stories. At the end of the day, I mostly feel like books were just a moment of zombie-mode reading for the sake of chilling, and not something I'll ever care to pick up again. Also, when all the Tom Bombadils are cut out, so many stories just sound like each other.
I think publishers and editors really need to focus on putting heart and the world, which is not so trimmed, into their works, once again.
Yeah, I agree! Even though I appreciate good shorter fiction and I don't mind the occasional direct and focused book, we've really lost something in our modern literature. It would be nice to let stories breathe and expand again!
You make a good point: cutting the "extra" stuff does make the books all sound alike after a while