books

There are 30 posts filed in books (this is page 2 of 2).

I’m reading The Lord of the Rings. Again.

“The world is grey, the mountains old, The forge’s fire is ashen-cold;
No harp is wrung, no hammer falls: The darkness dwells in Durin’s halls;
The shadow lies upon his tomb In Moria, in Khazad-dûm.”

I’ve been re-reading The Lord of the Rings for the fourth or fifth time, though it’s the first time I’ve read it in over a decade.

Thanks to the re-reads and the films, I know the story inside and out but I’d forgotten just how well-written the book is. Probably a cliche at this point, but the world feels absolutely lived in and nothing feels “tropey”.

Especially now, I’m loving being back in Middle-Earth.

📺 Watched : “Good Omens” on Amazon Prime

📺 Watched : “Good Omens” on Amazon Prime

I *loved* this adaption! I’ve read the book once or twice and always enjoy chunks of it, but I sometimes find there are too many moving parts in the story for me to get invested in the story (no doubt the fault of my plummeting attention span rather than the authors’).

With one or two exceptions, the cast is absolutely phenomenal and has the “Harry Potter” movie feeling of “payday” for the great and the good of British actors. Like the novel, the mini-series is absolutely fizzing with ideas but it feels just that little bit *tighter* to take my enjoyment up a notch.

Although the book is a stand-alone story, the series ends with some setting-up for a second series. I haven’t checked if a sequel is going ahead, but I sort of hope they leave it alone. How could they top Armageddon?

📺 Watched : “Good Omens” on Amazon Prime

What Orwell feared were those who would ban books. What Huxley feared was that there would be no reason to ban a book, for there would be no one who wanted to read one. Orwell feared those who would deprive us of information. Huxley feared those who would give us so much that we would be reduced to passivity and egoism. Orwell feared that the truth would be concealed from us. Huxley feared the truth would be drowned in a sea of irrelevance. Orwell feared we would become a captive culture. Huxley feared we would become a trivial culture.

― Neil Postman, Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business