Posted on 04/27/2016 4:25:23 AM PDT by NYer
Catholic ping!
Some of us really don’t like fantasy. Even well-written fantasy.
There is a lot of good teaching in the Lord of the Rings that you really wouldn’t find anywhere else.
And you just had to tell everyone.
Tolkien wrote these profound stories as a witness of his Christian faith. He and C.S.Lewis were colleagues at Oxford who brought many to Christ through their “fantasy.” In a world filled with the reality of sin the fantasy of grace is all the hope we have.
In Revelation chapters 2 and 3, Jesus writes letters to seven churches. They pretty much tell you everything you need to know. Fantasy, even Christian allegory fantasy is not really needed as the End is near. The Revelation 12:1-2 great sign in the heavens will happen September 23-24, 2017.
All I know is that we are likely in Daniel 12.
But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.
--Matt. 24:36
If one is at all susceptible to the genre, it is wonderful
A specific pattern of sun, moon, planets and stars was written down almost 2000 years ago. That pattern will occur over a two day period of September 23-24, 2017. It is the first timing verse in Revelation. It is very reasonable to conclude that the things that are spoken of in Revelation will either start or be underway on that date. If you wish to ignore this, that is on your head. The Watchman has sounded the trumpet.
I’m allowed to post my thoughts. There are wonderful Catholic novels - as well as Lewis’s beautiful memoir Surprised by Joy - to read and enjoy. There are many people who do not like fantasy. If this is a Lord of the Rings Caucus thread, I apologize.
It’s perfectly fine if it doesn’t appeal to you. But LOTR is probably the best written fantasy ever put down on paper. How it all came from the imagination of an obscure Oxford don, the leading light in an even more obscure field of study (Philology), and became one of the most read and beloved works of fiction for now going past half a century probably counts as a miracle itself. Besides just the scale (I mean how many authors can on their own create several complex mythologies and separate languages within about one thousand pages?) the scenes of war, brutality, and suffering seem true because they came from a man who served several years in the Western Front trenches. So he saw men shot, gassed, and blown to bits but came out to write first an epic children’s fantasy (The Hobbit) and then one which has moved several generations of adults.
That’s fine. It is obviously well-loved by many people. I prefer a different genre for moral uplift and education. I didn’t think that was too radical a position since, while we are talking about religion, we are also discussing literature.
Everyone has different tastes than the next person and no one should take offense over it. And especially lately, it’s nice to have a discussion where people can state an opinion, and even disagree, without being disagreeable.
I was looking at other Catholic novels on the internet and was reminded of Willa Cather’s Death Comes to the Archbishop. A great book which prompted a visit to Santa Fe back in the 1980s to see the famous staircase built by St. Joseph.
Someone mentioned Taylor Caldwell’s Dear and Glorious Physician which I read and loved as a youth. Admittedly, Caldwell was not in the league of either Lewis or Cather but how I loved it. For years, I searched for a medal of St. Luke.
If you don’t like fantasy, how do you feel about The Divine Comedy? It’s not historical fiction - although filled with historical figures. I would have to call it a fantasy of sorts. Still, it was the book recommended by Pope Francis for the Year of Mercy.
Well, I’m sure even you wouldn’t compare Dante’s book to Lord of the Rings. I would say The Divine Comedy is more allegorical than fantastical. I don’t need Pope Francis to recommend Dante to me. In the next breath, he’s liable to suggest Andrew Greeley novels.
“I don’t need Pope Francis to recommend Dante to me. In the next breath, he’s liable to suggest Andrew Greeley novels.”
Now who is making bad comparisons! :)
For later
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