Mystery & Fantasy

“Fate is always more marvelous than any man-made design; we never know what it will tell us and great secrets are hidden in the well-being of God.” –Westward by Elrond There are many things that we wait until many years after they happen before we can wait for their endgame. Bilbo picked up a ring when he was 51 years old, and I was blown away by Middle-earth on the screen when I was 14. Fourteen was a providential age. At that age, Tolkien hadn’t yet turned into an old man who loved to sit in his study with a pipe in his mouth and a kindly look on his face. Still, three years earlier, he had begun to pay...

Like(0)Pollen2024-12-16AdventureEpic FantasyLiteratureYoung AdultViews(75)

Holden could be annoying if he weren’t a teenager but a middle-aged man. This main character in The Catcher in the Rye can’t stand the sight of anything. He hates school, he hates his classmates, he hates his parents. He even hates people who like to say “good luck,” people who say “nice to meet you,” and people who applaud unquestioningly at piano recitals. And, of course, he hates math, physics, geography, history, and everything else except writing. Having someone who can’t even take pleasure in learning isn’t charming.         The point is that there is no “social cause” for his misery. Living in his time and country, he can neither complain about the “authoritarian society that distorts human nature”...

Like(0)Pollen2024-12-12Coming Of AgeHigh SchoolLiteratureRead For SchoolYoung AdultViews(89)