Monday, June 27, 2011

Loving the Language Blogfest!

Today is 27 June, which means it's time for Loving the Language Blogfest! I've been itching to write this all day, so without any further ado, here is some of the most amazing literature I have ever read - from The Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien:
Denethor looked indeed much more like a great wizard than Gandalf did, more kingly, beautiful, and powerful; and older. Yet by a sense other than sight Pippin perceived that Gandalf had the greater power and the deeper wisdom, and a majesty that was veiled. And he was older, far older.
Pause. Let it sink in. With something that profound, I can really only let the words speak for themselves. So, now something from my writing:
He wakes as if he is waking from a dream. He hangs, motionless, timeless, in a world of grey, in a world of nothing. Suspended in the air, he blinks twice. Then, like the floodgates somewhere have opened, he falls to solid ground.
Struggling to his feet, he stretches, and when he looks down, realises that he is standing on nothing. He looks up, then down again, and then to the side in every direction, but can see nothing but emptiness.
Where is he? I guess that what I love about this piece - and about this scene in general. It's ambiguous. It transports the reader to a foreign world where they know nothing, where they have to try and work out what it happening.

Well, that's me, participating in my first blogfest! Catch you all later!

18 comments:

  1. Love what you have written and it has whetted my appetite for more. :)

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  2. Ack, so many questions - where is he, why was he floating, what's going on? Thanks for sharing!

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  3. LOVE that. Begs LOADS of questions with making the reader frustrated. That's hard to do, nice job :D

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  4. I'm visiting from the Lovin' the Language Blogfest. Thanks for sharing!

    Lucy

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  5. Beautiful quote from LOTR. And your own quote invokes so many questions! Great job.

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  6. LOTR is so fabulous. The title of your blog is pretty fabulous too.

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  7. Great lines to share- the second set really leave so much up to the reader to imagine.

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  8. Thanks everyone! The wisdom and elegance found in the quote from LOTR truly amazes me, and one day, I hope to be able to achieve the same result with certain parts of my own writing.

    As for my own piece, I'm glad that those questions began to haunt you :) If you stick around, I may be posting this scene in it's entirety later on. But for now ... use your imagination. ...

    @Teralyn: Thanks! My "About Me" page will tell you why it's named that.

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  9. I'm so ashamed...I still haven't read LotR. :P it's on my TBR list though!

    Loved your excerpt...very powerful!

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  10. Nice excerpts! I wouldn't be brave enough to post Tolkien's words so close to my own but you pulled it off nicely!

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  11. @Trisha: I hadn't read it until the start of 2011, and I had been trying for years. I was so happy when I finished it. Actually it was happy-sad - I kind of wanted the story to continue.

    @Sarah: Ooooh, I didn't think about that! But thanks anyway :)

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  12. You've described the nothingness very well. It does leave the reader wondering what will happen next.

    BTW, how bizarre would it be to stand on nothing? Talk about a nightmare! :0)

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  13. Lovin' the suspense in your excerpt! I want to know more!

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  14. Thank you Dawn :) And yes, it would be very strange. But that's what this ... place ... is all about: strangeness.

    @Brianna: Thanks!

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  15. I'm here from Paul's blog, and I'm now your newest follower.

    Great ta meet ya, Nick!

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  16. Ditto what Matt said... and, know this is sacrilege, but not a huge fan of JRRT's writing (though I am of his imagination).

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  17. Oh my word, I love LOTR! Great passage. And what lovely writing from you, too. Well done!

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  18. Thanks Matthew! It's great to have you :)

    @Bane of Anubis: Thanks as well :) Hm, interesting. I know a couple of people with the same opinion. His writing does tend to be flowery and sometimes includes an overuse of description, but, like the one above, there are some great (and wise) passages from his work. And yes, great imagination. He truly created a world as real as ours.

    Thanks Carolina :) Great to have you following, too!

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