The seven hundred and thirty-fifth album: #735 Paul Weller - Wild Wood
While we've seen rock explode in many different directions, Wild Wood throws back to the old days, wearing its blues roots on its sleeves and taking on a simple, at times one man folk rock feeling. It's not grandiose, but stays classic in a way that not many artists do at this point in time. The instrumental tracks stand out most, featuring more experimentation and looping in its sounds and revealing this is a newer album than its basic sound might imply and giving more to go on. Its strength is in its timelessness, fitting in a modern time while throwing back to the past.
The one hundred and thirty-third book: #511 The Lord of the Rings - J.R.R. Tolkien
This isn't the first time I've read this classic, but it's been long enough that rereading the classic fantasy novel brings a lot of new insights. I read the book for the first time before the movie, but it's impossible not to have your reading be coloured by it - the visuals, for sure, with a lot of the actors standing in for the roles they appeared in. With that said, the book is a different, deeper work, and while I can't blame the film makers for the changes made - after all, we're talking about a different medium, a different runtime, and a book that is best enjoyed in an amount of time that exceeds the runtime of the movie. Having immersed myself in the world further - having read the Silmarillion and other words since my last read, and of course having read the Hobbit again for this blog - the richness of it speaks to me even more.
What makes it that magical though? Probably the first thing that draws you in is the slow build up. Just before I started reading, I read about the push and pull in the first book, alternating between peril and safety until the group reaches Rivendell. The movies feel like they jettison a bunch of these moments, leading to expanded action sequences instead (Tolkien, clearly not a fan of fighting battles, has his point of view character black out for one more than once). Here, they explore the Hobbits' mindset, build the threat, and move from the jovial adventure of the Hobbit to one that feels more dangerous and epic-spanning. Bilbo's development in the first two books, when we see him, show as much - the darkness slipping in and exhaustion that shows, paid off by the end by his complete exhaustion. Frodo moving house as a cover - but also a place to settle - is another example of that, while Tom Bombadil's appearance doesn't matter for the story, but again sets the tone for the book while showing there's much more to this world that you only scratch the surface of. While it's entertaining to read about them separately, Tolkien also knows that you don't need to read too much about them for the work to make sense. Instead, the mysterious nature of the world adds to it and sets you up to expect anything that happens.
As that disappears, however, starting with Frodo's wound on Weathertop, our perspective on the world changes. The Shire might be their safe place, keeping out the nastiness of the rest of the world, but it's their burden to help the world. It's why the Scourging of the Shire is such an important part in the book - the darkness infiltrates everywhere, but our heroes' perspective has also changed to see it and they see how it's their duty to help out. They've gone from having an adventure thrust on them to having to take charge, a lesson each of them learns in a different way. It layers on many more things, while feeling suitably epic, but while it's long, if you're willing to immerse yourself in the world, it has a momentum that gets you through if you're willing to see the world and experience its history while making a point about standing up for yourself. Even if you've seen the movie, there's much more depth to discover in here that really elevates it beyond just a fantasy story, in a way not all later fantasy writers trying to imitate Tolkien realise.