ROTK: It glitters and is better than gold!!

[Caveat: Includes some spoilers.]

After all the anticipation and the elaborate plans to savor ROTK the right way, I eventually wound up seeing it alone. A still thought it will corrupt 'her vision of the middle-earth'& my sister had upcoming exams. Thankfully the events on screen were engrossing enough to filter out the 2 giggling Punjabi girls nearby who spent half the movie figuring out who the hero was!

Anyway The Return of the King represented a different sort of challenge for Peter Jackson. The various liberties he took with Tolkien's tale in making The Two Towers had to be resolved here without interfering further with the flow of events. And while I don't like his compromises they don't quite screw up the movie as much as I thought they would. This is largely because for once he manages to capture the mood & scope of Tolkien's mythic vision with a truly spectacular depiction of the major events.

P.J starts by showing us how the One Ring initially touches Sméagol's (Gollum's hobbit name) life. It provides Andy Serkis a chance to act outside of the C.G.I suit that he's burdened with all this while. Also this explanation fills an important gap in the story told so far since Gollum's obsession with the ring is to play a pivotal role in the events that unfold. As the Fellowship disperses to rally the various forces of Middle-Earth, P.J skillfully & tautly blends the diverse events while maintaining a sense of immediacy & urgency throughout. As in the previous two movies the various themes underlying ROTK can best be understood if you have read the book. The movie only touches on the major themes and (I'm being slightly picky here) actually some of the characterisation is a bit silly.

The various elements that made the two previous installments nearly definitive in terms of visual imagery of the Middle-Earth are still present. Andrew Lesnie's beautiful cinematography(the scene when the Beacons of Gondor are lighted is spectacular!) continues to illustrate that for all practical purposes New Zealand is Middle-Earth. The authoritive Alan Lee inspired set design brings the various landscapes of Tolkien's world to life. And a searing background score by Howard Shore, which in the climatic battle scenes reaches the crescendo of a Beethoven Symphony, completes a potent audio-visual mix. Peter Jackson is in inspired form and his grip over the proceedings never slackens though at times the pace of the events might leave newbie's(non-book readers) floundering. Some of the sequences of battle and the quieter moments in between when Gandalf talks to Pippin about the meaning of death are truly sublime.

But like in earlier parts there are several changes in the story, albeit mostly to maintain continuity and save screen time. At times however they do represent a significant dilution of Tolkien's story. For instance Strider finally is handed the sword of his ancestors - the reforged Andruil by Elrond when The Fellowship along with The Riders of Rohan rush to the aid of besieged Gondor. By leaving it this late¹ P.J probably wanted to make it symbolic with the title. But this major change resulted in Strider looking in the previous movies like some forlorn(& indecisive) warrior rather than a great leader of men. And now when he abandons the guise of the wandering Ranger to assume the mantle of the King of Gondor, we are left with little time for that change to register. And even though Viggo Mortensen(Strider) is awesome(& regal) in the battle sequences that follow somehow the significance of that moment is lost amidst the hectic events of war.

Another misstep is in the depiction of Eowyn's(a stunning Miranda Otto) love for Strider. Miranda's fiery turn as Eowyn does manage to make an impact though P.J simplifies² by playing it out mostly as an unrequited romance. Her participation in battle is combined with Pippin's under a common theme illustrated by Eowyn's quote(for both of them) "Don't everyone have a right to fight for their loved ones". But the missing details in this case are relevant & should have been included. In the book it is her father Theoden's decay(under Wormtongue's influence) from the high standards of bravery maintained by the line of Rohan that inspires Eowyn to dream of glory in the battlefields. And when she questions Strider's refusal to allow her to follow him on The Paths of the Dead(in the book) she also talks about the right of women to go to war rather than be a perennial wet-nurse.

The other changes were probably unavoidable. P.J never quite focused on the characters of Pippin & Merry in the first 2 parts. So with the omission of The Scouring of the Shire in the movie, their transformation from carefree ways in the Shire to responsible Hobbit warriors is not addressed totally. But in truth the changes though all duly registered were kind of swept away by the brilliance onscreen. P.J's mastery over his cast, the special effects and the pace of unfolding the multi-layered story is near perfect. So when a resurgent Théoden musters the Riders of Rohan to fight a war they will lose but still have to fight it almost needs no telling that it is his own redemption he's seeking. And by the time Aragorn with Andruil in hand charges headlong into a sea of orcs on the shores of Anduin, I really couldn't care less that the sequence of events were all wrong. Or ummm... that the Dunnedein seem to have mysteriously disappeared. For then in my mind I'm right there busy hewing my share of orcs & screaming "Hail Elessar" too !! .

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ROTK RULES O.K !!

For a change I had very few complaints with the Oscars ;) As they stayed true to their apparent policy(don't ask me why) of awarding accolades at the end of a trilogy. And as expected LOTR: The Return of the King swept the major technical awards with only sound editing & cinematography going to Peter Weir's Master & Commander. Amidst all my cheering for LOTR I did however note that there was only a passing reference to the core fan base of Tolkien in the acceptance speeches of the various winners including Peter Jackson. The intense pressure to conform to the original storyline of the books brought about by the cult following was in a way responsible for a (relatively) honest depiction of the moral themes that are so intrinsic to LOTR's appeal. And that had a major role to play in ROTK becoming the first fantasy film to get best picture. Not to mention the record-breaking spell at the top of box-office charts worldwide as ROTK marches on to sink the Titanic in the all time list of blockbuster movies.

It was also real nice to see two of my favourite people in the movies Sean Penn &  Johnny Depp both getting nominated in the best actor category. And the two actually attended the ceremony !! Sean came for the first time (after ignoring the 3 previous nods) more to show solidarity with Clint Eastwood his director in Mystic River who he says "is the least disappointing of Hollywood icons". On the other hand Depp came to express his gratitude to those people who had the courage to vote him to a nomination. Both being vocal opponents of the Hollywood system of filmmaking and Sean like fellow winner Tim Robbins(another personal favourite!!) is also among the leading crusaders in Hollywood against the Iraq invasion. Somehow their presence made the whole show more legitimate & genuine. Other categories too had anti-war themes winning(The Fog of War won best documentary) as the Oscars continued to cast itself as a liberal foundation. Even host Billy Crystal had a few jibes at Dubya to keep the spirit going. Now I guess it's up to their electorate to listen to what's blowing in the wind...

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LOTR fortnight: Britain's best loved book

It was a bit of a cakewalk at the end with bookmakers Ladbrokes having closed bets long back in October because LOTR had become the only real contender in "a one horse race". And on Saturday at a live ceremony at the Royal Albert Hall LOTR was announced as the winner of the BBC's Big Read and is now officially Britain's Best Loved Book. With 23% of the public's vote or 174,000 votes, LOTR was a clear winner with 39,000 more votes than second-placed Pride and Prejudice and more than His Dark Materials, The Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy and Harry Potter combined. Simon Tolkien, grandson of J.R.R Tolkien attended the event and was quite moved.

The demand for LOTR at Amazon.com has increased by 400% since the list of top 21 books was announced in October. That surge in popularity is of course also explained due to ROTK's premierre being just around the corner.
[via BBC news]

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LOTR fortnight: The power of the One Ring

One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them all,
One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them.

The inscription on the one ring still seems to exert a fair bit of power in this Age of Men. It sure has worked on Elijah Wood (Frodo) who says that he keeps the golden prop ring, received as a souvenir after the movies completion, at home in a box(via Yahoo News).

Elijah also received his sword(Sting) and one of the 1,600 pairs of broad, hairy hobbit feet made for the film. Like the other actors he seems aware Frodo's character will be associated with him from now on. And he looks all set to live up to that, since he reveals considering building a hobbit house for himself, with typical circular doors and windows. Hmm... maybe he should just strike a deal with Peter Jackson who's planning to install Bag End in his Wellington property.

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LOTR fortnight: There and back again

Peter Jackson has finally given a clear indication of his interest in bringing The Hobbit to the big screen(via The Guardian).

Now this can be either good/bad depending on your final judgement of the LOTR trilogy. I'm happy about the creation of middle-earth and the interest the movies have generated, but my final call on the trilogy's relevance in relation to the book will have to wait for ROTK. Already P.J has expressed his initial thoughts on the probable cast. The intention to allow Ian Mckellan(Gandalf) and Andy Serkis(Gollum) to reprise their roles is great news. But the reported plans to weave Liv Tyler(Arwen) into the tale defies logic. Already Arwen's character has been among the worst depictions in the LOTR movies, thanks to the sloppy, sentimental writing and the vacant expression on Liv Tyler's countenance. Hopefully better sense will prevail...

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LOTR fortnight: Hail to Grimrat the Wretched!!

According to the Red Book of Westmarch, In Middle-earth, I was a
Talented Teleri.
My names for the other races were the following:
Elven Names: Manros, Manrosion
Hobbit lad name: Gorbadoc Baker from the Marish
Dwarven Name: Trór Bronzearmour
Orkish Name : Grimrat the Wretched
You can find out your middle-earth names too through this name generator(via Anita's blog).

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LOTR Fortnight: A Kiwi at Bag End !

It isn't exactly out of J.R.R. Tolkien's book but then he never got around to tell us of the events in The Age of Men. The round-walled underground home of Bilbo and Frodo Baggins was just too hard to let go after 7 years of seeing the hobbits inhabit it. Especially for a sentimental, rotund and furry Peter Jackson who says he's a bit of a hobbit himself. So he decided to pay for the storage costs of keeping the set of Bag End once New Line Cinema said they planned to demolish it after the trilogy's completion. Now he's having Bag End installed under a hillside on his property north of Wellington. And he sounds all ready to burrow into his own little hobbit-hole.

All very Hobbit-like !. So guess this is one movie related incident not too out of sync with Tolkien's vision :)

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LOTR Fortnight: A sceptical publisher reminisces

A life-long LOTR fan Jane Johnson was the publisher of LOTR whom Peter Jackson first approached with a proposal to turn the book into a movie. Having seen numerous such initiatives not take off ever since she took charge as publisher in the mid 1980's Jane recalls being sceptical.

As publisher Jane had overseen the revamp of the look of the book which included commissioning watercolour artists John Howe and Alan Lee to create new cover pictures for the books. Since Peter wanted to use Lee's vision for middle-earth as the template for his movies, so Jane supplied his contact details. She still remembers clearly when she first realised that the movie version would actually work.

Soon after Jane came to New Zealand and visited the production on location. She says that walking on the set in Queenstown "was like walking right into Middle Earth". Now no longer LOTR's publisher, Jane has retained a close association with the books and the subsequent movies. Under her pen name of Jude Fisher, she has written a visual companion to each of the films. She says that paring her literary hero's words down to match Jackson's movies was a major challenge despite her experience as an editor & publisher and being an established fantasy writer in her own right.

Like other long term LOTR fans she's happy that it has come into mainstream consciousness though she laments that other fantasy writers haven't got a major spin off effect. Jane herself is now writting a fantasy trilogy(Fool's Gold) which have taken up nearly 5 yrs of her time. She admits it wasn't the greatest career move, but still the most satisfying thing she's ever done. She sums up her thoughts on the genre very succintly.

That I think is pretty much the essence of why LOTR attracts such a passionate and loyal following. And it sure explains my personal connection...
[note: I'll do a series of LOTR related posts to be continued(hopefully!) till the release of ROTK on 17/12/03. This post is adapted from an article I found here.
2. Jane is still writing the 3rd part of that trilogy. Sorcery Rising (Fool's Gold, Book 1) and Wild Magic (Fool's Gold, Book 2) both received a pretty good response.]

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LOTR: Opening night blues

The Return of the King premieres tonight in a special screening at Wellington's Embassy Theatre and the nearby Reading Theatre, to a lucky audience of 2,800 people. This report says that up to 100,000 fans expected to line the city's streets to catch a glimpse of the stars who are all there, participating in the publicity blitz ahead of the priemere. Peter Jackson who has spent the better part of 7 yrs. in the making of the trilogy admits feeling a bit nervous.

Speaking in an interview Peter Jackson said that he was proud to step up and represent the movie, though being at the centre of all the attention "was just a little bit scary". He still hasn't seen The Return of the King in it's completed form yet as the movie was sent in out of sequence reels to Newline Cinema. So maybe that's part of the reason of his apprehension. Now he just says that "it'll be a relief to get to the Embassy and sit and watch it.".
[note: Since the movie premeires worldwide on December 17, I'll be doing more LOTR related posts in the next two weeks. If you have any suggestions/ wish to contribute in any way do let me know.]

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LOTR: So where exactly is middle-earth?

That is the central theme for a survey Professor Martin Barker from the University of Wales, Aberystwyth is conducting by analysis of filmgoers' response to The Return of the King through a web-based questionnaire(report). As many as 20 professors will conduct multi-lingual questionaires and follow-up interviews as they seek answers to how a book written 50 yrs. back connects to the current generation.

Well the movies are not worth much without reading the book and middle-earth could be anywhere or anytime you want it to be. The connection is there because I've walked the middle-earth too along with Frodo, Gandalf & the Fellowship, as has surely everyone who loved the book. Anyway Professor Barker apparantly started plans for the survey after coming across a funny email that was circulated a year ago which was entitled 'Frodo has failed'. On opening the mail there was a picture of George Bush wearing the ring ! Quite apt I guess. George Bush would make a pretty good Lord of Mordor in today's world. The survey will start this month at this site and continue until December 2004 when its findings will be discussed at a conference in Aberystwyth.

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LOTR: An easy quiz

A bit busy to do a proper post so am just putting up a link to this easy LOTR quiz that any self-respecting middle-earth traveller should ace.

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LOTR: 'The' Quiz !

This is an awesome quiz to refresh/test your knowledge of the middle-earth. Try it once you've read The Hobbit & LOTR both. It has 6 levels to cross and a grand total of 111 questions. I'm still at the 3rd level so there will be fewer posts till the One ring is destroyed & the world saved :)

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LOTR: Tolkien fans unite!!

After just one week's worth of voting, The Lord of the Rings heads the shortlist of 21 nominees, preened down from an original list of 100, as the BBC looks to identify the best loved book of all time. Sunday's show, the first in a series of seven which will examine 3 of the nominees in each, saw host Clive Anderson reveal that LOTR is heading the pack, holding off Pride and Prejudice, Harry Potter, His Dark Materials and To Kill A Mockingbird respectively. So all fellow middle-earth travellers who haven't voted yet please click HERE to make LOTR win.

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Big Brother or jangled nerves ?

This story could be a reminder that Big Brother is pretty much alive and increasingly making his presence felt in the U.S. A 12-year-old school kid researching a paper on the Bay Bridge on the internet aroused the suspicions of the FBI's Joint Terrorist Task Force who questioned the boy's school headmaster. The federal authorities of course were quick to deny that they were checking private messages and claimed that they acted on a referral from the Transportation Authority who red-flagged it, based on the questions they were getting. Even if you do believe them the story is an apt illustration of the seriousness(panic?) with which authorities are following up each & every small rumour.

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LOTR: The A.R Rahman connection & more...

Indian composer A.R. Rahman and a Finnish folk troupe Värttinä have been commissioned to write songs for a musical stage version of "The Lord of the Rings"(report).

The choice of a Finnish troupe is in line with Tolkien's heavy influence by Finnish folk epics like the Kalevala to create the world of Middle-earth. The Elvish tongue of the Tolkein's trilogy also has its roots in the Finnish language. At a budgeted cost of $13 million this would be the costliest ever musical in West End history. Rahman's score for Bombay Dreams has already been a big hit and now with this prestigous project there should be no further doubts that he has arrived on the international stage.

The Variety magazine has chosen Sir Ian McKellan(Gandalf) as the U.K Personality of the Year. Calling him one of the leading British actors of his generation, they have also cited the 40 acting awards he has won over the course of his career so far and the continued international spotlight on him with the LOTR trilogy and the X-Men franchise.

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Call to Arms !!

The Big Read had recently asked for nominations for the best loved top 100 books from visitors. That list has been now pruned to 21 titles. These include most of my all-time favourite books like 1984, Catch-22, To Kill a Mockingbird, The catcher in the rye, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and of course LOTR. It would be tough to pick which book I consider to be the best but there's very little doubt deciding on the one loved the most :) Since the voting is still open this is the chance to show your loyalty to the middle-earth by registering your vote HERE.

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LOTR: Return of the King Trailor !

I wasn't planning to post this weekend but the official trailors of Return of The King are about to be out by the 28th, so some sneak previews have already been shown in some cable networks. One enterprising fan posted this link to a snippet of the trailor: 5.5 Mb Quicktime file
It is mostly about the sword Narsil being reforged and given to Aragorn. If you are as curious as I am about how everything turns out in this concluding part, do take a look.

[Update(27/9/03): The full trailor is now on the net at this link :25.2 mb& a smaller download is here 14 mb]

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LOTR: Sir Ian McKellan bids Gandalf goodbye...

Last week Sir Ian McKellan finally finished shooting for the added scenes in The Return of the King. In his journal he describes his last day of donning the makeup and robes of Gandalf The White. On his farewell night, Peter Jackson made a speech in Minas Tirith and revealed how Sir Ian McKellan had initially turned down the role due to date clashes with X-men. Apparantly Bob Shaye the founder of New line Cinema was insistent that only Sir Ian would pay the role of Gandalf. He even went to the extent of negotiating with Fox Movies the makers of X-men to schedule his dates differently. Later Sir Ian McKellan was presented Gandalf's sword as a memento and shown a four minute video presentation of the Grey and the White, high and low spots from the movies. As per him though he felt sad there were no tears but since he ended up forgetting his sword at the hotel next day it probably moved him more than he lets on...

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LOTR: Gandalf & Legolas get recognition!

LOTR with its vast array of characters hasn't been that rewarding for actors as far as awards go, with only Sir Ian Mckellen managing to get a oscar nomination so far. He was probably unlucky to have not won it too... The other standout performance by Andy Serkis(an awesome Golum) unfortunately was completely ignored by the academy this year. Oscar members didn't consider his incredible vocal and physical performance worthy enough for a oscar nod. Andy actually wore a motion-capture suit for Gollum, his performance was then transformed by computer graphics into the digital Gollum you see onscreen. Anyway as the deadline for the last installment of the LOTR trilogy nears, the actors who have managed to impress in this epic series are being given their due in other ways. This week saw two actors who managed to shine in their roles get recognition.

New Zealanders who have taken Sir Ian Mckellen to their hearts since LOTR started shooting there 4 yrs back, will now have a coin circulated with his face on it. In this regard, Sir Ian Mckellan a well known gay activist in his deadpan English humour said "The Queen will be on the other side, so it will be the first time two queens have been on one coin". No wonder they love him so :) Orlando Bloom too has made the most of his limited screen time in LOTR and is being honoured with the Hollywood Breakthrough Actor award to be presented to him at the 2003 Hollywood Film Festival. The awards cite his recent work including the LOTR trilogy, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, the upcoming "Ned Kelly," and also "Black Hawk Down.

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LOTR: Betrayals of no big consequence ?

Peter Jackson in a recent interview comes to terms with the realisation that from now on his career will always be divided into "before" and "after" LOTR. He also says that the obsessive love of fans(like me!) made them more suspicous than cooperative & that he had to earn their trust. And thus the need to make a good film so that the changes they made would be forgiven as betrayals of no big consequence. He also reveals that for the first 2 parts New Line Cinema had given him a maximum length of 2 hours and a half, that he pretended to forget, and reached three hours. This time, for ROTK apparantly they asked for 3 hrs, so I guess that means a 4 cd pack :)

One of those betrayals Jackson talks about that I personally have mixed feelings about is the portrayal of the relationship between Legolas(Orlando Bloom rocks!!) and Gimli(John Rhys-Davies). Apart from reducing their actual roles the movie chooses to use their interactions more for comic relief. In the book their interactions initially provides the reader with valuable insights into the age-old differences between Elves&Dwarves. And later through their reactions to the events encountered by the fellowship, their gradual(almost grudging) acceptance of each others qualities. Their eventual friendship and bonding was one of the most beautiful things about LOTR. Something the movie IMO fails to totally recapture...

[Note: That poster is from ROTK so Rohan Orlando Bloom is definitely Legolas in the 3rd part too !!]

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My first LOTR connection...

I still remember a holiday spent a couple of yrs back in a resort near Bangalore. That was where I had met a young graphics engineer from New Zealand who had worked on the LOTR trilogy. He was holidaying in India, mostly to chill out after being totally immershed in the post-production work of The Fellowship of the Ring&Two Towers(which wasn't complete then) for 6 months. Since I was part of a group of friends who were known to the resort owners, we were pretty much doing whatever we felt like. Maybe that caught his eye. As it is he was having a hard time connecting to the other foreigners who were staying at the resort at that point. After our introductions around a campfire, as is often the case with male-bonding we ended up trying to establish what common sports we followed. Since there were an English couple present the topic shifted to cricket & how England were using unfair tactics(bowling outside Sachin's leg-stump) playing in India. Once we all agreed(the English couple reluctantly) that India will thrash England in the remaining matches our conversation pittered out a bit.

Then more by chance than anything I struck an instant rapport with the Kiwi LOTR technician by mentioning how I was following the Rugby World Cup. And that though I barely could follow all the technical rules involved I'm an avid follower of the All Blacks and Jonah Lomu in particular. I proceeded innocently to gush about how the one definitive image of rugby in my mind is Jonah Lomu storming through to make a try with 3 defenders holding on to him. One on each leg and the third on his waist :) The Hakka(war dance & song performed by All-Blacks before each match) of course being the other. Needless to say after that he hung out with our crowd during the treks and other social occasions there.

But back then LOTR was just a book I knew I'll read someday and surely love(and there is always a fair list of them with me). So even though I asked questions about the movie and his work in the post-production it was nowhere near what I would ask now. He did say that like the rest of the cast & crew of technicians, he was bound to an oath of secrecy. But he smiled that of course he wasn't bound by it on a holiday and proceeded to talk about how some of the work they are doing with graphics will be pioneering in nature. Now I'm sure he meant Golum's(Andy Sherkis) creation by his descriptions then. The evening finished on that note & the next day(our last on the resort) before I could ask further questions 'someone who isn't special anymore' decided to try establish whether he was indeed the cousin of a long-lost penpal. Since they kind of got lost with that, apparantly people with same surnames are often related in a small country like New zealand, my interest in following up with LOTR questions fizzled out. Anyway the curiosity that meeting generated led me to finally read LOTR so guess I can't have that many regrets.

p.s. My friend was still quite 'special' at that point so that's another reason for my lack of focus on LOTR queries :)
[sidenote: J.R.R. Tolkien's 30th death anniversary was recently on the 2nd of Sept. ]

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Rediscover your middle-earth roots!!

Now you can rediscover your long-forgotten names from the middle-ages :) I just found out that my elf name is Tuor Eärfalas and my hobbit name is Samwise Sandydowns. Couldn't find no Maia name generator unfortunately. You too can check out your names at these links:
1) Hobbit name generator
2) Elf name generator

I got these cool links from Raj's blog.

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Filler post no. 5

Fan of Andy Serkis's(Golum) work in LOTR ? Take a look at some pics of the upcoming Return of the King the ending part of the trilogy here& some more here.

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J.K. Rowling: more innovative than creative ?

With the overwhelming success and indeed J.K Rowling's growth as a writer, the Harry Potter series has evoked rave reviews universally. Its big impact on popular consciousness has also meant that each Potter book when published is universally hailed as the best Potter yet. I personally think that distinction still belongs to the engaging first part of the series which unlike the tedious 4th part had a proper editor :) I do generally find the series to be well written, a good page turner and even entertaining at times. But as a writer I'll rate J.K. Rowling more as a great innovator who understands kid psychology and pop-culture than as a purely creative writer.

The lacklustre 4th part did make me compare her inspirations from middle-earth before(see post). And just recently I came across a much more comprehensive look at the sources of inspiration found in the series in an old report by The Daily Mail. Since the scans I found on the net are too big to include I'm posting the links of the jpg files instead. Page 1(92 kb)  Page 2(99 kb)  Page 3(161 kb)   Page 4(162 kb). I didn't get all of the middle-earth similarities cited in these pages right (5/12) in my earlier post, maybe because I don't seem to remember much details of the Potter series afterwards :) And I also wrongly compared The Mirror of Galadriel with The Sorting Hat rather than The Penseive. After that post I further did note another 4 similarities - Wormtongue, the troll attacks, Frodo's ring becoming heavy/Potters scar burning & The old forrest, which are all mentioned by The Daily Mail. Actually as per my sisters(a twin pair of newly converted Tolkien fanatics !), the description of the Bank in the first Potter book has a striking similarity to Smaug's den as found in The Hobbit. Also The Daily Mail doesn't mention Old Man Willow(LOTR) which inspired the tree that destroys the car and nearly gets Harry in part 2.

Among the non-Tolkien sources of inspiration cited (in Page 3 ) The Star Wars (The training with Obi-Wan-Kenobi, fight with Darth Vader) inspiration seemed apparant while reading Harry Potter. The Dursley's and Harry's experiences with them were of course straight out of Dicken's world. Don't see how the Mail missed that. Talking chess pieces made me think Lewis Carol too. These influences do tell us that she's been a keen follower of pop-culture along with being a good reader of the fantasy genre. After all C.S Lewis'sNarnia books &Tolkien'sLOTR and The Hobbit are supposed to be among the most well known fantasy books. They also happen to account for most of her inspirations. I wouldn't go as far as to suggest that she plagarised her sources of inspiration since she did use her own setting and circumstances to use them( i.e she pretty much lit Harry's lamp herself !!). But I probably will now have a even lesser regard for her inventiveness. A lot of the names, terms seem to have come from different origins and the railway platform entrance(which I regarded as one of her better creations) is now revealed to be taken directly from C.S. Lewis's Narnia books.

[note: This post & the links provided are to initiate discussion not a flame war. I've been involved in those before with Potter fans who take it too personal and apart from being a waste of time, they are not much fun either :) ]

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George Orwell's '1984': Have we indeed missed Oceania ?

Yesterday NYT had this very interesting article by William Gibson(weblog) where he says that we live under stranger problems then those conjured by George Orwell in '1984'. Mr. Gibson is a well known author of books about the future such as 'Neuromancer' & 'Pattern Recognition'.
Excerpts & comments(Caveat:Long post bordering on rant.)

"Orwell's projections come from the era of information broadcasting, and are not applicable to our own. Had Orwell been able to equip Big Brother with all the tools of artificial intelligence, he would still have been writing from an older paradigm, and the result could never have described our situation today, nor suggested where we might be heading."

In terms of a unilateral world sure. But who's to say that the media planners of Pentagon are any different from "The Truth ministry" or indeed the War strategeists not the same brotherhood of "The Ministry of Peace".

"Elsewhere, driven by the acceleration of computing power and connectivity and the simultaneous development of surveillance systems and tracking technologies, we are approaching a theoretical state of absolute informational transparency, one in which "Orwellian" scrutiny is no longer a strictly hierarchical, top-down activity, but to some extent a democratized one. As individuals steadily lose degrees of privacy, so, too, do corporations and states. Loss of traditional privacies may seem in the short term to be driven by issues of national security, but this may prove in time to have been intrinsic to the nature of ubiquitous information."

Well without context free info is nothing but data. Rich, complex & totally useless as far as enlightment goes.

"The media of "1984" are broadcast technology imagined in the service of a totalitarian state, and no different from the media of Saddam Hussein's Iraq or of North Korea today — technologically backward societies in which information is still mostly broadcast. Indeed, today, reliance on broadcasting is the very definition of a technologically backward society."

Agreed. But technologically advanced countries with all their sources of democratic info were led a merry dance by various media 'embedded' or otherwise too.

"In the age of the leak and the blog, of evidence extraction and link discovery, truths will either out or be outed, later if not sooner. This is something I would bring to the attention of every diplomat, politician and corporate leader: the future, eventually, will find you out. The future, wielding unimaginable tools of transparency, will have its way with you. In the end, you will be seen to have done that which you did."

By which time regimes would change, 'roadmaps' be laid, scores of innocent killed & the guilty be safely writing memoirs which sell for millions of dollars.

"Regardless of the number and power of the tools used to extract patterns from information, any sense of meaning depends on context, with interpretation coming along in support of one agenda or another. A world of informational transparency will necessarily be one of deliriously multiple viewpoints, shot through with misinformation, disinformation, conspiracy theories and a quotidian degree of madness. We may be able to see what's going on more quickly, but that doesn't mean we'll agree about it any more readily."

Some insight at last. And who wins in such a scenario? The one's with the necessary manpower & technology to harness that info to their advantage. (any prizes for guessing who todays 'Big Brother' could be ?)

He concludes by saying "This is not to say that Orwell failed in any way, but rather that he succeeded. "1984" remains one of the quickest and most succinct routes to the core realities of 1948. If you wish to know an era, study its most lucid nightmares. In the mirrors of our darkest fears, much will be revealed. But don't mistake those mirrors for road maps to the future, or even to the present."

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Bottomline:Maybe it's just my 3rd world perspective . But surely anyone who has read '1984' as something more than a book of predictions sees dangerous similar portents in the world today. The tools have changed & communism is irrelevent as Gibson says. But the core motivation (maintenance of power by any means) & the chief means used(control/manipulation of info) remains the same though it's no longer a multipolar world as in Oceania, Eastasia or Eurasia. Unlike Gibson I find Orwell's '1984' more relevent in todays unipolar world with all the information revolution then at any point of time before.

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Hari Puttar vs Froddo Baggins

As others before me I was struck by the many 'inspirations' Rowling had from J.R.R Tolkien's middle-earth. Much of Rowling's work seemed to be dumbed down versions placed in a contemporary setting. Adventures of young people(very much 'inspired' by Enid Blyton), a dash of Quidditch(wizards version of cricket+football), some inventive writing (of her own) describing Hogwart the wizards school, an oriental touch as 'Hari Puttar' becomes a global success story by book 4 & there you have it ...an all-time bestselling series.

Here is an attempt to cite some of the more obvious ones:
1.) Professor Dumbledore: A not very well disguised Gandalf placed in contemporary milleu.
Similarities:
- tall & thin, a wand for a staff, shiny purple( funky !!) cloak for grey robes(white at the end), same old long & pointed white beard .
- usually around when help is required as Gandalf; not as influential in guiding the actions of the forces of good though.
Artistic liberties: high heeled buckled boots, half-moon spectacles (i.e new age weakness due to pollution or more likely a Bolywood style Professors wear spectacles thing) replacing Mithrandhir and his long range vision.
2) Dementor: A demystified & not so scary Black Rider clone.
Similarities: In J.K.Rowling words"..cloaked figure, face hidden, long slow rattling breath sucking all positive emotions out of surroundings... a cold feeling hitting the chest, indeed the very insides of the heart"...nothing but a simple translation from LOTR's description of the Ringwraiths.
Artistic liberties:described the skin as".. glistening, greyish,slimy looking and scabbed like something dead that had decayed in water ". Ringwraiths had no physical form, they wore a black cloak to give them a sense of form.
3.) Lord Voldemort: Not exactly Lord Sauron or as powerful but many similarities
Similarities:
- Like Sauron, Voldemort goes into exile & plots a way to get back his powers; only alluded to in the first 3 parts of Rowling's books & arises in the 4th to confront Harry.
- As in LOTR is not named by people in fear refered to as "You-know -who", The Dark Lord
- He has his inner circle of masked wizards refered to as Death Eaters i.e similar in position to Ringwraiths but are wizards .
- He casts a spell on a Diary through which he can reach out to whoever possesses it. Not quite the Palantir of LOTR but maybe similar in concept.
- His red eyes gleam at night but ummm... isn't quite "The Red Eye".
Artistic liberties: Physical manifestation of what was only an evil spirit/will in LOTR. Described as" ..tall skeleatally thin, whiter than a skull, livid scarlet eyes, nose as flat as a snake, with slits for nostrils, livid scarlet eyes, hands like large pale spiders wearing black robes."
other innovations: a mark in the hands of followers which glows when he is near/restored to full powers; also seen in the sky when properly conjured up.
4.) Invisible cloak: combination of an elvish robe made by Galladriel & the one ring. Not remotely as powerful or influential though.
5.)The Sorting Hat: not quite The mirror of Galadriel but similar in concept(though a little dumbed down) of seeing one's mind deepest desires.
6) Giant Spiders: inspired by Shelob in LOTR
7) House-elf: Dobby inspired by Golum in terms of appearance & speech. A complete distortion of elves as described in LOTR where they are fair, taller than dwarves & have endless lives.

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Timshel signs in to blog space...

I finished reading "Lord of the Rings" today(at last!). J.R.R. Tolkein didn't seem to share too much of my predicament...his characters dwell in relative peace(of mind) amidst ideals, reason, logic & mystical powers. Amazing description of the middle-earth...can't believe it can come from a person's imagination. Maybe it does /did exist. But then again he spent his whole life creating these myths; eveything from language, it's script, & detailed history of many Ages.

As the story moves on I felt that it outgrew any fable/myth(his self-professed goal was to create proper English fables set somewhere in England) and like all great stories gained the qualities of timelessness & immediate relevence. A story about the struggle of good & evil across all agesm, a tale of ideals,courage, loyalty& integrity...power & its corrupting influence...a celebration of all that is wonderful in nature & in life with due warnings to not take nature for granted, and thru the characterization of the Hobbits an affirmation that it is often the childlike qualities(eg. innocence, irreverence, curiosity) in us that we have to call upon at times of grave danger.

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