News Resources
Login
Become a member
Help
Search
|
|
| About Us News Resources
Login
Become a member
Help
Search
|
|
|
| The Acceptable Sacrifice by Larner | 14 Review(s) |
|---|---|
| grumpy | Reviewed Chapter: 67 on 1/22/2006 |
| So Aragorn's circlets of honor are still causing things to happen. I think Sam makes a fine head of family. He has a lot of hobbit sense. Glad that Sam is looking after Frodo's spider bite. Author Reply: I agree about Sam making a fine head of the family in spite of being the youngest of the adults. He's learned a great deal, and is the most experienced of all of them. | |
| French Pony | Reviewed Chapter: 67 on 1/16/2006 |
| Oops -- I seem to have missed this chapter somehow. But now I have read it, so that's all good. I'm glad I did, for I was kind of wondering how Sam got to be head of his family. Your explanation does make sense, and it was humorously executed. I loved the scene of Sam's circlet suddenly falling out of his pack and him having to fess up to having become a VIP. Author Reply: Have done that, too--managed to skip a chapter and have to go back and read it. So glad you appreciated how Sam got the first recognition which in the end led to him becoming Mayor down the road. And it must have been quite the time explaining how he was now a Lord of the Free Peoples. | |
| Radbooks | Reviewed Chapter: 67 on 1/15/2006 |
| I love the image of Sam standing there in his Gondorian clothes all embarrassed and yet having to represent his family. They couldn't have picked a better person for the job! :) Plus it gave Merry and Pippin a wonderful opportunity to tease him, if only gently. Good to see that even though Frodo tried to take the blame for the start of the Troubles happening when he sold Lotho Bag End, everyone else knew that it started well before that. More info about the trip came out the dinner too and at least they started to find ways to get information on who was doing what during that time. Much easier if each family was looking into things than if one person was having to do all the work. I enjoyed the talk between Sam and Mina though I was surprised he would tell her so much. But it was just the basic facts and not too much details and so those kinds of things aren't too hard to tell to anyone... they aren't emotional. Author Reply: Yes, the idea of Sam in his Gondorian dress is a pleasant one, and would allow those of the Shire to begin to see him not just as gardener who worked for others, but as one who has known strange experiences in the outer world and is to be respected. And the practicality of the Shire would help to keep the folk who mattered from blaming Frodo or accepting his own self-blaming for what happened, and in the end will work to his betterment as he heals spiritually. Plus this does make it better to find out the extent of what happened to folk and who were most involved other than the Big Men and Lotho's closest cronies. Sam is the most likely, I think, to say what had happened, as long (as you pointed out) as it isn't the truly emotional aspects of the quest--other than the most joyful ones associated with Aragorn. | |
| Queen Galadriel | Reviewed Chapter: 67 on 1/15/2006 |
| "And Uncle Andy insists I write somethin’ in Elvish by each one’s name, too." I didn't realise how that compares to the oh-so-familiar "Ooo! Can you write my name in bumps?" (I'm not exagerating :)), but it does! I once knew a little girl who begged me, and then she taped the name tag to her shirt; and when she got home she put it on her fridge! I was shocked and a little embarrassed at the time. :) Author Reply: Oh, I know. Have had to write so many things in Braille for sighted students who study alongside my blind ones. And I do think that Andy is likely to be more romantically inclined, as Sam was, when it comes to wanting to follow stories of Elves and the like. The idea Sam knew some Elvish undoubtedly tickled him. | |
| Andrea | Reviewed Chapter: 67 on 1/15/2006 |
| “I’ll tell your da about a certain stone and well in Moria,” Frodo warned. “Go ahead. It will only confirm what we all know anyway, that I’m a fool of a Took. He’d be more concerned if I hadn’t dropped it in, you know.” LOL!!! That was great! What else could be expected from the Took family! I enjoyed reading the story how Sam became family head! I can see him wearing his Gondorian outfit, feeling embarrassed but also proud. I like Sam's style of telling the story, straightforward and simple, but also thrilling. “Thank you for telling me what happened.” “What I could tell you.” “Hopefully as it’s enough to help me understand--at least some.” “Some,” he agreed, and he took his pack and headed for the stables. Mina is wonderful. In contrast to some other hobbits she really tries to understand what happened. She would like to help Frodo as much as possible, but as Sam pointed out, Frodo would never allow her to do so. Author Reply: Pippin wouldn't care abou such threats, would he? Glad you appreciate his response. Sam's natural dignity stands him well in such moments, and it's the first public function at which he is allowed to be seen as more than just a gardener, helping to pave the way for the time he will be Mayor of the Shire. And, yes, Mina is pretty wonderful, seeking to understand and do, yet accepting Frodo as he is without fully understanding. The two need one another now. | |
| Kitty | Reviewed Chapter: 67 on 1/15/2006 |
| They insisted Sam should be family head? The other Gamgees are very reasonable people, I’d say *grin* Sam himself may not like it, but it’s the first step for him becoming Mayor, isn’t it? He now has experiences no other Gamgee ever had and a far deeper understanding of many things and outside of the Shire, too. I’m glad nobody of the other family heads objected to this, even if it’s probably none of their business who’s family head. So they told the family heads a bit, and Sam told Mina? Well, it’s a start, although I’m not sure how much they can understand. Mina, on the other hand, knows already a bit, and I suppose it will help her to understand more – a good thing as long as Frodo is staying with her some days every week. And it’s still interesting to see how the hobbits started to investigate what Lotho did and who was his victim and who was his ally, and in case of the latter, forced or out of their own free will. Author Reply: Well, of course Sam would end up family head, and all the others in his family would be very pleased--the best educated and most literate and traveled in the family is now the one who keeps the book and sees to family business and interactions with others. And it is indeed the first step with the other Hobbits of the Shire, to becoming Mayor. Mina is trying to understand, at least; and by learning in bits and pieces is probably in a better position to understand almost all in the long run. As for the investigations--they are necessary; and the distinctions between those who were coerced or blackmailed, and those who willingly conspired would be very necessary to learn that the proper remedies are offered in each case. This would be desired, I think, throughout the Shire. | |
| Baggins Babe | Reviewed Chapter: 67 on 1/15/2006 |
| So even Mina has 'eyes to see.' She seems to really appreciate Frodo - and Sam, and has a greater understanding of what they've been through than her husband. A very perceptive lady. I loved Sam's description of how he has become family head. Of all the families one would imagine might dismiss the whole thing, the sensible Gamgees were at the top of the list, yet they have accepted that he has been enobled, and they recognise his intelligence and wisdom. Good that his recognition begins with his own kin. Ironic that Sam is having less trouble explaining things to his folk than Merry and Pippin are to theirs. Sam's embarrassment was funny - all done up in his Gondorian outfit! And nice to note Will's surprise that Sam can read and write Sindarin. Even the down-to-earth Gamgee family are impressed by that and want Elvish script in their family book. They really ganged up on him, didn't they? :-)) Author Reply: Yes, Mina is beginning to see indeed, although she's not perhaps realizing what she's seeing. It's fun to think of the "simpler" families being more accepting of things as they are, where the more sophisticated also have more emotional investment in trying to imagine things were otherwise than they are, or in trying to protect their own from further possible trauma. All the rest of the notables of the Shire are having to come to terms with the fact Sam is NOT a simple soul after all; and Will is just the one we see first appreciating that Bilbo has made certain this "simple" gardener is far better educated than most Hobbits, and now in a far better position to deal with that pesky outer world of which they've been forcibly made aware. Glad you like the manner in which the family ganged up on Sam--it would take that, I think, to get the process of acceptance of authority going for him. | |
| harrowcat | Reviewed Chapter: 67 on 1/15/2006 |
| I always thought that Sam would prove the best at telling the story in a straight forward, if simplified, way. All that listening to Bilbo and Frodo telling tales is paying off, (coupled with his natural ability!) And Mina is understanding with more than her head. Sam as Family head is perfect and as fashion setter? Well all I could do was giggle! But he carries it off with his 'natural dignity'. The bit with the circlets is priceless! As was the question of who knows which languages - Strider beats them all of course! Pippin being to one to continue the custom of facing the west is exactly right. And so we see the beginning of another shire custom. I remember Will finally getting an explanation of it in the King's Commission. I coule go on and on but, as usual I'm now running late! Author Reply: So glad you approve, Harrowcat. Yes, Pippin starts the Standing Silence, and the other three follow; and in time it becomes more and more common throughout the Shire as it is in Gondor, and probably increasingly true throughout the rest of Arnor as well. Sam's first step to Shire-wide recognition is starting here; and he's beginning to tell forth at least what needs to be known and understood; and Mina, who is an emotionally based person, is indeed starting to understand in her heart that which her head doesn't yet know. And so glad you enjoyed the first tale of Sam and the Circlets, and Frodo's attempt to leave his behind. Trust Gandalf not to let him out of his new position, right? Heh! And hugs to Jet, and my respects to your folks. | |
| Bodkin | Reviewed Chapter: 67 on 1/15/2006 |
| Those poor circlets! But they keep turning up, no matter how Frodo and Sam try to minimise them or hide them away. I like your reasoning for Sam becoming family head - it sounds as if his kin were only too happy to find a reason to pass on the task! And his explanation of events is quite straightforward. But it is so much easier to see the drama of battle than the quiet sacrifice of the Frodo/Sam role. Mina, though, has seen more than most and probably has a better grasp of Frodo's suffering. Author Reply: Yes, the circlets keep coming out, allowing others to begin to appreciate just how special the outer world sees Frodo and Sam as being. Sam's own family knows now, and the rest of the Shire will eventually know as well as the one entrusted with the Red Book begins sharing what it contains. Thank Gandalf for knowing this information is needed by those in the Shire. And you are right about the battles being easier to understand than Sam and Frodo's roles in the last fight against Sauron. Mina knows deep loss herself, and is indeed in better shape to fully appreciate what Frodo feels, if not yet why. And certainly he needs that now. | |
| Queen Galadriel | Reviewed Chapter: 67 on 1/14/2006 |
| Forgot to add, I love this bit! When Merry and Pippin began to laugh merrily he flushed even more. “It’s not funny! I’m not supposed to be family head, you know! ... And Uncle Andy insists I write somethin’ in Elvish by each one’s name, too. Seems real impressed I can read and write Sindarin, he does." LOL! Poor Sam! I can sympathise with that feeling! Ha! Oh, and you haven't lost me on TTOF. It's just that between school, working on an original fantasy, trying to write...um...I think six fanfics at once, and a million other things I'm a little bit busy! :) Author Reply: I'm glad you can sympathise--I used to get to write braille names for all my students in regular classes, which could be interesting. As for having sixteen projects at once--there, too, I can sympathise, although I usually try to restrict myself to one story at a time, with occasional one-chapter ones now and then to give myself a break now and then. | |