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| The Acceptable Sacrifice by Larner | 9 Review(s) |
|---|---|
| Bodkin | Reviewed Chapter: 78 on 1/31/2006 |
| Sam's confidence is growing, it seems to me. He will be ready to be the heir of Bag End when Frodo goes. Frodo seems shaken by Lobelia's death - and bequest. The pictures he mislays are a good way for him to try to clear his head - and to pass on information all unknowing. And it will probably do Merry some good to let out his story. Mina makes a good listener and she really wants to know what happened - unlike many others. Author Reply: Yes, I think you're right here on all counts. Sam is able to forge his way back into life where Frodo can't; and so Frodo in the end passes on not only the home he loves but cannot fill with his own children, but also the life he can no longer live fully, for Sam to fulfill it for him. The idea that Lobelia is at last able to want good for the others she and Lotho had hurt must have been a profound shock, finding that his hopes for good in all others are at last fulfilled in at least one individual from whom he's known only libel, fussiness, and envy all his life. But at least he's not as overwhelmed as he was when he lost the coin to regain Bag End! And he's not completely successful in his attempts to hide what he's been through. Please forgive me if I don't post again for a few days--we had severe windstorms which caused power outages and spikes and MORE damage to my personal desktop--and I can't transfer files at the moment to this one, which is the network server, since I have to get a card to put the laptop on line. Friday the Thirteenth hit here the thirtieth and thirty-first of January! | |
| Andrea | Reviewed Chapter: 78 on 1/30/2006 |
| I like Mina! She's such a good soul. She's always there, when someone needs her, giving support with simple things, a cup of tea, hot water, a towel. And she is able to simply listen. So she has come to know much more of the quest than anyone else. She has used her knowledge to help Frodo through his illnesses and she herself has been of much help for each of the four travellers. I agree that Merry, now that he has spoken to Mina may find it much easier to speak to his parents. Author Reply: So glad you like her, for we all need someone like this who accepts without understanding and so, in the end, comes to understand more than she'd expected. And glad you agree that Merry will find things easier from now on. Next chapter is delayed--having computer problems--an A drive on one that doesn't work, my personal desktop took some storm damage--AGAIN!--and the laptop can't get into the network yet. GAACK! | |
| Lady Saruman | Reviewed Chapter: 78 on 1/30/2006 |
| i have finally managed to catch up with your stories!!! they are absoulutely surprising, and it kinda holds a trial for frodo and aragorn. but, now i can read one chapter at a time. i sent this at like eight o clock on 1/29/06, but why it says 1/30, i dont know. happy chinese new year, and here's mula, $60,000!!!!!! -Lady Saruman ^_^ Author Reply: And a joyful Chinese New Year to you, too! I thank you and offer you a good $100,000 in virtual scrip in return. Glad you feel you're caught up. But from now on it will be a chapter at a time, if you've managed to read them all. | |
| Kitty | Reviewed Chapter: 78 on 1/30/2006 |
| What a joy and comfort for Frodo to know Lobelia changed so much during her last months! And he has his coin back! :) Hm ... what has Benlo said to upset Frodo so much, I wonder? And it is a bit sad Frodo is so angry at Merry for being concerned! His cousins know him and what had happened too well to hide everything from them, I'd think. Oh, I am glad Merry and Mina got to talk with each other. I think it could help Merry to talk with someone who is willing and able to understand at least much of it, and maybe it helps him to open up to his family, too. And Mina and her family are obviously some of the few Hobbits able to accept all this to a great extent nearly from the beginning. (I suppose over the years there will be more - Narcissa, Fosco and Forsythia, Brendi, Isumbard ...) Author Reply: To find out precisely how Benlo upset Frodo, you sort of need to have read "Stricken from the Book" in "Moments in Time." (I do weave them together, don't I?) It's not necessary to this story to know it, of course; but it wasn't something intended to upset Frodo, after all--just one of his less rational reactions to what Benlo told him. But when Frodo doesn't feel good, as happens with too many people, he overreacts, and may strike out at those who are closest to him, as he did at Aragorn on the way to Edoras and as he does now with Merry. Merry does get to confide to Mina, which will help him eventually open up to his family. It gives Mina more information to help her further understand Frodo. Mina, Bucca, and Aster are among the first "everyday" Hobbits to appreciate what the four Travelers have done for Middle Earth. And it is a relief to know that Lobelia has changed as she did; and it gives Frodo back his coin, which in the end becomes a symbol for his eventual healing. | |
| French Pony | Reviewed Chapter: 78 on 1/29/2006 |
| Merry's finally discovered that Mina is trustworthy, yes? She deserves to know all they went through after she's been so good about taking care of Frodo. Author Reply: Yes, Merry is realizing there is at least one person who already is beginning to understand, and is beginning to tell, which in the end will help him open up to his family. And Mina is coming to need to understand what's happened to the younger Hobbit she's come to feel towards as she does her lost son. | |
| Linda Hoyland | Reviewed Chapter: 78 on 1/29/2006 |
| It is interesting that Sam can use the athelas. it must be so hard for the Shire folk to comprehend things like the Nazgul Author Reply: I've long felt that Sam could use the athelas, which would be necessary if Aragorn, Sam, and Frodo were the spiritual brothers I've imagined. I agree, Hobbits would have a hard time understanding the level of evil the Nazgul represent. They can't imagine that evil won't touch them, however, not after they've been through the Time of Troubles. | |
| Queen Galadriel | Reviewed Chapter: 78 on 1/29/2006 |
| Oh dear. Either Merry went one step too far, or Frodo is just being stubborn, and now he (Frodo) is angry. *sigh* That's the last thing they need right now. I'm glad Merry and Mina got to have this conversation. Mina is as understanding as she possibly can be, and I think it does them all good to talk to her, even if they don't realise it at the time. And now I really can't wait for the next chapter. I think I might have to reread "Choice of Healing" very soon, much as I want to finish "Ties of Family. " :) God bless, Galadriel Author Reply: I suspect it's most Frodo, still feeling sufficiently fragile to be offended by what when ill he sees as prying into his business. But he needs to confide, something that gets harder the more he puts off doing so. I've had to reread much of many of my stories to keep this one consistent, or so I've found. | |
| harrowcat | Reviewed Chapter: 78 on 1/29/2006 |
| Well done Mina! More healing and greater understanding happening all the time but not, unfortunately, for everyone. At our lowest we lash out at those who are closest and dearest. To those who are less dear it is often easier to keep a better face/mask for. That is also why many patients/clients behave better for paid 'carers' or nurses than they do for relatives. I liked the little and often and then more but less often approach to the feeding. Rang a few bells at the moment! I was really touched by Demeter'd's prayers. Thanks for passing them on to us and please pass my thanks back. Author Reply: I'm experienced with how those who are ill will take out their feelings on those they love most--have been there and done that, believe me. Frodo knows Merry understands about as much as any can, but still tries to deny it even to him. But Mina is helping Merry begin to relax some, helping prepare him for when he finally opens to his family. I based the eating schedule on what has been described in descriptions of starvation victims, survivors of the Nazi concentration camps, and what we were told to do with a kitten who'd been caught in someone's garage for several days. And passed your appreciation to Demeter D. | |
| Dreamflower | Reviewed Chapter: 78 on 1/29/2006 |
| I'm so glad that Lobelia's bequest was able to cheer Frodo up for a while. And I'm glad that Merry unburdened himself to Mina--he was doing so for Frodo's sake, but I am quite sure that making himself talk about it would have helped him as well. I think by the end, Mina is going to be one of the handful in the Shire who truly know the whole story. Author Reply: Lobelia's repentance and wish to make things right would have been a great restorative to Frodo, I think. I agree about Merry helping himself as well as Frodo; and indeed Mina and Bucca and his family will be among the core of those who will know and appreciate all that the four did out there, particularly Frodo and Sam. There needs to be that core to aid in the final acceptance of the place the Shire will hold in the outer world, I think | |