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All That Glisters  by Lindelea 5 Review(s)
BodkinReviewed Chapter: 47 on 12/9/2004
‘I’ll hold him down while you examine him,’ Elladan said, ever helpful.

It's always good to have a helper around! Although I think Pippin's right - there isn't much that Aragorn can do for him at this point.

Poor Posey. Those wretched healers smile and appear calm, but she's picked up all the clues. Are they going to talk to her about their findings or is she just going to assume?

At least Elanor should recover! And without the help of healers.

Author Reply: The healer's dilemma. What do you say, and how much do you tell? If you tell a patient that they have a terminal disease and can be expected to live "so long", too often they fulfill the prophecy, and not because the prophecy was accurate but because it sets off something in their head.

It was a problem we ran into, getting hospice care. You have to have a doctor certify that a patient has six months to live. The doctor handling our loved one's case said, "But he could live another five years! Or die next week!" And so we were caught in the bind, unable to get respite or hospice aid or anything else, until it was obvious that the end was at hand.

I'm sure the healers will say something. Just not sure what.

Thanks for commenting.

Grey WondererReviewed Chapter: 47 on 12/9/2004
Now this should be good. Holding Pippin down for an exam. That should strengthen his love of healers. LOL So sad when little Elenor realized what was meant by a cold carrying off the Thain. I am still wondering about Jack and company and the threat of kidnap and now if Strider will get the chance to find out what is troubling Pippin. So much more must be coming in this one. Also, I found myself wondering if Pip and Posey might just have a talk later about a 'short, merry, life.' Or maybe Hilly and Diamond?


Author Reply: Lots more coming, though not many chapters left in the draft. We'll see how they show up in revision.

Ooo, interesting idea, Pip and Posey or Hilly and Diamond... hadn't thought of that.

Thanks!

DreamflowerReviewed Chapter: 47 on 12/8/2004
Oh-ho Strider, you know Pippin all too well! Can the King possibly be as stubborn as the Thain? For that's what it will come down to...

Author Reply: Ooo, a "stubborn" contest! Sounds interesting. Thanks!

FantasyFanReviewed Chapter: 47 on 12/8/2004
Elladan comes in for a little teasing here, doesn't he? It's almost hobbity, and his final line sounds just like Merry to me. He's also the one who's figured out what the hobbits are thinking. Good thing Pippin's stubbornness is at least a match for his illness, for a long time.

So now there are two hobbits believing themselves to be living under a death sentence. We've seen Pippin's attitude all along: to be Merry while life lasts, and to do as much as he can while he can for those he will leave behind. He never shirks his duty, and his love for them all is fierce in its intensity. Posey's attitude seems a little more gentle, but no less loving and with a calm acceptance that is enviable. Not a trace of self-pity between them.
Certainly three is a grace given to these hobbits, that they can live in the somewhere between with this degree of serenity.

Author Reply: True, I hadn't thought of it that way: Pippin's stubbornness *is* a match for his illness, for a long time! Reminds me of what an oncology doctor said about a loved one: he could live another five years or more, or he could decide to give up the fight and die in days...

I think of Pippin's reaction when he believed he was dying under the troll, and Frodo's calmness "at the end of all things" (and Sam's). Little things like that are the basis for the hobbity serenity in the face of eternity, as I write it.

Thanks!

Connie B.Reviewed Chapter: 47 on 12/8/2004
Now Ellie's sick. What an interesting little chapter. Ellie has a cold, Posey knows there's something serious wrong with her, but not what it is, and the King knows there is more to Pippin's situation than his old injuries.

I still don't know what's wrong with Posey. At first I thought it might be a tumor of some sort, now I'm not sure. Could it be a blood disorder? Things that make you go "hmm".

I wish Pippin would let Aragorn help him, but he's as stubborn as they come, and he's not going to "waste the king's time" on a lost cause. For that's what I think even he believes it is.

Thanks.

Connie B.

Author Reply: FantasyFan has suggested cervical cancer and I am leaning in that direction.

Yes, even Pippin believes his health is a lost cause. And it is... until the Ent draught.

Thanks!

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