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| Eleventy-one Years: Too Short a Time by Dreamflower | 173 Review(s) |
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| KathyG | Reviewed Chapter: 42 on 3/19/2022 |
| Interesting! In "Belladonna's Gift," the healer is Mistress Rose Greenhand, but in this sequel to that story, she's Mistress Sage. Did Mistress Sage take over as healer before Belladonna died? Or get married? This chapter is getting set to have quite a personal meaning for me, as my own mother, who is 92, is getting ready to leave this world. The day is coming when my sister and I will have to face what Bilbo faces in this story. It's definitely a good thing that he doesn't have to endure his grief alone! And good riddance to Longo; he is one relative whose company Bilbo should not have to endure, least of all at his mother's funeral. | |
| KathyG | Reviewed Chapter: 45 on 2/24/2015 |
| "He had a lot to do if he was to go off visit his Brandybuck relations at the end of the week. This was Hevensday, and he'd be heading off on Highday. Only four days counting today! He had a couple of eggs he'd put into the embers to roast last night and some toast and bacon, and then did the washing up. He wanted Bag End to be fresh and clean when he returned from his brief journey. If he started today he'd be quite finished by the time it came for him to leave." Hmm. The best laid schemes o' Mice an' Men,/Gang aft agley, LOL! Little does Bilbo know what's about to happen. =) | |
| KathyG | Reviewed Chapter: 45 on 8/4/2014 |
| Now all that remains is to commence writing Part 2 of this great story! (hint, hint! =)) | |
| KathyG | Reviewed Chapter: 6 on 6/29/2014 |
| I do believe that the responsibility worked much better in Bilbo's case than a punishment would have done. Bungo was a wise father to figure that out. Author Reply: I think you are right. While there was an element of punishment there (it definitely cut into Bilbo's free time) it was mostly a lesson in trust and responsibility, as you say. Bungo was indeed a very wise father! | |
| Andrea | Reviewed Chapter: 45 on 5/29/2014 |
| Great ending! The newly painted green door, the long pipe and the famous start of Bilbo's well-known conversation with Gandalf - everything fits. Has Bilbo really forgotten Gandalf? A long time ago he promised Gandalf that such a thing would never happen. And this was Gandalf's reply: “Never is a long time, young hobbit. I think that you will forget for a time--but when the time is right, you will indeed remember!” (Chapter 29) Author Reply: Exactly! Gandalf did indeed muddle Bilbo's memories a bit. I am sure over that time, if someone had directly asked him: "Oh, say, do you remember Gandalf?" he have said something like "Oh yes! He made wonderful fireworks!" and then the memory would have just slid away again. Gandalf knew that for a while Bilbo's family would need him--he wasn't free to be lured away by Adventure with them in poor health. But once he was face to face with the wizard again, that would be a different story, and the minor enchantment would be broken. Author Reply: Exactly! Gandalf did indeed muddle Bilbo's memories a bit. I am sure over that time, if someone had directly asked him: "Oh, say, do you remember Gandalf?" he have said something like "Oh yes! He made wonderful fireworks!" and then the memory would have just slid away again. Gandalf knew that for a while Bilbo's family would need him--he wasn't free to be lured away by Adventure with them in poor health. But once he was face to face with the wizard again, that would be a different story, and the minor enchantment would be broken. | |
| Andrea | Reviewed Chapter: 44 on 5/29/2014 |
| Poor Drogo, afraid to go out of the door because of that stalking Bracegirdle lass! But it was not a bad decision to go to Buckland, for there he met Primula! Author Reply: :D Exactly. Of course, Primula is far too young at this point for him even to consider. But she's not too young to consider him; and unlike Lobelia, she's far too bright to stalk him, even at her young age. | |
| Larner | Reviewed Chapter: 45 on 5/28/2014 |
| Aha! That so infamous "Good Morning!" that was to have so many possible interpretations and such an impact upon Middle Earth! A lovely ending to part one! And Taro and Togo are contemplating painting their rooms, are they? Will their parents bless or curse Bilbo for the idea, I wonder? Heh! Thanks for a most interesting first fifty years. Author Reply: Yes, that "Good morning". I thought of quoting the whole passage, but really every reader pretty much knows that one by heart--it would have just been padding. You are most welcome! I hope that it's helped many readers to realize that Bilbo had a pretty full life even before Gandalf put that mark on his door. Author Reply: Yes, that "Good morning". I thought of quoting the whole passage, but really every reader pretty much knows that one by heart--it would have just been padding. You are most welcome! I hope that it's helped many readers to realize that Bilbo had a pretty full life even before Gandalf put that mark on his door. | |
| KathyG | Reviewed Chapter: 45 on 5/28/2014 |
| LOL! Christopher Tolkien should hire you to work with him on expanding his father's Middle-earth stories, Dreamflower, seeing as you do such a great job of fleshing out the lives of the hobbits and making them seem like real people--uh, hobbits. =) This novel is no exception. There's just one thing I've noticed about your final chapter. In the book, the door was re-painted a week before Gandalf and the Dwarves came to Bag End for tea, but I noticed that in your story, you had that paint job done just 3 days before their fateful visit. So you've given the final chapter of your story a slightly AU slant. Author Reply: You know, that's true. Oh well, it's not quite as bad as making Reggie's age a generation too old! | |
| Andrea | Reviewed Chapter: 43 on 5/28/2014 |
| He could not help but feel grateful that he was unlikely to have many future dealings with Miss Lobelia Bracegirdle. Oh dear! He should keep this innocent feeling as long as possible. Soon he will see that he can't avoid her! P.S.: Since Tolkien was a Professor for Language and not Mathematics he is excused for this minor inaccuracy ;-) | |
| Lindelea | Reviewed Chapter: 45 on 5/28/2014 |
| You finished! And yes, the freshly painted green door. I remember that detail. And the long pipe, that reached nearly to his neatly brushed toes. Lovely job of tying up the loose ends. I was wondering about his pupils, if they'd arrive the day after he left, to find the smial abandoned. But no, you've managed it very neatly, with him officially off on a month-long visit to Buckland. Reminds me of Frodo's pretense of moving to Buckland, at the beginning of *his* journey. Only for Bilbo, it wasn't supposed to be a pretense... (A little sad as I think how worried and eventually grieved his friends and loved ones will be. You don't necessarily think of such things while reading The Hobbit -- there's all the adventure, and then the bustle of the auction, rather comical. The joyful reunions aren't even mentioned, just the bother and disappointment of the S-Bs, if I remember right.) Author Reply: You are quite right about it all, though the alarm over his departure is not delayed as long as it might have been, since his departure with the Dwarves in Bywater was observed. I'm actually thinking along those lines for a story--but my other WIPs must come first! | |