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| Learning to Live by Bodkin | 14 Review(s) |
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| Kitty | Reviewed Chapter: 1 on 8/9/2006 |
| Beautiful descriptions of the surrounding landscape and of Oropher's thoughts and feelings, Bodkin! Most of the elves, if not all, who were released from Namo's Hall have some bad memories to get to terms with, I think, but for the leaders is is even worse. They haven not only their own death and other bad things to work through, but the fact they had to lead others to their death and that they had to make decisions that not always were right and had bad repercussions for others. That goes for Oropher, too, and it can't be easy. And to go even through the ones which had faded in their first life ... The way how Oropher handled this was impressing and proves him wise and strong. He may not be able to be with too many others at the moment, but I think he is slowly coming to terms with his past and moving in the right direction, to be able to get his new life under control. And it is quite a contrast to Taryatur, who - as far as I can tell - has faced horrors and traumas not to this extend and is coping much less well with them. Oropher has learned to live with it and to move on. In this ficlet he seems so much more mature than Taryatur, whose aversion against Legolas mostly because he is Oropher's grandson seems so petty (I know, Legolas has taken his daughter away, but still, his grandfather was one of the reasons why Taryatur didn't want anything to do with him, wasn't he?) And Oropher is willing to accept help, while Taryatur refuses it. Truly, it will be interesting to have Oropher and Taryatur meet again some day, and I hope you will tell the story then. And I hope Oropher will have his wife back, too. He deserves that much happiness. Author Reply: I hope Oropher's wife returns too! He seems to me to be the sort of elf who is very challenging with other males - but who deals very differently with females. I think he's already very comfortable with his granddaughter ... (might have been a good idea to send him off with her to help his recovery) ... and he really, really needs his wife. I'm sure she knows that, too - and one of my suspicions about this returning to the world business is that there is some element of being needed as a stimulus. So, fingers crossed! I think that coming to terms with your life is part of the process of preparing for return - and one of the reasons that many of the leaders don't seem to be rehoused ... I mean, where are Fingolfin and Turgon and Elu and Fingon and so on? ... And then, adjusting when you are an unhoused spirit and free of emotion and not dealing with the response of others ... it's different. And you would need a whole new period of adjustment once you had to deal with the weight of a body. Oropher - in typical Oropher fashion - rushed his return, I think. Determined that he was all right and didn't need all those hours of sitting around emoting with Este's counsellors. And they let him go - because he is a person who will only learn from experience. Oddly!! I think death helps with coming to terms with some experiences. It removes the emotional element - and I see it as being peaceful and timeless. Taryatur didn't have that and he has been bottling up some experiences that he feels are too horrific to share - he doesn't want to distress his family. He deals with it all badly, but doesn't know how to get out of the groove. I'm sure Oropher and Taryatur will meet some time. Not yet, though. Oropher needs to learn to live - and Taryatur needs to release some pressure. Thank you, Kitty. Glad you liked it. | |
| French Pony | Reviewed Chapter: 1 on 8/9/2006 |
| Oropher shows rare wisdom when he realizes that he served when he did his king's bidding, but that he served even more when he became the King. Very few leaders recognize that, but the ones who do are the ones who become great. I love all the different ways that you show the Blessed Realm as a place of healing. Not of "being healed," but the more active, hardworking state of "healing." The Elves have to work hard at it and really think about and confront who they are and what they want out of life. They don't have the option of simply picking something to do and saying "ah, life's too short," or "ah, you only live once." They have to learn to know themselves, and you have a real talent for showing us the thoughts of characters examining themselves honestly. Author Reply: I tend to think that most of the elven leaders of Middle-earth have learned the noblesse oblige lesson - in a way I imagine that living until slain would help develop that sort of long-term perspective. Oropher has also learned that when you are young you think you know everything - but age teaches you that you don't. That could be useful, too! The Blessed Realm would be a very dull place if everybody sat around on clouds playing harps - and, short of manna being provided at regular intervals, some elves would still be working to provide for the rest. I do prefer to think of it as a place of conscious enlightenment and improvement - and healing, too. And the business of being rehoused - well, why some people and not others? What made Finrod ready, but not Fingon? And then you sort of have to develop theories to support the stories! I like to think as the elves as striving towards healing and learning to live better and more understanding lives! Thank you, FP. | |
| daw the minstrel | Reviewed Chapter: 1 on 8/9/2006 |
| a butterfly emerging from a chrysalis, naked and pale, his wings crumpled, everything new and strange. Geez, Bodkin. How do you do that? That is so gorgeous and so apt. And in Oropher you can see the weight of the elves' long lives and too tenacious memories. We all make mistakes and if you're in a position of power, those mistakes can have huge consequences. But at least we don't have thousands of years of such mistakes accumulating! Oropher shows his courage in learning to live again with everything he was. Author Reply: Too much memory is not a good thing - especially when the really painful ones remain as sharp as they were on first creation. Hopefully he will get better at veiling them. I think, when first rehoused, all memories and experiences would be equally vivid - and perhaps one of the things the arrived need to do is to file them away. And then - the more responsibility, the more you have to blame yourself for. Perhaps why the likes of Oropher and Fingolfin and Elu remain for so long in Namo's care... Oropher is a courageous elf. Brave and bold and intelligent and obstinate. And a little too reckless. But he will learn to live again, if he can only summon the patience - and he doesn't really have the option! Thank you, daw. And I'm glad you like the image. Which just came like that! | |
| perelleth | Reviewed Chapter: 1 on 8/9/2006 |
| Oh my, that was exquisite, Bodkin! I am again amazed at the way you manage to see -and make us see- the mood and the environment, the atmosphere and the feelings, nature and the inner turmoil of this stubborn elf fighting to come to terms with his new-old self. IT is a strange, lovely -if painful- moment of introspection for this one, honest to the bone with himself when there is none but himself to witness his account... Another day had passed to night while he sat and brooded It is good that he is capable of doing that... I love how he wavers from his old stubborn self to his raw vulnerability, alone in a forest facing his new life as a continuation of the old one, one that could not be understood without the first one... and still himself. He stared accusingly at the impassive blue of the sky. LOL And of course loved the last image of the stubborn, renewed elf emerging from the pool in the moonlight, ready to face this new challenge with his old strength and his newly acquired wisdom. Thank-you, Bodkin, this really moved me. We can wait for Finrod. Author Reply: Thank you, Perelleth. I'm glad you liked it! Finrod is willing to wait for Taryatur and Legolas to finish their ... outing - and that will be better than trying to do too many things at once! I feel for Oropher - he is such a determined, obstinate elf. They would only have to say to him, 'Take it easy - don't rush trying to return. Give yourself time to remember what it feels like to be wearing a body. Let the dust settle...' and he would be out there, sure he knew what was best for him. He needs to be able to pull down shutters, I think - everything it too new and too alive and too painful. And time in Namo's Halls must be about smoothing off edges - accepting responsibility and understanding its limitations. The difference between guilt and culpability. He is ready, I think, to make a start and no longer expects it all to happen at once. He is best alone now - or, at least, nearly alone. A companion who can watch and listen and knows when to be silent would be a plus. Especially if she was female. And his wife. But I think he might have to wait a while for that. Happy birthday, Perelleth, and many of them. May you have a very good day, followed by a year to match. | |