Or the Statistics of Art, Parentheses Parity and Pencil Parings
Two years ago today, I stepped off a plane in Wellington and said to myself “Well, I’m back.” It had been a while, clearly, and in all honesty, I thought at the time that now, two years along, I’d be repeating myself, but back on the other side of the globe…
As it turns out, things have gone rather differently, but parentheses are undependable entities; you open them, and you’re never quite sure when you will be able to close them again. As it is, a few weeks into shooting, it’s already been quite a journey, albeit an essentially immobile voyage, from Bag End to Wilderland in spirit, though the only real traveling is done by pencil. More..
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Sean Bean is about to star in what many think is going to be another giant step forward for fantasy in popular culture, much like Peter Jackson’s LOTR films. Based on George R.R. Martin’s series of books, HBO is bringing “A Game of Thrones,” from the printed page to the small screen and they also sent TheOneRing.net some exclusive video from Sunday’s premiere with Sean Bean in action. (Martin recently called the film trilogy his all-time favorite fantasy film and is repeatedly on record praising J.R.R. Tolkien.)
In the first video Bean, as Eddard Stark, verbally spars with the Queen’s brother Jaime Lannister known as the “Kingslayer”.
In the second clip the King arrives with his court to see Stark, the Warden of the North and his family.
Ginia Bellafante, in a review of HBO’s “A Game of Thrones,” that makes its television debut this weekend and stars LOTR’s Sean Bean, insinuates that women, or at least women in book clubs, aren’t passionate about “The Hobbit,” the beloved book by J.R.R. Tolkien. With over 10 years of experiences with fans of Middle-earth, and the many women that are passionate about it, Ms. Bellafante might be missing something. She said:
While I do not doubt that there are women in the world who read books like Mr. Martin’s, I can honestly say that I have never met a single woman who has stood up in indignation at her book club and refused to read the latest from Lorrie Moore unless everyone agreed to “The Hobbit” first. “Game of Thrones” is boy fiction patronizingly turned out to reach the population’s other half.
Readers of the interwebs, especially the females, are a bit miffed at the writer and there are several good female-authored blogs and responses, (read after the break for a list of some of the more notable responses) but most are from the perspective of “Game of Thrones,” readers. So, Tolkienites, do you agree or disagree with the above statement and the full review? Continue reading “Do women love ‘The Hobbit’? NYTimes says no”