Science fiction writer Philip K. Dick has three volumes in The Library of America, an outstanding achievement for any writer, and amazing for a "genre" writer. This post makes a brief connection between Dick's fiction and work in a different genre, The Lord of the Rings.
At the beginning of A Maze of Death, one of Dick's best novels, a character (Ben Tallchief) is travelling through space. To dispel boredom and anxiety, Tallchief watches a "visrecord" on the turntable of his "portable phonograph." The story is projected in 3-D on one wall of his spaceship. Tallchief picks the recording at random. As it happens, it plays the scene from The Lord of the Rings in which Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli encounter Gandalf the White in Fangorn forest.
Science fiction and fantasy are closely related genres, of course. My concern is the retelling of a story from one medium (written fiction) in a different medium (film) and the way these genres and media interact with our daily lives. Or my daily life, at least. Peter Jackson's film version of The Lord of the Rings makes some significant changes in character, setting, and plot detail from the book, but, in my judgment, is faithful t the main themes of the novel and to its atmosphere.
C. S. Lewis says that a myth is a story that doesn't depend on being told well to be effective. A myth, in Lewis' view, may be told briefly, told at length, be told eloquently or be told poorly. So long as its essence remains, the myth will have its effect. I propose that Jackson's films retell the myth that is the core of Tolkien's novel faithfully and effectively.
I've been home alone this week, watching Jackson's films piecemeal as I eat, rather like Ben Tallchief in his space-ship playing the "visrecord." There are not many novels I could read as often as I have LOTR or many films I could watch as often as I have Jackson's version of the myth. This time around suggested a theme for a ghazal to me; below is a draft of the matla:
My eyes are not immune to the power of story.
My ears are close in tune with the power of story.
