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Thain  by Lindelea 2 Review(s)
LarnerReviewed Chapter: 37 on 2/12/2014
Poor Tuck--his hopes dashed as he is embraced, not by Da, but by his uncle. And I rejoice that Galdor seeks to understand what this tree has observed. Not all the Hobbits of the area are gone, at least.

Author Reply: No, there are still hobbits here. I wonder how many went with Bucca to the battle against Angmar? I haven't found much about it, except a notation that none returned again. (That'll take some thinking to get around...)

DreamflowerReviewed Chapter: 37 on 2/12/2014
Aww...poor Bucca, poor Tuck, poor Shire!

This passage is an absolutely amazing bit of writing:

Trees, it might be said, are “nowish” creatures, alive in the present moment, with long memories (as long as the march of rings at their core), and yet all times are “now” to them, with the memories they store in the rings. If you cut living wood (a terrible thought), it bleeds. In the cross-section, you'll see all the years, all the memories, as fresh as when they were laid down – broad rings to show abundant sunlight and rain, narrow rings in times of want, perhaps a fire-blackened area where some of the outer bark burned – not all, with enough left for the tree to survive, grow, and eventually cover the damage with new growth. All years are present, in the cross-section. In a manner of speaking, all years are the present.

I think JRRT, with his deep love for trees, would approve!

Author Reply: I hope that he would. He is at the top of my list of authors whose works I love to read, and cannot seem to tire of.

Thanks!

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