Two Sides: Reader and Writer

A recurring Two Sides topic will be the two sides of writer and reader. Writers write what they write, and readers read what they read. What gets written and what gets read will never be the same. The words are the same, but what goes into them and what gets taken from them are different. In more than one interview, I pointed out something that I saw in the author’s book and got a response of “Interesting. I never thought about that.”

In an 11/5/22 blog post ‘Rereading’, I talked about the many times I’ve read The Lord of the Rings. There has long been speculation that The Lord of the Rings was an allegory for World War II. Tolkien was adamant that it was not. In the forward to the 1966 edition of the Fellowship of the Ring, Tolkien said, “I cordially dislike allegory in all of its manifestations, and have always done so since I grew old and wary enough to detect its presence. I much prefer history, true or feigned, with its varied applicability to the thought and experience of readers. I think that many confuse ‘applicability’ with ‘allegory’; but the one resides in the freedom of the reader, and the other in the purposed domination of the author.”

I believe Tolkien is saying that he wasn’t writing about WWII, but maybe you are reading about WWII, and that is okay.

The two sides of writer and reader will come up again. Do you have a favorite example? Let us know at twosides2thestory@yahoo.com