This was a NYTimes thingy. They polled their readers and the readers voted for “To Catch a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee. A worthy book I suppose, I have read it, and watched the movie, but it is far from being my favorite book. Too preachy and too much misery. Runner up was much more reasonable, Tolkien’s “Fellowship of the Ring”. The NYTimes revealed their ignorance of Tolkien in this listing. Anyone who read and liked the Fellowship has read and liked the other two books of Middlearth. In short real Tolkien readers would have listed “The Lord of the Rings” the name of Tolkien’s complete trilogy.
Tolkien would be my choice too. I first read it in grade school, on my own time and loved it. I read it aloud to my children, twice and they loved it both times. I still find it a good read and I have been out of grade school a very long time. It has everything, Middle Earth, a pleasant place that many of us would move to if we could. Sword swinging heroes, really evil villains, action, treachery, magic, elves and dwarves, a heaven reachable by sailing ship, dangers but the dangers can be overcome by stout hearts and cold steel, and a cozy inn, the Prancing Pony. Lots of interesting characters.
Are readers of the NYTimes so into social justice that they picked “To kill a Mockingbird” over Tolkien? Did the NYTimes fudge the votes some how?
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