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From: vnend@ukecc.UUCP (D. W. James)
Newsgroups: net.sf-lovers,soc.singles
Subject: Prehistoric Earth = Middle Earth?
Message-ID: <832@ukecc.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 24-Nov-86 17:02:37 EST
Article-I.D.: ukecc.832
Posted: Mon Nov 24 17:02:37 1986
Date-Received: Tue, 25-Nov-86 20:44:37 EST
Distribution: net
Organization: Univ. of Ky. Engineering Computing Center
Lines: 31
Keywords: HAHAHAHAHA
Xref: mnetor net.sf-lovers:9973 soc.singles:1462


>                                         There is no way we can prove that
>"The Lord of the Rings" is not the actual pre-history of the earth, though
>I admit it doesn't seem likely.
>
>ucbvax!brahms!gsmith     Gene Ward Smith/UCB Math Dept/Berkeley CA 94720

	My first reaction when I read this was:
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

	Then I reconsidered. My second reaction was: hahahahaahhahaha.
:-)
	You must be kidding. Besides plate tetonics and the square cube law?
That the earth was once flat and now it's not? That one of the stars was(is?)
a glowing gem on a ship?
	LOtR is fantasy written as legend. It is a DAMN good story. But the 
pre-history of Earth? I think not. 
	As for the serious side of your posting (conserning SF vs. Fantasy),
I generally let the author decide. If he/she says it's whatever then it is,
else.... Now, if it purports to be SF and violates the square-cube law or
does something equally silly then it is an annoyance, but generally I just
let it go. Most of the stuff I just file as 'alternate universe' stuff and
say that thier physical laws are subtley different than ours. As long as
the story is INTERNALLY consistant I don't mind. To that end, J.R.R.T.
definately said that he intended it as fantasy, ergo...

-- 
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Later y'all,             Vnend            Ignorance is the Mother of Adventure.
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