I am reading through journals of the past week, and remembered a part of Larry's keynote that I thought was fantastic: the importance of histories as applied to our own lives. I had a similar thought as Larry did: the problem with allegories is that they are too directed. Too forced.
I don't think it is so much that I love histories because the reader has the freedom to see how they can be applied, but I love that they may be applied, and that they aren't forced like allegories are. OK, maybe I do love the freedom aspect, but I don't put it in those terms. Maybe I should. But it is rare that I can read history and not be able to apply it to other things.
On a side note, I think this is why I have trouble writing fiction, or even songs (I've written scores of songs, but not many in the last 10 years). I feel like I am forcing things too much, that it is too artificial. I've recently continued my journey through LotR (I read FotR last year before the movie, tTT is this year, and probably RotK next year), and perhaps I'll meditate on these things.
