Black And White...

Middle Earth. An out-of-place name in a book so extreme in its judgment of right and wrong. The heroes did nothing wrong all their lives. The villains have been evil for centuries. Everybody is black or white. No greys.
A world where east of the mountains everything's evil. As evil pushes out of its base, the weak willed succumb. Grey turns black. As the pall of black is about to take over the world, a medley of whites pushes back the black back over the mountains and all is fine with the world. The weak willed become pure again. Grey turns white.
A world where the landscape reflects the minds of the residents. The lazy, warm hills of the Shire. The unpredictable plains of Rohan. The arid plateau of Gondor. The dark and gloomy Mordor. The land. As extreme as the people who inhabit them.
A world with magical mystical people. An aging wizard who guides a lonesome ranger towards his destiny. A skilled archer who's ligher than the wind. A schizoprenic half-man, half-animal who eventually does the most unexpected good. A ring which has a personality of its own, constantly seducing, manipulating, tempting, hurting.
i do not understand how the book became so popular. Is it because of the detail? Is it the characters? Or maybe just the fight scenes (very popular reason btw)? Or is it because we all aspire for a world like that. A world where one knows who's good who's evil. A world where the hero will eventually triumph. A world where one day everything returns back to normal.