Describe the 1st time you read LotR.

<font face="Verdana"><table><TR><TD><FONT SIZE="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Pile o' Bones
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I was fortunate to have a 60's era teacher read The Hobbit to my whole 6 th grade class for one whole period a day (that was in 1979). The whole class journeyed with Bilbo and the gang to the Lonely Mountain and back. Then, a couple of years later, as a freshman in HS, I went through the Hobbit again, and then went on to devour the LotR. Middle-earth became my home away from this world. several times through-out the following, turbulent years, I found myself retreating once again to Middle-Earth to escape from life's stresses, and to fellowship once again with my &quot;friends&quot; there. Later on, I got into The Silmarillion, and Unfinished Tales, etc... There's a lot more I could say, but I want to hear YOUR stories. (Especially some of you vets out there!)

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[Sharkû]

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Re: Describe the 1st time you read LotR.

Let me see... yes, those good old days of yonder <img src=wink.gif ALT="">

The first time I read LOTR was in my mother tongue. I read it vorasciously within few days (I usually read not too much at a time in order to savour the moment more); the story really sucked myself into it. Still, I considered it 'only' a story, albeit the best I have ever read.

Approximately one year later I read it in English. Due to the native tongue of the novel, and maybe due to other circumstances, the book unfolded a wonderful magic that time; the rational side of myself which normally would follow the storyline was somehow already satisfied as I knew the book, so I could - unintentionally though- pay more attention to the moving emotional side of it. And moved I was heavily...and thus one thing led into another.



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[Imp]

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Oh the good times...

I read the Hobbit in less than 7 hours, it saved me 7 hours of boredom in 'In School Suspension' where we just basically sit at a desk in a small cramped quiet room all school-day.

Same with all of LoTR every couple of days.

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[Barrel Rider]

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Re: Describe the 1st time you read LotR.

I love the hobbit the first time i heard it about 4 years ago in form 1 my teacher read it to us i love it and went onto read it , and read it again and again

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[Orald]

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Re: Describe the 1st time you read LotR.

Some ruffians in here, <img src=wink.gif ALT=""> . I don't remember my first time, I don't even really remember exactly when it was. It is strange that I can remember the events in the book more clearly than my own life.<img src=ohwell.gif ALT=":\">

It seems fate is not without a sense of irony.</p>

[noldo]

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Re: Describe the 1st time you read LotR.

Quite blurry, actually.

lol, I remember accidentally skipping one page between the house of Tom Bombadil and the Barrow Downs and being very confused of how the hobbits had got to the Downs...


The future teaches you to be alone, the present to be afraid and cold. "So if I can shoot rabbits, then I can shoot fascists." Bullets for your brain today, but we'll forget it all again. Monuments put from pen to paper, turns me into gutless wonder.<font size=-1>
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Also a strong supporter of <A HREF=http://pub26.ezboard.com/bmithlond>Mithlond</A>, a Middle-Earth RPG forum.</font size=-1> </p>

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Re: Describe the 1st time you read LotR.

The first time i read the book was 2,5 years ago. I borrowed it from a friend and read it in my native tongue.. I did not expect a fantasy but it took me to a dreamland that i wanted to stay forever.. In order not to finish it quickly and leave it to decease in my mind, i read 3-4 parts everday.. It was like watching a cartoon.. I really loved it...

"The absurd enlightens me on this point: there is no future." "Nobody realizes that some people expend tremendous energy merely to be normal." "I don't want to be a genius - I have enough problems just trying to be a man." "Do not wait for the last judgment. It comes every day." </p>

[Balin999]

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Re: Describe the 1st time you read LotR.

the first time i read the books was 4 years ago when i was 14. i read it in my native tongue(german). i had heard that it was a great book but imagined it to be a book full of black magic. i was rather surprised when i read about Hobbits. in the beginning i thought that the book was boring (because i didnt quite understand what tolkien said in the explanations) . but then i moved on and i think when i read about bilbo disappearing with the help of the ring i became curious. and after the second chapter i thought the book was great. i think it took me one month to read it the first time because i often read parts twice. i read it three times before i started to read it in english. i liked the poems translated to german, but i was fascinated by the poems and songs in their original version. the song of Gimli about Khazad-Dum and the song about Gandalf are my favourites. then i read the hobbit and the silmarillion. and now i cant think of a life without the Lord of the Rings and Middle-earth.

Behold the King of Moria!</p>

[The Dagda]

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Re: Describe the 1st time you read LotR.

'Twas in high school lo those many years ago, where one was a supreme nerd for keeping one's nose in any book, let alone a Tolkien one. Middle Earth was my escape from a mundane existance, but more than that it awakened in me an interest in history (&quot;real or feigned&quot, and languages that I still have to this day. I do remember wondering when the action would start, and many of my friends had put it down after the first or second chapter, concluding that it was boring, but once past the beginning and on the road, I hardly put it down until it was finished. Then I immediately read it again.

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[the Lorien wanderer]

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Re: Describe the 1st time you read LotR.

When I was 11. My cousin gifted me The Hobbit and LoTR. I didn't get started on them for quite a while. Then I read the Hobbit and fell in love with ME. I proceeded to LoTR, and couldn't get past the first chapter the first few times I tried to read it. When I did, I was hooked! And remain so to this day.

What if - what if this is as good as it gets?</p>

[Inziladun]

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Re: Describe the 1st time you read LotR.

I honestly don't remember. I can remember my dad reading me The Hobbit at an early age(5 or 6)but of LoTR I have no idea.It think it was when I was 13 or so but I'm not sure.

Those who will defend authority against rebellion must not themselves rebel. </p>

[enep]

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Hmm

I think it was about a year or two ago...I'd tried to read it several times already but the farthest I'd got was the downs <img src=wink.gif ALT=""> Then I got a copy of the Sil and became entranced.

- enep</p>

[lindil]

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1st time

I think I read the hobbit after seeing the Movie and started in on the LotR rght away. I was blown away and the descriptions of the elves and the Dunedain were for me images that have shaped my idea of the 'ideal' for the last 20 years. I recall clearly readin the gray havens for the first time and being overwhelmed w/ emaotion that 'an end was comefor the Eldar of story and song. This was 1977 or so right after starwars ,so old ben and luke had prepared the soil, however I found the Elves much closer to my heart than the jedi.
I soon read the Silmarillion and was even more in awe and even in my teens went so far as to believe ME was 'real' history.I think this was due to the utter suburban emptiness which sprawled mindlessly about me in all directions being so patently 'untrue' and ME being so filled w/ truth., I took to frequenting the Forests and creeks especially during school hours<img src=smile.gif ALT="">
I recall how thrilled i was when UT and later the Book of Lost Tales I came out and I dived in and drank deeply reading under a green light .



Lindil is often found on posting on the Silmarillion Project at the Barrowowns<u> Silmarillion canon , theories and discussion Forum </u> 'The dwindling Men of the West would often sit up late into the night, and awaken early before dawn- exchanging lore and wisdom such as they possessed , so that they should not fall back into the mean and low estate of those , who never knew or more sadly still, had indeed rebelled against the Light.' </p>

[draggonklaw]

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Re: 1st time

Interesting. I see some recurring patterns...
1) most people (so far) read LotR (or The Hobbit) when in their teens
2)once they got into them, they couldn't put them down
3)and they have been ME fans ever since, retreating there often to refresh.
Interesting.


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[Balin999]

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Re: 1st time

In my opinion this is the case because after all the Lotr has so many pages. you can't remember all of the events and you notice some things only after you have read the books again. i remember that i was absolutely fascinated when i had finished the story for the first time and i didn't want it to stop, so i felt i had to read it again. i didn't want to leave this world that seemed so real to me. i wanted to return and go on the journey with the characters who had become something like friends to me again.
i can't explain why most people read it when they were young though.

Behold the King of Moria!</p>

[as eowyn]

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1st Time

When I was about 9 I saw a little of the animated movie I found it very dull and never even learned the name until much later. When I was 11 my dad read the Hobbit and LotR to me and my sibs. I thought it was the coolest story ever. The next year I read it for myself and found it even better because I hadn't understood parts of it before. I've read LotR about every six months since then and the Hobbit countless times. My younger sibs are just getting into ME and every time I see a copy of any of the books lieing around I just can't help picking it up and reading parts of it. I've delayed my re-reading lately because I wanted to read it right before the first movie comes out.

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[amyrlis]

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Re: Describe the 1st time you read LotR.

I posted this previously in another thread, but thought it fit here too. I am yet another who got hooked while in my teens.

It wasn't until I was a freshman in high school and my twin sister was in the play The Hobbit (she was Oin!). She got hooked and started reading the books and was always talking about them. So, I decided to give them a try. I was an instant fan and began delving for all things Tolkien (ah, if only the internet existed 15 years ago - 15 years! dang I'm old!) I honestly can't remember if I've ever read The Hobbit front to back, but I've read LotR a few times (and just finished it again last month) and the Sil at least twice. Just starting to read UT for the first time now. I had to let go of Tolkien while in college, engineering school doesn't allow much time for leisure reading. Not to mention that my sister scoffed up all our Tolkien books when we left home. But now I'm back on the bandwagon! And I'm very glad to find a forum dedicated to this stuff. Honestly, my sister is the only other fan I know in 'real life'.

I think it's because I'm like Samwise in that I'm just fascinated by elves! Of course, when I was first exposed to The Hobbit, I was under the impression that elves were green, funny-looking people, similair to how they are depicted in the cartoon Hobbit. But, I was so much more intrigued by them when I learned their true guise. Then, when I read the Sil, I was just blown away by Tolkien's version of the creation of Earth and I love the Valar.

Also, Tolkien's writing style is just so beautiful. There's nothing to compare it to. Like I mentioned, I've read several of his books twice, and have never been disappointed or bored. Even though I know the outcome, I am still moved by it. And I always notice something new. In all the other reading that I've done, there is only one book other than Tolkiens' which I've read multiple times. I think that says something.



-amyrlis</p>

[KayQy]

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Re: Describe the 1st time you read LotR.

I don't remember the first time specifically, or even if I read Hobbit or LotR first, but it was sometime in high school, but on my own. I do remember searching a year or two ago for any movies because I was sure that I had seen a live-action Hobbit sometime in my youth (but I think it was just a fragment of Willow or something). My memory of what brought me back to them and to this board is much clearer: the FoxTrot comic strip did a bit on the LotR movie back in April, and I of course had to know more.

I guess we're just so impressionable as teens!

But tell me, who are you, alone, yourself and nameless?</p>

[the Lorien wanderer]

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Re: Describe the 1st time you read LotR.

I think I know why most people read Tolkien when they were young. The idea of adult fantasy still isn't universally accepted and hence most adults wouldn't be very open to the idea of reading a book about wizards and 'magic' and elves and the like. Fantasy is still primarily considored a kids' thing.

What if - what if this is as good as it gets?</p>

[burrahobbit]

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Re: Describe the 1st time you read LotR.

TLW is right. I'd like to add something else too. If we read the books and didn't like them, why would we be here? These boards don't exactly represent a broad cross-section of the population.

What's a burrahobbit got to do with my pocket, anyways?</p>

[Aldaron]

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Re: Describe the 1st time you read LotR.

This is my first post, so please be gentle. Also be respectful since I'm a really old guy. I first read The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings in 1962 or 1963. It was recommended by the library director of the school district in which I had just become a junior high librarian. At the time I was 32 years old. The books were not readily available yet. Ace Books came along with paperback editions shortly thereafter and there was great controversy because England did not belong to the copyright convention at that time and Tolkien did not receive any royalty from Ace Books for a long time.

I enjoyed The Hobbit a lot, but thought it was only a little better than some other fantasies for young adults at the time. But once I got into LotR I was swept away by the immensity of the cast, the grandeur of the landscape and a truly epic quest, if that's what it can be called.

I imagine that most of you are much younger than I, but at 71 I still have enthusiasm for the books. I found this board while looking for some information on the movie. I've lurked for a few days and found it to be not only lively, but pretty adult. I hope I can stick around a while.


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[Mister Underhill]

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Re: Describe the 1st time you read LotR.

Let me be the first to welcome you to the board, Aldaron! I'm glad you decided to step out of the shadows and start posting. I look forward to hearing your perspective here on the Downs.

Once again I'm amazed at Tolkien's feat of creative genius. Isn't it great that fans in junior high who just discovered JRRT last year and fans who've been reading his work for nigh on forty years (and everyone in-between) can meet and discuss the prof's work with equal enthusiasm?

Start posting and have fun, Aldaron!

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[Taimar]

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Re: Describe the 1st time you read LotR.

My father read The Hobbit to me when I was seven. I was enthralled. The daY after finishing the The Hobbit I borrowed LOTR from my local library and read it from cover to cover.

I still clearly remember the precise moment when I finished the book. It was around 1pm on a sunny April day and my mother was repeatedly calling me to come and eat my lunch. I, of course, repeatedly ignored her until I was good and ready.

I recall how sad I felt after reading LOTR. I had the melancholy idea that I would never find anything so wonderful to read again. Twenty five years and several thousand books later nothing has changed.

I have never come across any work of art which has stirred me so deeply as LOTR, and the numerous rereadings which I have undertaken over the years have failed to recapture my initial delight and wonder.

Being older now and (allegedly) wiser, I find that I actually prefer The Silmarillion now. When I first read it (about a year after LOTR) I did not fully appreciate it.

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[draggonklaw]

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Welcome Aldaron!

A hearty welcome to you Aldaron! Be assured that you are most welcome here, and your contributions will be eagerly anticipated! Don't feel awkward because you think you're further along in years than some of the rest of us (You're just a drop in the bucket compared to Elrond or Gandalf!).
Also, I'll bet that you are a veteran (WW 2, or Korea?), am I right? Just in case you are I want to personally say, Thank you and God bless. (If you're not, then please forgive me!).
Please try the chat room too. You'll enjoy it. I hope to see you there!


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I read the Hobbit after seeing the LotR movie [img]smilies/tongue.gif[/img] and then, realising what an excellent writer Tolkien is I went on to read Lotr((This was all sometime in January!lol))I was hooked((not surprising really))and I read the whole things in a week [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]

[Birdland]

(Thanks for bringing these "old" threads forward, B-W. They're fun!)

Ahhhhh, the first time reading LOTR. It was 1973, and I had just gotten in trouble because I left the library copy of The Exorcist" laying around, and my mom picked it up and read "the crucifix" scene, and had drug our High School librarian over the coals for having such "filth" in the schools.

Anyway, I was looking for another (safer) book to check out and ran across these three little paperback books encased in laminated plastic covers (like they used to do to preserve cheap book copies for library use.) So I checked out the first one, and read it in about a week. I remember it started a little "slow", but was not too bad. But by the end of the week I was totally mesmerized. I had to know what happened next!

So on Monday, I ran back to the school library to check out the other two books...and they weren't there! Gone! (And they never did come back.) I went flying to the librarian, squealing and complaining - as only a teenager can - "Where are they! I have to find out what happened! When will they be back!!!"

The librarian, perhaps remembering how my Mother had reamed him out over "The Exorcist", just rolled his eyes, and said to me in his best "Lonely-Gay-Man-Stuck-In-Small-Midwest-Town" voice:

"Don't worry. The Hobbits make it."

Anyway, happy ending is I did get the beautiful Ballantine "White" paperback set, (with the box) for Christmas. In two days I had completed the other two books. Reading by flashlight, dragging it along as we visited relatives, and totally ignoring my cousins. I sobbed when I read the last chapter.

I've read it every year or so since then, including reading it out loud with my ex-husband. (That was the best reading of all!)

Oh. I did breathlessly recommend it to my best friend after finishing it. Her reaction? "I don't know. It started pretty slow, and I lost interest."

I wonder if she ever did read it?

[Anarya SilverBranch]

I tried to read the hobbit when I was six because I wanted to prove to my mom I could read the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by myself. Lets just say I didn't get past chapter three.

Then when I was like ten I picked it up again and still didn't get to chapter four, so I got the fellowship and read the synopsis at the beginning. [img]smilies/wink.gif[/img]I'm such a cheater.

Anyway, lets just say I was in a daze for weeks, running through the woods at the back of my house pretending I was an elf maiden whom Haldir falls desperately in love with. I still imagine and even pretend sometimes through the woods, even though I'm fifteen. Proabably a habit I'll never grow out of [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]I'm not complaining though.

[Liriodendron]

Hey Birdland, we read LoTR the same year! I was a Junior in high school and had read The Hobbit the year before. That year was an awful one for me, my big brother was killed and my first "love" rejected me without any explanation. [img]smilies/frown.gif[/img] My parents were totally weirded out, so I escaped into the land of ME. I just read it and reread it the whole year! It was an escape I really needed!

[Brinniel]

How I got hooked to LOTR.......A long story, but not too long (hopefully).

I remember my friend reading The Hobbit in 5th grade, but I never really heard of LOTR until I saw the movie previews. Even then I was not interested in seeing it. I thought I wouldn't understand it, especially since I hadn't read the book. But my friends were interested and though they didn't try, they were slowly beginning to convince me to see it. Then suddenly my English teacher got excited about the movie. She started talking about even listening to an excerpt of the Hobbit. My mom's books were in the shelf and I knew the movie would be a hit, and I wanted to read the books first, so I started reading the Hobbit the day before the movie opened.

Though the Hobbit was a bit confusing for me, it was good enough to convince me to continue on to LOTR. I got hooked on that book immediately. I was supposed to be packing for a trip to California, but got delayed because I was reading FOTR. In CA, I hardly socialized at all because I was too into my books. I finished the books (The Hobbit and LOTR) in 10 days. For the rest of my trip in CA, I was bored because I had nothing "good" to read. I was anxious to see the movie back at home and finally did on New Year's Day. [img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img]

Sorry that my story is long and detailed. I can't help it. My fingers are chatty.

[Catherine]

I fist read the Hobbit because my friend told me to for a book report. I loved it so much I read TLOTR it was the best book I ever read!! I am so happy that I read it! [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]

[Lothiriel Silmarien]

Yeah and THAT FRIEND was me! You should thank me every day! [img]smilies/wink.gif[/img] Just kidding FRIEND!

I got hooked on them because of my sister. Even though I'd rather say otherwise. But we were in a bookstore and I was looking at astronomy books, and then I came across the LotR and the Hobbit. And it wasn't the movie covers yet, so they were the pretty scenery kind and stuff. And I saw The Return of the King, and I'm like, ooh I like fantasy, I'll get that one. And my sister's like, no you have to get the Hobbit first. So I read it, LOVED it, and went straight away to get LotR (I got the big book, not all three). And I read them both again, and the Silmarillion (love that one too!) and Unfinished Tales. He was such an awesome writer!!!! I couldn't put the Hobbit or LotR down, I loved escaping into the world of Middle-earth. Still do, and I think I always will! [img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img]

[Lothiriel Silmarien]

Ooh, should explain some things! I saw them when I went to another section, they're obviously not astronomy books [img]smilies/wink.gif[/img] And of course, I couldn't put down the Silmarillion or Unfinished Tales either [img]smilies/wink.gif[/img] [img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img] Not like anyone cares, but I had to explain anyway!

[Tigerlily Gamgee]

<font color=gold>This is a fun topic.
Ahhh, I remember it like it was yesterday - well, actually, it was only about seven months ago...
After seeing the movie, my friend and I decided that we must read the books. So, we picked up the books at the same time and nearly raced through them. Whoever was further along would tease the other about what was going to happen and then not tell them. Talk about cliffhangers!
I must say that it's the most fun I've ever had reading anything. Now, I have read it again, and probably will again and again...
It really helped me get through the stress of my classes, that's for sure (believe it or not, reading characters in novels can really give you great insight for acting! They are marvelous to analyse!).

[akhtene]

I read The Lord of the Rings in my second year of learning English at the institute. It was the beginning of the term, I remember I had absolutely nothing to do, nothing to read and nothing to think about. And my groupmate just said :"Look, I'm taking this book to the library. D'you wanna try it?" And I took the Fellowship of the Ring just because I had nothing better to do... For the next couple of weeks I couldn't sleep at night, and I think I kept going to the institute just to read at the lectures, and to tell Natasha over and over again what a great book it was. I copied out all the poems from it. When I finally went to the library to get the second part I was shocked when I learned that the book had been borrowed and there was a waiting list several metres long. You can imagine my state... But eventually I read the 2nd and the 3rd volumes, learned half of the poems by heart and only then I came across The Hobbit (in my native tongue) which I found somewhat silly.
A couple of yours ago I got my own 3in1 volume from a friend of mine from Australia. I was the happiest person on Earth (at that moment)

[Jessica Jade]

well hello everyone, I'm back, after a 5 month hiatus from the 'Downs! This return was inspired by nostalgia- i miss the old days of last year (seems like an eon ago, so much has changed in my life), of being actively obsessed with Tolkien, delving into the books, feeling every nuance of emotion, living in Middle Earth. Spending hours on this message board, analyzing and dissecting every possible aspect of Tolkien and his masterpieces. Those were the days. I miss them. The anticipation about the upcoming film has whipped me into a Tolkein- crazed frenzy. I am overwhelmed in my love for Tolkien's works. I'm remembering the days of last year and how wonderful they were because I read Tolkien. Honestly, those books are what got me through my otherwise dark sophomore year in high school. But enough of the prerequisite. I'm supposed to be describing my first Tolkien- reading experience! That, I know, will take me quite a while. It will probably be a manifesto, lol—I will post it soon, when I am done writing it.

[Beruthiel]

My mum read Lord of the Rings to me when I was about 6 or 7.
It was so amazing! Every night I'd escape into another world. I cried SO hard when Gandalf fell into the abyss, honestly, I was depressed for about a week! I had dreams that I was walking through Lothlorien and then in nightmares, gollum was stalking me from behind and I then had to run from the Nazgul. [img]smilies/eek.gif[/img]

[Rumil]

The first time I read LoTR was when I was about 12, that's more than 20 years ago now - YIKES!!

I was on holiday in a little village (Aberporth) by the seaside in West Wales. We stayed in a cottage right on the edge of a cliff, so close that I could chuck a pebble into the sea from my bedroom window. I remember one night the weather was stormy and, with the wind howling round the cottage and the waves smashing on the cliff, I read the 'Battle of the Pelennor Fields' - instantly hooked! I think there was even a power cut when I started 'Shelob's Lair' which freaked me out.

When I got back home I re-read the whole book so that I could get a good idea of the details, where each country was and who the 'lesser' charaters were etc. Naturally I'm still getting there, with help from the 'Downers' of course!

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Mom read me "The Hobbit" when I was 4. I read "LOTR" at 10 in a very lousy Russian translation (there are 5 or 6 Russian translations, and mostly all a rubbish). And there were gloomy pictures of hobbits looking like starving children

[-Imrahil-]

My mother told me about these books and how much she loved them. I read them and now I have read them about 4x the amount of times she has read them. [img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img]

Now she thinks I'm TOO much of a fanatic!

[Aragorn_The_King]

I was young and I did not want to read it because I thought it was a little kid book. And when I did read it I no longer thought it a little kid book but the scariest horror story ever written. Somehow though It stuck, and I kept picking it up till... Wallah