Reading LotR

[Taurendil]

Perhaps this topic is already here somewhere but I haven't found it, so anyway how do you read the LotR? I mean do you for instance read it once in 5 years or every year; do you read the whole trilogy in a week or maybe spread the leasure for a month/year? And how many times have you read it so far? I'm on my third go, so to speak. I imagine times when this site was 'a little' more crowded (though I myself unfortunately wasn't here at that time), but did anything changed from that time?(there was even a chapter by chapter discussion of the Hobbit) Obviously the films are produced and they provided very rich base for discussions.

[Athelas]

Between high school and college I read it 8 times. I wasn't able to sit down and read it  all day, of course, so it probably took a couple weeks each time. After college, life sort of got in the way, and I haven't read it cover to cover in nearly 30 years - but I have read The Sil and Children of Hurin each once (neither as good as LOTR!)

[Lessa]

I read it every year at some point but it has varied on how long it takes depending on time and commitments oh and if the girls bothered me when they were smaller. My first read was in 1980.

[Taurendil]

As for myself I read the LotR and the Hobbit all the time. I mean I read chapter by chapter, not every day of course, just when I have time in the evenings before sleep. So in 4 or 5 month I read the whole two books and  then I start again. Sometimes I make some remarks and it's interesting to return to them later and the books seem always fresh.

[Berlewen]

I'm on my first reading of the books and I love them!  At school, one of our class books was the Hobbit.  For some reason, I hated the fact of being told what to read and when by my teachers that I never really read it, I think I refused. 

Anyway, after the films came out, I read the Hobbit and loved it.  I was loath to read the trilogy because I really enjoyed the films but seeing as they have just been repeated on Channel 4, I thought I would have a go and I am completely hooked!  The books are so much better (isn't that ALWAYS the case?).

I think these are books that I will pick up on a whim and get totally absorbed with, so knowing me, I'll probably read them every year from now on. 

[Lessa]

there are so many layers and textures to the stories that if you're anything like me you'll find something different every time you read them.

[Berlewen]

Oh yeah definitely!  I also find that when you listen to audio books, you pick up stuff that you might have missed when reading a paperback (well I did when I listened to the HP books on audio....gotta love Stephen Fry!)  Sorry, I digress.

Anyway, Lessa, what Tolkien book would you recommend for me after I've read the trilogy? 

[Lessa]

The Silmarillion most definitely.

Now a lot of people (me included the first time) find this difficult to get into and confusing so when confused over names check the appendix. Alos don't try to read it all at once it is packed with so much that it takes time to digest. All this said there are some beautiful stories in there that will move you to tears so have the tissues handy as well

[Berlewen]

The Silmarillion most definitely.

Now a lot of people (me included the first time) find this difficult to get into and confusing so when confused over names check the appendix. Alos don't try to read it all at once it is packed with so much that it takes time to digest. All this said there are some beautiful stories in there that will move you to tears so have the tissues handy as well

Thanks Lessa. 

*heads off to Amazon.co.uk to order the book and contacts Kleenex for a large supply of tissues.* 

Its stories like that, which I enjoy and although I'm late to start wandering around Middle Earth I have to say it is a complete joy.     

[Lessa]

Indeed it is   Let us know how you get on

[Athelas]

An easier read after LOTR might be "Farmer Giles of Ham", which you can knock off in one sitting (if you're not interrupted), and has some amusing parts.
  The Sil is a must for true Tolkies, but you will have to work harder to get through it than you did for LOTR. Just remember, the first two chapters are tough to get through but it does get better.

[Berlewen]

Excellent!  All advice greatly appreciated.  I'll add that one to my list. 

[NN]

The Silmarillion most definitely.

All this said there are some beautiful stories in there that will move you to tears so have the tissues handy as well

I can't say the Sil had that effect on me, but then I am unique, And I was in a different head space at the time, still, the Sil is probably the most compact book of information going, HoME has more information in it, but it is by far bigger too.  So if you take it on you need a little patience unless you don't really care if you know one name from the next - although you'll get confused if you pick it up with that attitude and you won't remember anything  *I know that from experience, read it twice now, still don't remember all (/any) of it --- come to think of it, I've forgotten most of LOTR too, best read that again*

(edit)
Oh yeah the actual topic - I started reading LotR just after I had a serious car accident - after watching the movie - I had never really had that much of an interest in 'fantasy' work before because I was well and truely into suspence and horror books (think Stephen King) anyway, I had just gotten out of hospital and a friend sat me down with the DVD m(movie version not the extended) and told me to watch, the fact I did as I was told is in istelf a mystery, but I can't remember if I picked the books up because I was just impatient to know how the story ended or if I did it because the movie made no sense in places or if it was a combination of both - but most likely it was impatience... 

and I don't know if the fact I saw FOTR prior to reading the books is the key factor or not but I find that movie to be the best of them and it takes me back to a place that is unique to me, but then I am strange...   Still I found this site after having read the books, and became a perminant fixture of the site for about 3 years, then I fell into an abyss, but  that is a different topic.   and yes the site was deffinately different back then - I'm learning about the new site and it's quirks now, just lurking around in the shaddows...

anyway, please excuse the bad post - I am going to have to remember that for some reason it goes *funky* on a longer post and to write my post in Word first.  oh and yes i talk too much and yes I know there are spelling errors in this but i'm too lazy to fix it

[Anne]

LOL - I recognise the impatience thing.  After I watched the first movie I went and reread it again, partly to see what they'd not covered and partly to remind myself what happened next so I could start fretting about how Peter Jackson would deal with the next challenge.

[NN]

impatience can be a powerful motivater lol   

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