Our Sponsor Sideshow Send us News
Lord of the Rings Tolkien
Search Tolkien
Lord of The RingsTheOneRing.net - Forged By And For Fans Of JRR Tolkien
Lord of The Rings Serving Middle-Earth Since The First Age

Lord of the Rings Movie News - J.R.R. Tolkien

  Main Index   Search Posts   Who's Online   Log in
The One Ring Forums: Tolkien Topics: Reading Room:
Share a memory of reading Tolkien?
First page Previous page 1 2 Next page Last page  View All

noWizardme
Half-elven


Sep 6 2015, 10:03am

Post #1 of 33 (4443 views)
Shortcut
Share a memory of reading Tolkien? Can't Post

Partly as a warm-up to the upcoming read-through of The Two Towers (see my footer), I thought I'd see if people wanted to share memories of the experience of reading Tolkien

I have one of reading Two Towers. A weekend, or the school holidays perhaps. I sat/sprawled in an armchair and 'engaged Lost To Reality reading mode' as modelled by Sketch Emily, below


(Sketch Emily by 'Reenin' http://reenin.deviantart.com/...ading-Zone-311272459 - she has a good portfolio on DeviantArt)

And I slowly rotated on the armchair like this:

(Small Boy reading by Gluyas Williams, animated GIF from http://boristhebelligerent.tumblr.com/post/17873731324

I had a cheapo omnibus edition of LOTR - thick paperback, yellow and green illustration of woods on the cover (and, darn it, no Appendices - having invested my pocket-money in this value edition, I was a bit let down by that...)

By the time the Nazgul appeared over Isengard and Shadofax galloped away, my hands were useless claws, I had two big round eyes, and was never quite the same again...

~~~~~~

Join us for a read-through of The Two Towers (Book III of Lord of the Rings) in the Reading-Room - 13 September- 29 November 2015.
Schedule etc: http://newboards.theonering.net/...i?post=864064#864064


Arannir
Valinor


Sep 6 2015, 1:31pm

Post #2 of 33 (4360 views)
Shortcut
First reading [In reply to] Can't Post

When I first read the LotR aged 11/12 in 1999/2000 I ordered a Tolkien encyclopaedia to learn more about this world... For the whole winter I lost myself in Middle-earth and understood the power of the written word for the first time in my life.

It influences me until today... And most winters I try to relive that feeling by rereading a Tolkien book with snow outside and a cup of tea or coffee right next to me and my book.

Makes me feel like a kid again, going on a adventure.



"I am afraid it is only too likely to be true what you say about the critics and the public. I am dreading the publication for it will be impossible not to mind what is said. I have exposed my heart to be shot at." J.R.R. Tolkien

We all have our hearts and minds one way or another invested in these books and movies. So we all mind and should show the necessary respect.



balbo biggins
Rohan


Sep 6 2015, 6:47pm

Post #3 of 33 (4342 views)
Shortcut
ahh! [In reply to] Can't Post

before i was even capable of reading the lotr, when i was very young, we had a copy that was tucked away in the old book holder/cushion chair thing. it was an old a 69' copy i think and to my young eyes it was the strangest exciting wad of a book id ever come across., it had strange trippy pictures on the front and back, maps of places that didnt look like earth, poetry and lots of foreign loking writing, but i could read the opening page ' three rings for the elven kings..in th eland of mordor where the shadows lie' what were elves? what were these rings, who was the dark lord? what the heck was mordor?

it was only when i got a bit older around 12/13 that i could start to read it.. cos it was such an old book it fell apart as i read it! like a lost manuscript i found of this other world! amazing!


(This post was edited by balbo biggins on Sep 6 2015, 6:49pm)


Ilmatar
Rohan


Sep 6 2015, 7:24pm

Post #4 of 33 (4334 views)
Shortcut
The first reading of LotR... [In reply to] Can't Post

...At 12 years was the one I recall most vividly. I'm quoting myself just a little from this thread that had almost the same idea. Smile


Quote
I was 12 and at home, sick with some fever etc. My mother was going to visit the library, and I had a vague recollection of having heard someone mention a book... "Lord of the Rings"?
Something like that? So I asked my mother to find out if there was a book of that name in the library, and get it for me. She brought home FOTR (this old edition had the trilogy in separate parts with strange covers - I still have no idea which characters most of those were supposed to portray).
For the next few days I was mostly lying in my bed or on the sofa in my pajamas and just read, read and read. I had discovered my interest in history a few years back, and this wonderfully long story had the feeling of Epic Ancient History and adventure written all over it! I got TTT and ROTK from the library and just fell in love with the fantastic world that I could clearly see in my mind's eye. The rich details, unique characters, poetry, beauty and subtle humor - it all just swept me away.



Otaku-sempai
Immortal


Sep 6 2015, 9:16pm

Post #5 of 33 (4320 views)
Shortcut
Grammar School [In reply to] Can't Post

Way back when I was probably nine years old, I found the "Riddle Game" chapter of The Hobbit excerpted in our Fourth Grade Reader. This would have been in 1969 and I cannot remember if this was the original version of the text or the later revised chapter.

"At the end of the journey, all men think that their youth was Arcadia..." - Phantom F. Harlock


Brethil
Half-elven


Sep 6 2015, 10:40pm

Post #6 of 33 (4314 views)
Shortcut
First reading over a September weekend... [In reply to] Can't Post

various people said they called my house phone number, and I did not pick up. I do not recall hearing the phone ring! Read LOTR through the weekend, finished up at 5 am Monday morning, and then started all over again.









Ethel Duath
Half-elven


Sep 7 2015, 12:33am

Post #7 of 33 (4302 views)
Shortcut
Just curious [In reply to] Can't Post

Were you a kid or teen or adult?

(I was 12)



Brethil
Half-elven


Sep 7 2015, 12:44am

Post #8 of 33 (4301 views)
Shortcut
I was older, in my early 20's. [In reply to] Can't Post

Many of my friends had read LOTR earlier, but in my childhood I was really into European and American history and anthropology, and mostly read books about those topics. I heard about Tolkien a lot when my friend group began to include D and D gamers. Really, it was that exposure - to the fantasy world that they all told me was similar to this author, who I had to read - that prompted me top pick up LOTR.


Did you read LOTR or TH first, Mayor?


I read LOTR, then again; loved TH, but the Sil threw me: Eh? no Hobbits? no Rangers? Took me a few years of really devouring LOTR to finally really be able to wander further afield and accept the Sil.









squire
Half-elven


Sep 7 2015, 1:05am

Post #9 of 33 (4314 views)
Shortcut
I was probably a little too young [In reply to] Can't Post

I was about eight. My mother had read The Hobbit to my older brother and me every night before bedtime. Now she told us we were going to read the next book. I was confused that Bilbo was not the hero again. My older brother, who knew how these things worked, explained the cover to me, so I'd know what was coming.

"The tall guy in the middle is Superman. He's calling the other superheroes to help him: Batman, Aquaman, and there, that's Jimmy Olsen."



Of course I believed him, and started crying that this book wasn't going to be about the hobbits at all.

I got over it, of course, and went on to become the geekiest Tolkien geek my Cub Scout troop had ever seen. When it came time to make sculptures from flour and water paste, I made a topographical model of Middle-earth, pinching those Misty Mountains into shape and tracing the rivers with a pencil tip.



squire online:
RR Discussions: The Valaquenta, A Shortcut to Mushrooms, and Of Herbs and Stewed Rabbit
Lights! Action! Discuss on the Movie board!: 'A Journey in the Dark'. and 'Designing The Two Towers'.
Footeramas: The 3rd & 4th TORn Reading Room LotR Discussion and NOW the 1st BotR Discussion too! and "Tolkien would have LOVED it!"
squiretalk introduces the J.R.R. Tolkien Encyclopedia: A Reader's Diary


= Forum has no new posts. Forum needs no new posts.

(This post was edited by squire on Sep 7 2015, 1:11am)


Ataahua
Forum Admin / Moderator


Sep 7 2015, 1:29am

Post #10 of 33 (4302 views)
Shortcut
That is too cute for words. [In reply to] Can't Post


In Reply To

"The tall guy in the middle is Superman. He's calling the other superheroes to help him: Batman, Aquaman, and there, that's Jimmy Olsen."



Aren't older siblings a treasure? EvilLaugh

Celebrimbor: "Pretty rings..."
Dwarves: "Pretty rings..."
Men: "Pretty rings..."
Sauron: "Mine's better."

"Ah, how ironic, the addictive qualities of Sauron’s master weapon led to its own destruction. Which just goes to show, kids - if you want two small and noble souls to succeed on a mission of dire importance... send an evil-minded beggar with them too." - Gandalf's Diaries, final par, by Ufthak.


Ataahua's stories


Brethil
Half-elven


Sep 7 2015, 2:18am

Post #11 of 33 (4288 views)
Shortcut
Thank you for this. // [In reply to] Can't Post


In Reply To
I was about eight. My mother had read The Hobbit to my older brother and me every night before bedtime. Now she told us we were going to read the next book. I was confused that Bilbo was not the hero again. My older brother, who knew how these things worked, explained the cover to me, so I'd know what was coming.

"The tall guy in the middle is Superman. He's calling the other superheroes to help him: Batman, Aquaman, and there, that's Jimmy Olsen."









noWizardme
Half-elven


Sep 7 2015, 12:45pm

Post #12 of 33 (4274 views)
Shortcut
A lovely one from Francis Spufford [In reply to] Can't Post

Francis Spufford (author) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_Spufford caught mumps aged 6, and was kept home from school whilst convalescing. It was at this time that he says "the furze of black marks between the covers of The Hobbit grew lucid, and released a dragon."


Quote
When I caught the mumps, I couldn’t read; when I went back to school again, I could. The first page of The Hobbit was a thicket of symbols, to be decoded one at a time and joined hesitantly together…. By the time I reached The Hobbit’s last page, though, writing had softened, and lost the outlines of the printed alphabet, and become a transparent liquid, first viscous and sluggish, like a jelly of meaning, then ever thinner and more mobile, flowing faster and faster, until it reached me at the speed of thinking and I could not entirely distinguish the suggestions it was making from my own thoughts. I had undergone the acceleration into the written word that you also experience as a change in the medium. In fact, writing had ceased to be a thing—an object in the world—and become a medium, a substance you look through.”

The Child that Books Built, Francis Spufford https://books.google.co.uk/...o,l,e%22&f=false


~~~~~~

Join us for a read-through of The Two Towers (Book III of Lord of the Rings) in the Reading-Room - 13 September- 29 November 2015.
Schedule etc: http://newboards.theonering.net/...i?post=864064#864064


ninja_hepek
Registered User

Sep 8 2015, 9:49am

Post #13 of 33 (4233 views)
Shortcut
My First Memory [In reply to] Can't Post

Most dear memory of mine, related to Tolkien, comes from a time when I was young, about fourteen years of age, and when I was sickly (as usual, winter time). I was about to go to hospital for a two week stay and in that time, my mother (as any other would) worked her best to get me whatever I wanted. Having just finished with the Lord of The Rings, I asked my mother if she could get me Silmarillion. I was, of course, aware that it was hard to find as it was long time since it was published. My mother, knowing how much I fell in love with Tolkien's work, scoured the city in a matter of days and got me the book!

Another memory I have is how I actually got my first Tolkien book. After I bought Harry Potter in the winter of 2002, I decided I wanted to read the rest of the books. As per usual, Harry Potter 2 (Chamber of Secrets) was sold out so, browsing through the books, I asked the young man who worked there to give me a recommendation. He said try The Hobbit, you should like it. And boy was he right!


noWizardme
Half-elven


Sep 8 2015, 12:05pm

Post #14 of 33 (4222 views)
Shortcut
Welcome to the Reading Room, ninja_h ! :) [In reply to] Can't Post

How did you like Silmarilion, once you got it? My memory of that book was getting a 1st edition when it came out, and bring all "what, no hobbits?" I only finally read it a couple of years ago, with the help of this Reading Room (we did a 'read-through' like the one of Two Towers about to begin ((see footer)). It was a great way to experience the book. Maybe you'd like to join us or Two Towers btw - everyone is most welcome!

How did it feel to go from JK Rowling to JRR Tolkien? Did JRR seem old-fashioned (and if so was that a plus or minus?)

~~~~~~

Join us for a read-through of The Two Towers (Book III of Lord of the Rings) in the Reading-Room - 13 September- 29 November 2015.
Schedule etc: http://newboards.theonering.net/...i?post=864064#864064


noWizardme
Half-elven


Sep 8 2015, 12:20pm

Post #15 of 33 (4227 views)
Shortcut
Anxiety caused by discovering Bilbo is not the hero.... [In reply to] Can't Post

Ought to have an impressive medical name! (Bilbonichtderheldangst?) I had that too.

~~~~~~

Join us for a read-through of The Two Towers (Book III of Lord of the Rings) in the Reading-Room - 13 September- 29 November 2015.
Schedule etc: http://newboards.theonering.net/...i?post=864064#864064


ninja_hepek
Registered User

Sep 8 2015, 2:28pm

Post #16 of 33 (4219 views)
Shortcut
LOTR vs HP? [In reply to] Can't Post


In Reply To
How did you like Silmarilion, once you got it? My memory of that book was getting a 1st edition when it came out, and bring all "what, no hobbits?" I only finally read it a couple of years ago, with the help of this Reading Room (we did a 'read-through' like the one of Two Towers about to begin ((see footer)). It was a great way to experience the book. Maybe you'd like to join us or Two Towers btw - everyone is most welcome!

How did it feel to go from JK Rowling to JRR Tolkien? Did JRR seem old-fashioned (and if so was that a plus or minus?)


I remember thinking it was completely different author. First, I blamed it on translation (I didn't get the original English until recently).
Finally, it took some time for me to come to terms that Tolkien didn't write a bucket-load of LoTR sequels (like JR did for HP).
I really can't say much about going from one to another as I love both. It was weird but bigger change, for me, was going from Hobbit and LoTR to Silmarillion.
But if I had to say anything about Tolkien and J. K, I'd say that in my mind, they're completely different BUT I'm fine with that. I recently re-read the whole Harry Potter series in (for me) record time - 19 days! Now, I love Tolkien's work, I know it by heart but I sincerely doubt I could ever read his trilogy, let alone seven books of his, in such a short time.
Oh, I shall join you. As of recently, I just finished the third book so I'm, quite literally, half way through the whole trilogy. I also got my copy of the story of Kullervo... now that's going to be fun!


Eruonen
Half-elven


Sep 8 2015, 7:01pm

Post #17 of 33 (4205 views)
Shortcut
I grew up in the 1960s and had an older brother who was living in Boulder, Colorado [In reply to] Can't Post

attending college. He brought the books back to Illinois on a visit and another older brother read them. I remember being the "cheeky" younger brother who was laughing and teasing him as he told us the story summary at the dinner table. Dwarves? Dragons? It sounded silly to me. Oh, but that changed after he handed the books to me insisting they were very good. I read The Hobbit about age 10 and then went to read the LOTR immediately after that. I remember asking my dad "what is a farthing?" and other unfamiliar terms. I spend a lot of time looking words up in the dictionary.


(This post was edited by Eruonen on Sep 8 2015, 7:03pm)


Darkstone
Immortal


Sep 9 2015, 4:28pm

Post #18 of 33 (4120 views)
Shortcut
Telstar [In reply to] Can't Post

While I read LOTR I had side "A" of The Tornados' "Telstar" LP on repeat on my old monaural record player.

(Note "Telstar" was the first U.S. #1 hit by a British group.)

******************************************
"We’re orcs of the Misty Mountains,
Our singing’s part of canon.
We do routines and chorus scenes
While dancing with abandon.
We killed Isildur in the Gladden,
To help Sauron bring Armageddon!"
-From "Monty Python and the One Ring"


Meneldor
Valinor


Sep 9 2015, 5:49pm

Post #19 of 33 (4103 views)
Shortcut
Love that tune! [In reply to] Can't Post

It's track #1 on my "Best of the Tornadoes" CD. Ridin' the Sky is another favorite.


They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters, these see the works of the Lord, and His wonders in the deep. -Psalm 107


enanito
Rohan

Sep 9 2015, 8:58pm

Post #20 of 33 (4080 views)
Shortcut
Grade school teachers [In reply to] Can't Post

My first exposure to Tolkien was from my 3rd grade teacher, who over the course of a few weeks read the Hobbit to us, up to Bilbo finding the ring. I don't know about the other kids, but I was attentive to every sentence and had my own images take shape of what the Shire, Rivendell, and the Misty Mountains were like. She encouraged us to finish on our own, which I did.

Then in 4th-6th grades I was in a program which encouraged advanced reading (5th grade read "Lord of Light" by Roger Zelazny which I couldn't comprehend, then rediscovered Zelazny in college and devoured all his works!). In 6th grade we read FOTR, and although I skipped the Elvish poems and such first-time-thru, the immensity of Middle Earth was absolutely mesmerizing. Like many others, instead of reading someone's story, I felt like I was living the story as it unfolded, surrounded by current events yet immersed in a world full of ancient history. Incredible how Tolkien could make the mere mention of a name "mean something" to me as I read it, even it I only had a faint inkling of the story behind the name (Gondolin? Mordor? Elbereth?)


noWizardme
Half-elven


Sep 10 2015, 2:45pm

Post #21 of 33 (4022 views)
Shortcut
Welcome to the "Fellowship of the Room" enanito [In reply to] Can't Post

Hope you'll join the Reading Room for the two Towers read-through!


Quote
Incredible how Tolkien could make the mere mention of a name "mean something" to me as I read it, even it I only had a faint inkling of the story behind the name (Gondolin? Mordor? Elbereth?)


I know what you mean! It's amazing how much Tolkien does NOT explain, and how (on the whole) that is better than providing laborious explanations, at least in the body of his story. It also gives us a lot to discuss, of course - if everything had an explicit "official" meaning, not only would the story be much less readable, but we'd have much less to talk about. One of the really interesting things (to me) about a read-through is someone coming out with an interpretation, opinion or fact I'd never find for myself.

~~~~~~

Join us for a read-through of The Two Towers (Book III of Lord of the Rings) in the Reading-Room - 13 September- 29 November 2015.
Schedule etc: http://newboards.theonering.net/...i?post=864064#864064


Aunt Dora Baggins
Immortal


Sep 11 2015, 5:04am

Post #22 of 33 (3996 views)
Shortcut
I read the trilogy out of order the first time. [In reply to] Can't Post

After I had read The Hobbit, my parents got me FotR for my 13th birthday. I had no idea it wasn't a stand-alone book, and was shocked when it ended on a cliffhanger. I went to the junior high library, but TTT was checked out, and I couldn't wait, so I checked out RotK. I had no idea who Faramir and Eowyn were, but I read it and loved it anyway, and then read TTT. It was a confusing and spoiler-filled experience, but I soon read them in the right order.

It took me a little while to noticed that those Ballantine covers formed a continuous mural. I still have the jigsaw puzzle we got of that mural not long afterward.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GNU Terry Pratchett
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"For DORA BAGGINS in memory of a LONG correspondence, with love from Bilbo; on a large wastebasket. Dora was Drogo's sister, and the eldest surviving female relative of Bilbo and Frodo; she was ninety-nine, and had written reams of good advice for more than half a century."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"A Chance Meeting at Rivendell" and other stories

leleni at hotmail dot com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



(This post was edited by Aunt Dora Baggins on Sep 11 2015, 5:06am)


Aunt Dora Baggins
Immortal


Sep 11 2015, 5:09am

Post #23 of 33 (3994 views)
Shortcut
I read LotR to my kids when my son was nine. [In reply to] Can't Post

I have a precious audiotape of the scene were Bilbo disappears at the party, and then goes back to his hole and takes off the Ring, and my son exclaims triumphantly, "I knew it!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GNU Terry Pratchett
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"For DORA BAGGINS in memory of a LONG correspondence, with love from Bilbo; on a large wastebasket. Dora was Drogo's sister, and the eldest surviving female relative of Bilbo and Frodo; she was ninety-nine, and had written reams of good advice for more than half a century."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"A Chance Meeting at Rivendell" and other stories

leleni at hotmail dot com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



Yva
Lorien


Sep 12 2015, 10:50am

Post #24 of 33 (3936 views)
Shortcut
Also out of order [In reply to] Can't Post

I picked up the Two Towers first, right after I’d finished the Hobbit.

I believe that’s why the sentence “Aragorn sped up the hill” became a truly iconic one for me. I remember reading it and having no clue who this guy was and why he was running, and my own confusion nicely mirrored the sense of disorder the situation I was reading about conveyed. The rest of the Book 3 was therefore a bit of a mess with intriguing, but often mysterious dialogues. I got hooked as soon as I reached Frodo and Sam’s storyline with considerably fewer names in it Smile

It was really interesting to only read FOTR afterwards. It felt as if I was uncovering important clues in a detective story, almost.


noWizardme
Half-elven


Sep 12 2015, 1:07pm

Post #25 of 33 (3931 views)
Shortcut
Reading order must have some interesting effects... [In reply to] Can't Post

... For example, perhaps you were much more alarmed than the average FOTR reader by Boromir's Council of Elrond ideas about using the Ring. That would be because you already know how it works out in Two Towers.

I suppose a fairly common out-of-order experience must be to have read LOTR (or seen the movies) before reading The Hobbit. So (unlike Bilbo, or Tolkien himself) you know what it is that Bilbo has found.

~~~~~~

Join us for a read-through of The Two Towers (Book III of Lord of the Rings) in the Reading-Room - 13 September- 29 November 2015.
Schedule etc: http://newboards.theonering.net/...i?post=864064#864064

First page Previous page 1 2 Next page Last page  View All
 
 

Search for (options) Powered by Gossamer Forum v.1.2.3

home | advertising | contact us | back to top | search news | join list | Content Rating

This site is maintained and updated by fans of The Lord of the Rings, and is in no way affiliated with Tolkien Enterprises or the Tolkien Estate. We in no way claim the artwork displayed to be our own. Copyrights and trademarks for the books, films, articles, and other promotional materials are held by their respective owners and their use is allowed under the fair use clause of the Copyright Law. Design and original photography however are copyright © 1999-2012 TheOneRing.net. Binary hosting provided by Nexcess.net

Do not follow this link, or your host will be blocked from this site. This is a spider trap.