# How did you feel and think when you first read LoTR/Tolkien's works?



## Sammyboy (Nov 1, 2006)

I have a nasty feeling there's already a topic on this somewhere, but here goes!

I've already got a thread going about the number of times people have read Tolkien and where they first came across his works, but it's got me thinking about the more emotional side of things. 

How did you feel when you first read Lord of the Rings, or indeed any of Tolkien's works? How did you feel whilst you first read the book, or indeed just after you read the first Tolkien book you came across? Did you feel exhilarated, amazed, loved it, or did you dislike it or think it was rubbish initially? Sometimes you read something and think it was pretty average or not that good, but the more you thought about it the more you liked, even loved it!

Me? I couldn't put Lord of the Rings down, gave me a 'warm' feeling reading it, the amazing depth and detail did make you feel you were there with the fellowship, and that there were thousands of untold stories behind every landmark, old building, ruin that they came across. It was pure escapism, I find it hard generally to forget about daily worries, work worries, etc. but when reading JRRT I get so engrossed that I find I can forget about them for a while, and when I've finished reading things don't seem quite so bad as they did before. 

I wanted to know more about Middle Earth, so read some of the appendices, and have gone onto The Hobbit and The Sil, with the intention of reading the Book of Last Tales 1 & 2, and unfinished tales, and hopefully onto other Tolkien works, his letters, etc. etc.!


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## Varokhâr (Nov 1, 2006)

When I read LOTR, I was enthralled. I hadn't read much fiction for entertainment till that point, and found it very complex, but as soon as I acclimated to the writing, I was completely into it. To this day, it is still my single favorite work of fiction (if you go ahead and consider all three volumes as one single book).

I read the Silmarillion next; it too captured me. I really felt as if I were not reading mere fiction, but an account of an actual world and time. Tolkien's writing of that book made me feel as if the Eldar, for example, really lived - most fiction is immediately recognizeable as such, but this was a major exception. I almost felt exhausted after I finished - so epic was the overall feel of the book to me.

The Hobbit was very enjoyable, but I read that last. It definitely had that quaint little feel to it, and felt very much like the children's story Tolkien had in mind. Nevertheless, I thoroughly enjoyed that one as well, and am hoping that PJ will have at it


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## Barliman Butterbur (Nov 1, 2006)

Sammyboy said:


> ...How did you feel when you first read Lord of the Rings, or indeed any of Tolkien's works?



When I first read _The Hobbit_ I was totally smitten with the charm of it and the wonderful atmosphere of Tolkien's writing style, and of Middle-earth! Then I became somehow aware of LOTR, and began reading that.

I was equally charmed right through the first chapter. But then I began to run into difficulties with it, and put the book down not long after the Birthday Party was over. It took many tries for me to really get into it and stay with it until the end. It took me a while to realize what was going on: _that Tolkien had rather abruptly changed his writing style and his mood:_ much more quasi-medieval and dark, the vocabulary much more "Arthurian" as it were — multisyllabic, stately and serious — not at all like the wording appropriate for Bilbo considering the choice dainties in his larder! Not at all like the hobbit-banter one hears in The Green Dragon! 

If one sticks with it, the reader _grows._ He learns a wholly new way of living in Middle-earth. And if he sticks with it, he finds himself running to the dictionary to get the meaning of words likely never before read! He becomes a deeper and more subtle — and in some ways _better_ — person by exposing himself to the influences of LOTR — of Tolkien.

Barley


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## Sammyboy (Nov 1, 2006)

Thanks for the replies! 

@Barliman - Your thoughts on The Hobbit reflect mine, although I read it after LOTR it read more like a children's book to me, in fact it would be the perfect book to introduce kids to Tolkien (though I so far haven't read works like Roverandom). The Hobbit does have a real charm to it, a more 'informal' adventure almost with a real escapist feel to it. 

LOTR was indeed 'darker' in it's feel, and did read more as a historical document or 'documentary', I agree with the 'Arthurian' feel you talk about. I found it deeply engrossing though, both the Hobbit and LOTR, despite their differing writing styles.

The Silmarillion I felt on first reading it had the impression of almost being a 'religious' work, sounding in many places like a Bible or equivalent, which I guess echoes some of what you've said Varokhâr. However I don't know quite as much about the Sil as only read it once, though about to start my first re-read of it!


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## Confusticated (Nov 1, 2006)

Hullo Sammyboy!

My first Middle-earth book was _The Hobbit_ at age 22. It touched me in a way that nothing else ever had, and awakened what I thought was a child-like faith in everything good. Now days after the passing of time and reading the other books I know there is nothing child-like in it. For me, Middle-earth was an athiest's glipse at something divine.


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## Sammyboy (Nov 1, 2006)

Nóm said:


> Hullo Sammyboy!
> 
> My first Middle-earth book was _The Hobbit_ at age 22. It touched me in a way that nothing else ever had, and awakened what I thought was a child-like faith in everything good. Now days after the passing of time and reading the other books I know there is nothing child-like in it. For me, Middle-earth was an athiest's glipse at something divine.


 
The books do seem to have a very 'believable' diety and 'religion' in it, I sometimes wish it was real, I'm an athiest myself and found myself wishing I could believe in the Valar and Iluvatar, etc.! It's a world I wish I was part of, and not this messed up, contradictory world we're stuck with now 

I was a latecomer to JRRT too, reading LoTR at the age of about 24 - perhaps I should start a thread now on how old you were when you first started reading JRRT!


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## Gift of Names (May 5, 2007)

I felt inspired, enchanted, refreshed. Certainly. :]


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## YayGollum (May 5, 2007)

Hm. I thank you Gift of Names person, for bringing back a few old threadses. I wonder why I hadn't noticed this one before. oh well. 

When I first read Tolkien type stuffs, I felt yummy? No, that's not right. That The Hobbit book was read at me at least once by my evil father. I read it several times after that. When I first heard it, I'm certain that I was merely impatient to rush off and do my own thing. Sitting in one place to listen to my evil father was a chore. But it was fun. I read a lot on my own when I was a little kid, and The Hobbit was one of my favorites. I don't remember any specific as well as creepy and useless emotions attached to the thing, though. Probably glee at the wit and fascination at the originality? 

As to that The Lord Of The Rings story, which I read much later, there was also a large gob of duty attached to it. It was the story that both of my parents loved, put on their yearly reading lists, recommended to many, and ordered me to eventually read. Just like any book that is popularly seen as a classic, I came at it ready to be disappointed, full of skepticism that I would like it at all. I was, as a matter of course, pleasantly surprised. Since the books that I had been reading before it were getting messed up, I enjoyed the voice. 

Sure, The Hobbit was a lot more kiddish, but it is the same as the others when it comes to telling the story at hand while dropping all kinds of tidbits that could be interesting stories, as well. The depth and richness would have induced approval from myself, I am sure. Finding out how many of those tidbits were never expanded on was a disappointment, but I am too much of a perfectionist, I guess.


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