By now, I believe it's pretty obvious that I love books. I crave for them, always, everywhere. Whether I'm reading and some book is mentioned within the text, or maybe I'm on the bus and someone is holding a book, I just have to know its title. Even if I'm watching a film and some character is reading, I cross my fingers and hope the director has made a decent shot of its cover.
It pretty much happened that way with The Lord of the Rings.
I remember the day vividly. I was watching TV, flipping channels aimlessly, until, the magic moment came. There was this lady talking. I could see her lips moving and I could hear her uttering words, but my whole world had stopped as soon as I'd noticed the huge, beautiful book lying open on her lap. The name of the book. That was all I wanted to know.
The Lord of the Rings by John Ronald Reuel Tolkien. The words rang in my ears for a while, and I remained still, entranced by such revelation.
I just had to get that book.
Right away.
Years went by (well, maybe not many, but go by they did), and I forgot about the book. There is a chance that some other book took my fancy afterwards (as always), but Tolkien's books remained somewhere in the back of my mind.
This Winter Classics Challenge has provided me with the perfect opportunity and I've seized it with both hands. I've just finished the first instalment and sweet memories are coming back.
I know this book isn't for everyone. I myself don't always enjoy fantasy. But the sheer effort Tolkien put in his story, the delicacy of its cosmogony, the development of an extraordinarily complicated mythology, the magnificence of the epic combined with the simplicity of pure selfless friendship, all of this, takes my breath away.
Now, since this post has dragged on a bit, I leave you with one of my favourite quotes.
I remember the day vividly. I was watching TV, flipping channels aimlessly, until, the magic moment came. There was this lady talking. I could see her lips moving and I could hear her uttering words, but my whole world had stopped as soon as I'd noticed the huge, beautiful book lying open on her lap. The name of the book. That was all I wanted to know.
The Lord of the Rings by John Ronald Reuel Tolkien. The words rang in my ears for a while, and I remained still, entranced by such revelation.
I just had to get that book.
Right away.
Years went by (well, maybe not many, but go by they did), and I forgot about the book. There is a chance that some other book took my fancy afterwards (as always), but Tolkien's books remained somewhere in the back of my mind.
This Winter Classics Challenge has provided me with the perfect opportunity and I've seized it with both hands. I've just finished the first instalment and sweet memories are coming back.
I know this book isn't for everyone. I myself don't always enjoy fantasy. But the sheer effort Tolkien put in his story, the delicacy of its cosmogony, the development of an extraordinarily complicated mythology, the magnificence of the epic combined with the simplicity of pure selfless friendship, all of this, takes my breath away.
Now, since this post has dragged on a bit, I leave you with one of my favourite quotes.
The wide world is all about you: you can fence yourselves in, but you cannot for ever fence it out.
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Heather
www.thelibraryladder.blogspot.com
Heather, yes I did. I've also read The Silmarillion (loved it) and I'm looking forward to The Unfinished Tales of Numenor (quite a fan, eh?)
I also can't help but think of how amazing Peter Jackson is to have done what he has done... masterpiece!