Well, I'm back.
Back to reading The Lord of the Rings once again. I've read this book at least twelve times, more than any other book....and yet when I started to read it earlier this week, I still got a little excited.
Usually when I start reading The Lord of the Ring (LOR), it's usually the fall or winter. After all, it's a cold weather book. At least it feels that way to me. In the last decade or so, I usually wait about 2-3 years between readings after another decade or so of usually reading it once a year. I like to wait until the first real cold front of the season to begin. Most of the book is read late at night, next to a warm lamp, covered up cozily in bed. I usually read as long as I can until I drift off to sleep, sometimes with the book on my chest.
Just typing those words makes me happy.
With each re-read I deliberately read slowly, taking my time with the Tolkien's (at times) overly descriptive text. It's a slow book and I love it that way. I especially adore the beginning of the book and by the end of the book (yes, of course the appendix, too) I'll be glum at the thought of being finished. Usually what this means is that I will re-read a whole host of other Tolkien stuff, of course, The Hobbit, Unfinished Tales, sometimes referencing back to the something in the appendix of LOR and last time around I re-read The Children of Hurin and then, almost sputtering out of Tolkien overload, I usually break down somewhere in The Silmarillion and stop. Now you know why I do this only every 2-3 years...it becomes all engrossing.
The first time I read LOR, it was the late summer of 2001. I had heard the the movie was coming out that winter and I felt like I ought to see what all the hype was about. I heard it was boring, but it didn't deter me. I picked up The Hobbit first, not knowing what to expect. I was charmed after reading the first page. It felt like you were taken right into the fairy tale world and it just felt, safe, safe and homely.
After a few more weeks, I purchased a paperback version of LOR and while I was on the edge of my seat reading about the Black Riders, after Rivendell, the narrative seemed to slow down and I was a little frustrated. Then, I had a huge car accident that I was lucky to survive. My copy of LOR had been in my truck and it tumbled and flipped across the road just as much as my truck did. It was destroyed.
I was happy to be alive and being in graduate school, I was also extremely busy, so I did not immediately pick up a new copy. However, my best friend's mom was a huge Tolkien fan and she had found out that my copy had been destroyed in the accident and bought me another copy as a gift. It inspired me to finish it before the first movie came out. I still have this paperback version today and although some of the appendix is falling out, I feel like this little edition and I have a long history together. One day, it may fall apart on me, but until then, we're sticking together.
For me, The Lord of the Rings isn't just about the way it makes me feel, but the way it brings you into an almost fully formed world. An alien world that is just out of reach, and yet fully touchable. At times the narrative gets unwieldy, but it doesn't let you go. Some characters feel flat and fairy tale like, but others real and grounded. A mix of the a fantasy and at times not quite a real world (or maybe as the world should be). It's philosophical and a bit dry, other times it reads as a history narrative and other times, it's downright funny while other parts of the book are pure adventure...but it is always thoughtful and always detailed. Don't get me wrong, it has its flaws.
The most important flaw being Tolkien's use of race and 20th century "race theory" in the book. It's used to describe the differences between the "races" (elves, hobbits, humans, etc.) and even more disturbingly between the human cultures. It's sad and enraging and yet, it doesn't make me stop reading the book. Tolkien was a man of his times, he was ignorant but not quite a bigot. It reminds me the way I feel about Carl Barks. I'm conflicted and yet drawn to their art. Maybe I'm letting them both off the hook too easily but this is a debate for another time....
This fall or winter we may be moving and so I felt a strong need to be grounded and closer to a feeling of "home" more than ever. I'm glad I'm back once again for the ride.
Update from 2020: I ended up reading the Annotated The Hobbit, which is great but all my other Tolkien stuff is stuck at work because of the Pandemic (it's at work because of the move). To be honest, I have my Tolkien fill and I'll be ready for more in a couple of years.
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