If I had to choose a favorite book(s), I'd go with TLOR--which surprises me whenever I say that because my taste in fiction usually runs to the realistic.
But. I discovered TLOR at exactly the right time in my life--as a 16 year-old girl in California whose father had just dropped her off at a dismal little mall in Pomona California while he went recruiting. The only thing still opened in the mall was a drugstore, where I found THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING on a spinner. I'm not sure why I even bought the novel--maybe there weren't any bodice-rippers available--so I purchased my copy, went outside, sat on a bench, and read about little men with hairy toes until Dad returned to pick us up.
By then I was hooked.
I don't typically re-read books, but I have read TLOR novels at different times in my life and they've always held up for me--spoken to me about whatever journey I was taking at the time. And now that September 22nd is approaching (NERD ALERT! SEPTEMBER 22ND IS BILBO'S BIRTHDAY!) I've been toying with the idea of reading the books again.
Except.
What if this is the time the books lose their magic? And also, I'm old. If I re-read TLOR will I miss out on a few other books I should read BEFORE I DIE?
This is a quandary. To re-read or not re-read. That is the question.
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2 comments:
I knew we were linked in multiple ways, Ann! I picked up LOTR at about the same age and have loved them ever since. I even told the Sterling Scholar committee that Tolkien was my favorite living author! Oops. I enjoyed the movies, but didn't like having my own vision of Middle-Earth supplanted. Happy birthday, dear hobbits!
I have never caught the vision of LOTR, but i have re-read a few books several times. Sometimes when re-reading the book, I wish I wouldn't have read it on last time (I am looking squarely at you, Scarlet Letter). Sometimes, the magic returns, and I am glad I have re-read it, (Thank you Catcher In The Rye). Its a quandary for sure. I suggest you read whatever you will read, and if you want to stop, STOP.
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