LOTR and re-reading novels

Cafe Society
1

I’m re-reading The Hobbit in preparation for the release of The Two Towers. I just finished re-reading The Silmarillion and will soon move onto a re-read of The Lord of the Rings.

So far it has been a pretty interesting experience, as I last read these books several years ago in college, and have since discovered many new authors and read hundreds of books, very few of which, if any, were in the fantasy genre. This is also the first re-reading of any novel or group of books since I last re-read LOTR several years ago. A lot has happened in my life, I have earned two degrees, I have become more well-read, more articulate with and more appreciative of the written word, and I have learned more about Tolkien’s background and motivations in his authorship.

That I am enjoying the reading experience as much, if not more, than my previous readings when I was younger is an indication of how great these books are… well, that and the millions of copies of the books sold.

I found myself better prepared for The Silmarillion this time around, as I originally struggled through it as a novel with a load of narrative and not much dialogue. This time I approached it like it was a historical text and found it much easier to read and more enjoyable.

As for The Hobbit, it amazes me how child-oriented the language is and how easy a read it is. Being a slow reader, I was concerned about being able to complete all the books before the release of The Two Towers, but I now think I’ll be able to do so easily. I’m almost at the part where they reach Mirkwood, which is one of my favorite parts of the novel.

Judging from the recently bumped “what are you reading?” thread, others are reading or re-reading Tolkien’s books in anticipation of The Two Towers.

For those who are doing so or have done so, how do you find the experience of re-reading them, especially after a significant passage of time?

2

I just finished my reread of the whole of the Lord of the Rings.

I read them first when I was 13, from the library. I liked them a lot, but found TTT painfully dull. I eventually acquired FOTR and ROTK, and read each several times, but until just recently, hadn’t reread TTT since then. I’m 24 now, btw, so it’s been a while.

I enjoyed the experience MUCH more this time around. As a kid, I prided myself on my ability to read very quickly, and it would not be inaccurate to say that I skimmed a great deal. I’m a much better reader now, and this time I found TTT just as excellent as the other two books. I can’t wait to see the movie!

I should add, I never tire of rereading books I enjoyed. I know there are people who can’t fathom reading a book more than once, but knowing the end doesn’t spoil it for me. If I liked it the first time, I’ll like it again, and again, and again, and…

3

You’ll be amazed how slow Fellowship goes after tearing through The Hobbit. Took me a couple weeks, versus the 4 days for Two Towers and 2 days for Return of the King. By day 3, you’ll be wishing that Tom Bombadill would just shut the hell up already!

If anyone could give me a fairly clear rundown of what exactly took place in the barrow-wights mound, I’d be appreciative. I re-read that section about 4 times, and came out none-the-wiser.

4

Barrow mound scene:

Frodo awakens to discover he is partially paralyzed and that Merry appears dead next to him. The verses are chanted by the Wight in preparation of sacrificing them to Sauron. For reasons not specifically mentioned, Frodo is able to move. He briefly considers abandoning Merry, but passes one of his earliest tests & decided not to. He then recalls the rhyme given to him be Bombadill to summon Bombadill. He repeats it, and after a moment hears the echoing (sp?) verse from outside the Barrow. Bombadill breaks in. The sunlight does most of the job on the Wight, and after bringing the hobbits out, Bombadill finishes the job. The remaining hobbits awaken from the spell, somewhat disoriented. Tom brings out the treasure from the mound and spreads it. The distribution of the treasure will break the spell completely and prevents the mound from being re-inhabited.

Is that what you are after?

5

I’m re-reading each book of LOTR before the movie comes out. I finished Fellowship last year, the morning of the same day I saw the film, and I just finished Two Towers last night. It’s the first time I’ve read them since I got out of high school over 10 years ago.

I think I’m getting a lot more out of the books this time around. I’ve always loved them, but more as great adventure/fantasy books than anything. Now that I’m a bit older and my reading tastes have expanded considerably, I’m admiring the books not only for the great story (which is still great, mind), but also for the depth of character and the excellent writing.

For instance, near the end of Two Towers is a passage in which Frodo and Sam are talking about their adventures as if they were characters in a story. At one point, one of them mentions that, because their journey has become so grim and dark, many readers would simply close the book and not read any further. It struck me as a very clever passage, both in terms of how it draws the reader into the story (since its you they’re talking about, sort of) and in terms of what their discussion says about them as characters. That sort of thing probably won’t come off in the movie, if it’s there at all, but it is one of the many little things that makes LOTR such a great series of books.

A friend of mine recently mentioned that he can’t read fantasy anymore, because it feels like he’s reading the same story over and over, with different characters. With most fantasy, I’m inclined to agree with him. However, in Lord of the Rings, Tolkien keyed into something that transcends the genre (before there even was a genre to speak of), and makes each of the books great in its own right. Beyond being good fantasy literature, re-reading the series now is showing me that these books are just good literature, whatever genre you place them in.

6

The long and short of the Barrow wight scene. As ‘interpreted’ by Moi.

Frodo wakes up after having had the misfortune of being lured into the barrow. He becomes aware that he is the only conscious member of the Hobbit proto-fellowship and that his friends are more unconscious than a really unconscious thing. This next bit isn’t exactly the clearest but Frodo sees a long arm reaching around the corner intent on doing something nasty to his sleeping chums (likely with the long sword lying across their necks). What’s fuzzy here to me is if the arm in question is an independent animated limb or just the appendage of the actual Wight somewhere around the corner. He has a long moment of conflicted fear and urge to escape then hacks the hand off with a short sword lying in the midst of the collected goodies. The wight naturally enough is unimpressed. Frodo however saves himself future consequences by singing up a rescue from Tom who blows the doors off the barrow and kicks out the tenants.

Is that clear enough?

My greatly trimmed summary would go thusly. “After being lured into the tomb of a Barrow Wight, Frodo and company narrowly avoid a ritualistic murder at the hands of the undead due to Frodo’s timely moment of courage and Tom’s ‘Rescue Song’”.

7

Bingo. Thanks everyone. Welcome to the SDMB, CaptEgo! Now on to your regularly scheduled thread.

8

More on the barrow wight scene

As Tom Bombadil is spreading the treasure in the sunlight, and declares it free to all takers, he plucks out some elvish daggers and hands one to each hobbit. Merry’s elvish dagger (long enough to be considered a short sword on a hobbit) will later be Very Important in the conclusion of the story).

For a comprehensive description of what happened, check out this site:
http://valarguild.org/varda/Tolkien/encyc/papers/BarrowWights.htm

9

From C.S.Lewis’ essay/review on FOTR, “here are beauties which pierce like swords or burn like cold iron; here is a book that will break your heart.”

I read them for the first time when I was 20. I read the whole series in five days, and developed serious delusions of enthood. I’m 24 now, and I’ve reread them start to finish at least ten times. I like them better (if it’s possible) now that I’ve read parts of The Silmarrillion, Tolkien’s biography, On Fairy-Stories etc.

10

Just finished rereading the main part of the LotR and am working my way through the appendixes. I think I’m going for the Silmarillion next; I’ve never managed to actually read it all propperly, just bits and pieces of it. And I know I’m going to have to read it again before Return of the King is released just to keep my memory fresh.
What I found ammusing is that The Two Towers is on the bestseller lists. Not The Lord of the Rings, not the other two parts: just The Two Towers.

11

I read the trilogy at eighteen, during every off moment of a week in the army, long ago. I read Silmarillion the day it was first for sale in the US. I read the short stories and the scholarly works as I came across them, over the years.

I reread the trilogy probably twice per decade. Silmarillion maybe once a decade. I reread a lot of books, though.

The hobbit I have read aloud to children often enough that I can do the first page from memory.

When people say things about Middle Earth that I don’t recall being exactly as they report, I look it up.

Tris

12

I’ven’t any idea what it’s like to re-read Lord of the Rings after a long interval, because I’ve never since I read them the first time gone more than two years without a re-read. The Hobbit is on about the same schedule, and The Silmarillion about half as often. I do wish, though, that I could read it again for the first time, so to speak. While the story still stands up wonderfully, even knowing the ending, I’d like to see how well I could figure out the spoilers. Of course, everything is strongly hinted in advance, but at 13 or so, I didn’t pick up on most of it.

13

It wasn’t the Lord of the Rings that I had a long gap of a re-read, but the Silmarillion. I must have been 10 at the time, and I had a horrible horrible time with it, even though I had already read the Lord of the Rings.

When I was 25 (I’m 30+ now) I picked up the Silmarillion again and was overawed by the scope and the beauty of the book. It even made reading all the Rings books that much more. I have been reading the Rings books at least once a year ever since I was ten and I love it more each time and now I include the Silmarillion on the list.

14

Once I caught myself daydreaming about amnesia so I could read LOTR again for the first time. Not so I could figure out spoilers, but for that incredible sense of wonder which descended on me at 13 when I began reading the story after finding a three volume edtion in the local library.

I reread it often – not every year as I once did, but often. And I still find tears in my eyes, and goosebumps on my skin, while reading.

I used to reread a lot of novels often. Only LOTR remains. There are books of poetry, though, to which I keep going back.

A recent story I read which I suspect may demand and receive many rereadings is The Fionavar Tapestry by** Guy Gavriel Kay**.

15

I’m just about finished with The Hobbit. It’s interesting how Tolkien hints at the history from The Silmarillion, distinguishing the wood elves from the Noldor, mentioning the “necromancer” Sauron, etc.

I’ll probably pick up a new copy of LOTR, as the ones I have are falling apart. I’ll probably get them all in one volume this time, although the volumes I have seen all have the movie screenshots on them, and to be honest I have never been a big fan of novel covers featuring movie screenshots on them.

I’ll probably bump this thread on occasion as I progress through the books.

16

I’m re-reading them now, after quite a long time. I think I first read them in junior high. I re-read the Hobbit a month or two ago. I’m now going through LOTR, and probably understanding many more details than I did when I was 13…

I’m planning to read the Silmarillion (for the first time) after this.

Fellowship does go slower than The Hobbit – especially at first. Chapters 3-5 are actually somewhat slow, as nothing much is happening, other than detailed descriptions of travelling out of the Shire. Lots of descriptions of the scenery they are passing.

The pace definitely picks up when they get to Bree, though.

Fellowship is probably the one I remembered best from when I read them at around 13 – I actually don’t remember as much about the details of Two Towers or Return of the King, so I’m looking forward to getting to those volumes.

17

After reading part of The Silmarillion as well as various essays and faqs, I’m enjoying my second read quite a bit more. When I first read LOTR I was only expecting a good fantasy/adventure story, not that that’s a problem necessarily. This time I can really appreciate the genius of Tolkien in creating a world with not just the scope and grandeur of an epic but the nuances of real life. As he describes Fangorn Forest, one can truly feel the still—but not stagnant—air and the vast ancientness of the place; yet a dim sense of expectation hangs in that air. At least that’s how I was affected.

I guess the first time I wasn’t prepared to stretch the imagination to its max and beyond. When reading his description of the view from a mountain-top or just the passing landscapes, I often had to just stop and sit for a couple minutes to put the image together in my mind and was amazed at the result. You really can’t speed-read this book and enjoy its richness (unless you have a special gift or something). It has also benefited me this time to have read The Hobbit finally. I know, I know…

Well, it’s only been about a year since first reading LOTR so it’s hard to say what the experience would be like after say five years, but it is definitely a richer, more enjoyable experience now. Maybe the movie helped with that too. I imagine the fight scenes more graphically now. :smiley: Great book.

18

I read them once a year, every year, when I was a kid. I haven’t read them since I was about 14, so it’s been like 10 years. I did reread The Hobbit a few years back and was struck, as another poster was, how quick a read it is. But I thought it was almost more charming this time around, because the sense of humour is light-hearted and whimsical. I think a child just takes it in stride, but an adult can really appreciate it.

I think so too. The very first time I read Fellowship, I was about 8 or 9. I started and put it down a couple times because of how slow it was. I then managed to read it all the way to the end of “Book 1” when they get to Rivendell, balked at what seemed like a lot of boring poetry and crap, and never realized there was a “Book 2” to Fellowship with all the cool action in it.

Of course, some of the best books are worth a slow start. I almost gave up forever on the Robert Jordan books when the first 100 pages or so of Eye of the World just drug along at a snail’s pace, but got over the hump and rolled right along. And to think I almost put down LOTR forever because of some drab pages of poetry in the middle…

19

Monstre, I suggest taking my suggestion of reading The Silmarillion as a historical text and not as a novel. There is very little dialogue and a lot of narrative, and it really is basically a summary of the history of Arda. I found myself, especially with my last reading, consulting the appendix.

The Silmarillion is a great book for those who want to know more about what is going on in LOTR…

…plus it’s good for contributing to Tolkien threads :smiley:

20

Oh, I already know this – and I’m quite sure that once I’ve read Silmarillion, it will make my future readings of LOTR even better. :slight_smile: