Tolkien

 




   I was looking for some new books to read. Lately I have been reading books about the British Royal family, mostly about the late King Edward VII and the late King George VI. I did it out of curiosity and partly because I've read all the books by my favourite authors that I'm interested in. 

   Over the years I've met a several people who are fans of J.R.R. Tolkien, author of the popular books The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. C and my stepchildren are fans of the movies based off these books.

   Although I've dipped my toes into the fantasy genre now and again reading Mercedes Lackey and Anne McCaffrey, I'd never read any Tolkien books. Part of the reason for this is out of intimidation. I thought Tolkien books would be hard to understand. I thought the plots would be very complicated and knew he had constructed several languages that his characters speak. I thought they would be the kind of books that you would need to take notes on the side to keep things straight. I'd already had one experience with the book, Foucault's Pendulum and didn't want to do that again. (I finally gave it away.) I fully admit to being a lazy reader when it comes to fiction. 

   I asked Dana, who I knew read the books and liked them. I'm not sure, but I think she might have laughed or at least chuckled at the question. She told me that Tolkien wrote the books for his children. she assured me that I would have no problem understanding them.

  I went to the online catalog and reserved The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. C was quite pleased about this. I suggested that after I read the books, we should watch the movies. We could have a personal Lord of the Rings movies festival. I suggested that we might read to each other. Reading to each other is something that C and I used to do when we were dating. It was a nice way for me to share some of my favourite books with him. C liked this idea.

   We didn't get to the books right away. Monday we sat down on the couch and started with The Hobbit. We only got through a few chapters before bedtime, but I already liked the book. It's descriptive which makes it perfect for reading out loud and so far moves fairly well.

  I'm looking forward to reading more.

  

    

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