Why do we read this stuff?
 

Without question much of our reading is done for the simple pleasure it affords, and for the escape from the humdrum of everyday life. I have read the Ring Trilogy straight through eleven times, twice of those aloud to members of my family; and virtually every time I was enchanted by the story itself. The story was enough.

Then there is the additional pleasure of the masterfully crafted words themselves. JRRT is positively Shakespearian at times in his use of the English language. Take, for example, the first meeting of Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli with Eomer on the plains of Rohan; or Gandalf's encounter with Wormtongue. The examples are legion, and just to enjoy them alone is reason enough to read the books again.

But I have long believed that, to qualify as great literature, a book must give us something of value to apply to our own lives; something we can use every day, or something to call upon in times of great stress. Something like the vial of Galadriel, that can be pulled from our pocket to provide light and hope when all seems lost.

Tolkein's masterpiece provides these gifts to me in great abundance. In it I find courage, loyalty, honor, perseverance, steadfastness, beauty, love, and a divine knack for enjoying the simple pleasures of life, like giftgiving and second breakfasts.

A recurring theme in the books, and one that I have often found to be true in life (most often to my great relief and benefit), is the idea that whenever things are going badly for us, whenever we seem to be sliding deeper and deeper into despair and ruination, a force is already working somewhere else in the world that will rescue us from our dilemma.

We don't know that it is out there, percolating and gaining momentum; but all the time, while we struggle and try to cope, this other, 'unlooked-for' event is building to a climax, and it breaks upon us just in time to save us from utter ruin.

This happens again and again in LOTR, and it is something 'of value', something we can learn about life and hope, and apply to our own lives over and over through the years.

I would be interested to hear from those of you more facile with this board, those quicker with a quoted passage, about some examples you have seen of this theme in LOTR, or in other themes that you have noticed, and applied to your own lives.

I am of the opinion that The Lord of the Rings is Great Literature. I have often said that it is the single most important piece of imaginative fiction written in the last hundred years. I have little doubt that there are many here who agree with me.

Would you care to tell me why you think so?

I agree with you, for many of the same reasons. In reading Lord of the Rings, I have learned many lessons and strategies to apply to my own life. For example, I used to be one of those people who constantly complains that her life just isn't interesting enough. After reading Gandalf's words,

I stopped complaining, and I realized that I should be grateful for being blessed with a peaceful life. I don't profess to know the utmost limits of my strength, but I do doubt if I would ever be able to withstand a conflict such as the one Frodo withstood, and come out the victor. With Lady Luck's blessing I might, but at a very great price, perhaps the price that Frodo had to pay.

I am happy for a realistic, adult fantasy world that I can escape to (in my mind) without embarrassment. The world of Middle Earth does not seem "hokey" or "corny" to me. I find Tolkien's fictional world incredibly beautiful, and believable. Thanks to the professor's great effort and wonderful writing, I have a mental respite.
While I don't go with the "there's a *force* of good workin" per say, the story helps me remember that "bad" is not the only thing that can occur, and many possible outcomes are in motion and can come about.

Why do I read The Lord of the Rings?

Let's see:
1) The majestic and beautiful language
2) The enchanting way in which Tolkien weaves his story
3) The captivating, believable plot
4) Characters that are real and with whom I can identify
5) An ending that is not completely and neatly wrapped (i.e., not just some "and they all lived happily after"), but still satisfies
6) The "historical" feeling one gets while reading (this story is only a part of a much greater one)
7) And, of course, the most amazing character in the history of English literature (in my opinion): Gollum.

There are more, but that'll do for now.

BECAUSE I LOVE IT!!!! GOD BLESS YOU J.R.R.TOLKIEN!
-CHEERS!

Yes I agree in full. Whether it's the high off loneliness of the elves. Or the warm comfort of a Hobbit Breakfast. I have been a deep Tolkien fan for 8 years which is half of my life. And I can say that it has had a great effect of my life.

Glofin

I think what makes a work of literature really great is the effect it has on your life and your thinking even after you've set it down and walked away. I love Tolkien's work because it speaks to me and to my real experiences, and inspires aspects of my life even when I'm not in the middle of reading it. I can take lessons from the book and apply them to situations in my own life.

Here's an example: whenever I read The Lord of the Rings, I'm always struck by the ever-present hope demonstrated by the characters. So when I get blindsided by some unexpected and depressing event in life, it helps me to remember that the characters I most love in The Lord of the Rings (such as Sam, for instance, who is my number one favourite) didn't give up hope, and neither should I. So if I'm having a kind of despairing moment, sometimes it will help me to just turn to Sam's song in Mordor (the one quoted in my signature) and read it over to remind me not to give in.

And of course, like you said, when things are going badly, some strange and unexplained force usually comes to the rescue. I've seen that happen over and over in my life; whatever mess I get into, I usually end up landing on my feet. I attribute it to keeping hope and doing the best I can - and those are both things I first learned to do from reading The Lord of the Rings.

Now that's great literature. [img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img]

What I'm getting out of the Books is the very will to survive. Right now, I have so many problems (exam week, evil parents, a horribly confusing love life, etc.) and I'm so stressed out that life just doesn't seem worth living any more. I also lost someone who was dearer to me than life itself, you could call him the Pippin to my Merry. After a while, life just doesn't seem worth living.

I recently started re-reading LotR to keep myself from dwelling on my problems, and somehow, bit by bit, it's given me the strengh to struggle on, to live for the freedom I will get, to live for the woman I will become, to live for the people whose lives I will change. As I read about Frodo's gradual decline, I see some of himself in me. I feel that hopeless despair, that drags you down like a boulder around your neck. But along with Sam, I try to hold on to hope. I try to hold on to the hope that one day, this darkness will pass, and the sun will shine out the clearer. I try to hold on to the belief that the good left in this world is worth fighting for, even worth dying for.

A truly great work of literature is, in my opinion, one that truly influences the lives of its readers. It is a treasury open to all, where rich and poor alike can take their own gem from it. The gem that I received from the Books is keeping me alive, and is keeping people alive all over the world, I imagine. Now is that not a truly great work?

Some people consider the book (or the movie, for that matter) as an escape to this troubled world we live in, at least while they spend time reading the book (or watching the movie). How can it be so when in reading LotR you become more fully aware of what's happening around, only in a different scale?

I'll take myself as an example. Lately I have realized how much I resemble Meriadoc Brandybuck. Now I love reading the part in RotK where he was with the Rohirrim (and Dernhelm), feeling so alone. There was nobody around who would listen to him or at least care to understand him. When I first read it, I pitied him so much. Eventually I was amazed at how the fact that nobody seems to notice him led to a great deed: his stabbing of the Witch-King.

There are times that I feel so alone, just like Merry. But when I do, I always remember him, and I gain peace of mind, knowing that I could still do something beneficial even though nobody would see it. *sniff*

There are some parts of the book I am totally amazed at, especially in RotK, and for this reason I sometimes grab the copy from my brother and read it. I have never read anything that can be compared to LotR.

So, why do I read it? Because it's there!
[img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img]

<font size=1 color=339966>[ 2:42 AM December 18, 2003: Message edited by: Lhunardawen ]

Finwe and Lhundardawen have poingnantly stated what I believe to be the greatest gift of literature, and the particular gift of LOTR; and that is the magic of being able to take truths from fiction, and apply them to improve our own lives.

Finwe, your admiration of Sam is significant, because Sam, to me, is the clearest expression of selfless love in the books. Many great deeds are done; in desperation, or for duty, or to uphold kingly tradition, or to support neighbor states. But Sam ALWAYS acts out of love.

I think you should perhaps think as well upon Eowyn, who alone among the characters, experiences two loves during the course of events.

Her unrequited love for Aragorn drives her to a desperate act; but it results in revealing her truly heroic character. Through love for her father, and despair at his falling, she achieves a greatness on a par with Frodo and Sam. In the fullness of her recovery, and in the maturation that her heroism engenders, she falls in love with Faramir and finds the true love of her life.

If you can find your own heroic character amid all the desperate and draining incidents in your present circumstances, you will owe some measure to your eventual fulfillment to JRR Tolkein, and to Sam and Eowyn in particular. I trust that you will.

Lhundardawen, you seem to have a pretty good handle on your own particular set of challenges. Merry is a good idol to choose, for one who feels isolated from others. I might suggest that the performance of a heroic act is not the true way out of isolation. Take a look at Finwe's idol, Sam Gamgee, for one possible route: perseverance and cheerfulness. Heroism comes in many shapes; taking one more step is sometimes a heroic deed. [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]

I agree that LOTR is a great work of literature. To all your reasons for enjoying it I'd like to add the wonderful attention to detail and the finely crafted descriptions.

I envy you, Finwe, and all of you who stated that you can apply the wisdom and truth of LOTR to your lives.
Whereas for me, I keep fiction and reality separate and hold the firm conviction that Tolkien spoils me for the real world, and makes me have too high expectations, which are never or seldom met. Too rarely life treats you with beauty - of nature, or of fellow humans.
Sorry about the mournful tone, seems like quite a few are depressed these days...*ack, the limited choice of emoticons fails me here. imagine a wry smile...

"too high expectations, which are never or seldom met. Too rarely life treats you with beauty - of nature, or of fellow humans."

Why do I sometimes fear Tolkien must have felt the same way? And why does my heart knows this to be true, too?

Then again, I try to remind myself that as long as one lives there is hope. And as Gandalf put it:

"So do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All that they have to decide is what to do with the time that is given them."

It seems like ajoke that all we are given is one life when there is so much to take care of and for..

I think that Sam's quote in the movie sums up the entire book, about how there is still good in this world and that it is worth fighting for.

Another thing about LotR is how the ordinary folks are the heroes. Frodo and Sam weren't heroes, they were mere hobbits who set out to destroy evil. It is a story of hope to hold onto the good in this world and that even the smallest person can help in that. Just because you are a "little person" (as in not being famous, or being poor, or whatever), doesn't mean you can't help in this world, even if the deed is small and is not likely to be remembered (as Lhunardawen has mentioned already).

Another thing is how real the ending is. So many stories end with the happily ever after, but that is not what real life is. Reality is a world of sorrow and heartbreak. It also tells that even though you fight for good, there will still be sadness and death.

<font size=1 color=339966>[ 9:53 PM December 20, 2003: Message edited by: Imladris ]

Another very important lesson that I learned from reading Lord of the Rings was to stop wishing for a better or more exciting life. Gandalf's saying really hit home for me:

Reading that made me realize that there are plenty of things that I could do to with my life, instead of sitting in one place bemoaning its dullness. It gave me the inspiration to actually start doing things again.

well for me its that in 6th grade someone did a book report on the fellowship of the ring, and i was fascinated by the one ring. then she started talking about the nazgul and i was thinking wow. i should check this book out from the library. so i did, and then i ended up reading all three. what drew me into it really was gimli and legolas' eventual friendship. how they didnt like each other at 1st then became really good friends. its touching

Another thing that I think is great about LOTR is the presence of God (presented as Eru) throughout it.

No, He's never directly mentioned (except by Arwen in the Appendices), but He's there. The three examples I know of are:
1) Bilbo being "meant to find the Ring, and not by its maker," as Gandalf says.
2) The resurrection of Gandalf.
3) The climax scene; the destruction of the Ring, in which "Frodo was saved by divine intervention," as Tolkien said in one of his Letters.

I don't know about the rest of you, but I am a Christian, and I find it uplifting that this, the greatest fantasy work of all time, was written by a Christian author with a distinctly Christian view.

It's not "The Greatest Story Ever Told," as one video game tried to sell it, but it's written by a man who knew the Greatest Story Ever Told, the "True Myth," as he dubbed it.

Well, to quote Tolkien himself in "about Fairy-stories":
Fantasy, recovery (=regaining of a clear sight), escape (in a positive sense) and consolation! All these reasons are true for me too, as well as what several of you wrote: the wisdom and timeless truth in Tolkien's works, the applicability to one's own life.

And yes, I agree with you, Elladan & Elrohir:
there is no direct moral or religion in it, "but there is some sort of faith everywhere without a visible source, like light from an invisible lamp" (as a reader once wrote to Tolkien). from letter #131
And just because this is so subtle, because these themes are absorbed into the story and the symbolism, they touch me deeply. (I'm not very religious otherwise and dislike books with too much religion it them!)
Like some of you also mentioned, the peculiar kind of courage and hope of these characters impressed me deeply.
And I love the bittersweet mixture of hope and sadness of the ending!

Reading Tolkien has a very uplifting effect on me, even the sad stories in the Silmarillion.

I have discovered Tolkien very late in life (at the age of 50!) but I can tell you, it was like a revelation for me! Anything else I have since read, seems kind of trivial to me...

I read it because it is the most amazing, touching, complete piece of fantasy literature that I have ever read. I love that it seems so real, and that it contains so many themes that are so timeless that they are going to be around until the end of the world. There is nothing like the works of J.R.R. Tolkien. They were so groundbreaking at the time, and so unique. I read them because I love the world he has created and because I deeply love and care about the charaters. I read it because it is just so brilliantly wonderful.

Tolkien helped me win a spelling contest because the word "bane" separated me (the winner) from 2nd place.

----------------------------------------
"Show it to me"
Thingol to Beren

Hahahaha...good on you Gil-numen! [img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img]

I read the trilogy because of the hobbits. They are so innocent and peaceful, and they get caught up in a huge war, and I just love seeing how they deal with it, how they act, and how they grow. That's one of the reasons I love Pippin so much, so young and innocent, and he has to learn to deal with everything thats going on around him!

Beautiful books! [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]

<font size=1 color=339966>[ 11:21 PM December 31, 2003: Message edited by: Carlas ]

Lucky you!


I just deeply enjoy the timeless truths that I get from reading the books over and over again. My parents don't understand it at all. They think it's just another obsession of mine, and one that I will get over in a couple of years. They couldn't be more wrong. I have finally found a set of moral codes and examples that I can follow for the rest of my life, while still leading a "normal" life, in this modern world. I have finally found attainable ideals to look up to and admire for who they are, what they did, and how they did it. Now tell me, is it truly worth it to give up all that in a few years? If they really think so, then they don't know me at all.

I read The Lord of the Rings shortly after the first movie came out, and the reason then was chiefly peer-pressure. All the cool kids were doing it!

Anyway, I had a lot of time on my hands then, because I was a senior in high school and had recently gotten in to college, so I was no longer taking half of my classes seriously and found that I preferred Tolkien to math.

I don't know about his work being the most important piece of "imaginitive" literature written in the last hundred years, because the last hundred years also saw everything from Vladimir Nabokov's Lolita to Jose Saramago's Blindness, from Anatolii Zamyatin's We to William Faulkner's As I Lay Dying being published.

Of course, if by "imaginitive" you don't mean "fiction" but "fantasy," I am thoroughly tempted to agree with you, though the jury is still out on JK Rowling's "importance" (the entertainment value of her work being undeniable). The same I would say for Phillip Pullman, though Pullman's ideology, perhaps, alienates the full impact of his work from the majority of his readers, and I can't say the same for Tolkien.

Tolkien, after all, manages to touch practically everyone that bears with him.

Maybe we read it because we would like to believe there is some good in the world and it is worth fighting for. Sure sounds familiar.

Yes, indeed. That is familiar. I think that's another "timeless truth" that we seem to find in Tolkien's writings. The books themselves, full of such a seemingly hopeless quest, somehow give us hope along with the characters.