All Good Things...
 

This is a question regarding the psycho-drama I associate with all great literature:
What did you feel like when you first finished the LotR? Am I the only twerp that got misty-eyed?

Yes.

Just kidding. ;)

I had SO many emotions through out the entire series of books, yes, the end of ROTK was heartbreaking, but I think the one that really got me was when Sam rescued Frodo from the tower in Mordor... I just couldn't hold it in at that part.

Yeah, I admit I did cry, just a little. [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img] I don't find myself crying very often. I felt like I lost several good friends.

These books really pull the heartstrings. I have only found one other author that does that: Randy Alcorn.

It was actually kindof dissapointing for me when I read about the Ring finally being destroyed. When Frodo claimed it for himself I started reading at super speed because I had spent so much time reading these books and I was so into it. Then Gollum fell and I went blank. I realized that I had just zipped through the most pivotal part of ROTK and I had to go back and reread what happened. [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img] When Sam said "Well, Im home." I honestly thought "Thats it?" But then I read the Appendixes in the back and found out there was a little book called The Silmarillion. Without any other writing, the end of LOTR would have killed me.

I'll say this right now: I attach to characters in stories very strongly, so when LotR was finally at an end, I was a bit emotional. I'd never understood how you could be sad and happy at the same time until I read "Well, I'm back." I didn't cry (blast it, it seems to be something I can't do at present, stinkin' emotional constipation!), but I was as teary as I got watching the movie.

I only outright cried reading one book: "Tribulation Force". They killed my favorite character! (The series declined for me from that point on until I just quit reading.)

Tribulation Force. One of my favs. I cried in Appolyon. I don't want to give away too much, but a dear character dies, also in the Mark, the strength shown by some of the people was amazing - I cried myself to sleep wondering if I would have the same courage.

I cried when i finished LOTR the first time, I felt as if i'd been put through an emotional wringer, everything was kind of buzzy.

Incidentally, I do know someone who didn't want the book to end so he's NEVER read the last chapter, and he first read LOTR 25 years ago! If you see someone sprinting out of the cinema 10 mins before the end of ROTK its probably him!! [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]

Well, there were the appendices too and by the time they were finished I was in an academic frame of mind (all that philology and genealogy, you see). It's been a while, but I seem to remember something along the lines of "Have I really read all that?".

The answer was, of course, "no", as I discover every time I read it.

Thank Gods! No one around here or in my inner circle cried at the end of LOTR... but I did! Maybe because when I ended with the Ring falling with Gollum, I thought.. ' That was it..?". but there were chapters afterwards. I was so scared to read them! I felt it coming... something really big... some revelation perhaps... and without reading yet, I recall stuff like " where the hell did that 70's 'Frodo Lives' thing come from... you mean he dies?... But he can't!". I started cheating may way through it... asking for clues ( just clues) then finally my Dad told me that Frodo was soon to 'overgrow' ME. Whatever that meant. Hastily afterwards I finish it. Overwhelming!!! The perfect good-bad ending that tugs at the heart! It couldn't have been any better. So my tears were not for naught!

The Appendices cooled me off as well.
Until I got to the tale regarding Aragorn and Arwen. I have to give props to J.R.R., his simple language allowed no room for sappiness, and yet the tale had a powerful effect on me somehow, especially after I really sat down and thought about what it would be like to give up eternity for "the bitter and the sweet." And then my thoughts drifted to the fact of how unlikely it was for me to ever find that elusive state that we commonly call "true love", and that really set me off. I didn't bawl, but I was pensive and morose nonetheless.

Some things are easier to write into fiction than to experience in real life. Romantic love, unalloyed by security impulses, desparation, too much alcohol or the single interest that men are supposed to have, is a rare privilege that a lot of films and novels portray as both common and vital to existence. It's neither: a lot of people get by without it. Still, whether or not real life can live up to the Aragorn and Arwen story, I have to admit to a bit of the old misty-eyed pensiveness when the time comes for them to pay the piper. I sometimes wonder who had it hardest: Aragorn, having to choose his time in the full knowledge of what that would mean for those he left behind, or Arwen, bereft and facing a fading world alone.
Whichever is the case, the image of Arwen wandering through the deserted woods of Lothlorien and lying down to die is worthy of a Waterhouse. Perhaps she'd be on gallery walls next to the Lady of Shalott, Ophelia and La Belle Dame Sans Merci if the story had been published a century earlier (oh dear, he's off on another speculative odyssey; who'll save the thread?).

All of which goes to show why they call it "the bitter end".

I cried a long time, when I first time finished LotR... Because of Frodo and the others left Middle-Earth (and Sam!!!) and because the book ended too quickly.. [img]smilies/frown.gif[/img]

I didn't want it to end either, so I read The Silmarillion, now finishing Unfinished Tales, and will soon start Lost Tales I & II. Then, since I did not want the Elves to leave ME, I started writing my fan fiction so they all stay for at least another 1000 years!
Yes, I did cry. And I still do! I love authors that have that kind of power!
ARGH---I haven't gotten to Tribulation Force yet! [img]smilies/eek.gif[/img]

[ February 15, 2002: Message edited by: Aralaithiel ]

Arwen. Whatever guilt that Aragorn had about having to 'leave' it is still nothing compared to having to experience the desolating and bleak misery that those left behind feel.
Aragorn was just comprehending (or trying to) something that somebody else was going to have to experience. Arwen actually went through it. To me at least, there really does not seem to be any comparison.

And, now that you mention it, I don't think that I have ever seen a painting of Arwen all distraught and wandering through an abandoned Lorien. Depending on who would do such a painting, it could be a very haunting image.

Squatter-Ah yes, dear John Keats. Talk about weeping over a book! For me, believing in love is akin to believing in God. There is much doubting and pain along the way. Yes, I know for most people love boils down to "what men want." My Sylphs have so far protected me from others' devious plans and desires, but even I am not invulnerable, I would think. For now though, I am very young and very happy, and may yet believe that there is an Aragorn waiting for me. Anticipation in itself is sweet.

I really should have posted this somewher else, but with what you've just said, Lush, it seems pertinent here. "A Hobbit's Heart..."

Great post, Rosa! [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]

The first time I read LOTR, I finished it when I was about 14, and I identified with Sam. (That's one reason I liked your post so well, Rosa) I think that explains why the first time I finished the book with the promise that Sam, having been a ringbearer, might follow Frodo later, but for now has a full life to live, and he comes home to Rose. He's back where he belongs. I was happy for Sam and for myself having lived Sam through the book.

The 2nd, 3rd and 4th times I guess I was more wistful, seeing the ending as more bittersweet.

In my last reading I totally identified with Frodo, and by the end was overcome with sadness. It was a good feeling.

By the way, Lush, being in love is like reading a great fantasy or like dreaming. When you finally have to wake up it's so, so hard.

Being a poet, I'll inflict this one on you in that regard (please accept my apologiesI can't help it)

From Time to Time

I still think of you
from time to time
never knowing when
the image of you
will slip into my mind's eye
never unwelcome.

Sad you're in my past
from time to time
wishing we could still -
all the things friends do -
ever it aches.

ouch. [img]smilies/frown.gif[/img]

Great article Rosa, thanks for sharing it. I, alas, was born into a different tradition, with different expectations than, well, a hobbit (in terms of the author's description). A great writer of my land once said, "Hunger, lest you pick your food off the floor. Go forth in loneliness, lest you pick your company with no discretion." That was an awful, hasty translation from Russian, but I'm sure you get my meaning. And by saying that I am in no way trying to imply that I want to marry a king. Kings be damned! I just want someone who will match me in wits and desires.
Hmm, now when did this turn into a "What Lush Wants" thread?

"What Lush wants" is kinda interesting and kinda fun.... [img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img]

Yay! I'm glad you all liked the article. It really got me to thinking.

Yep, I'm a simple gal. I'd take Sam over Aragorn anyday. [img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img] (Of course, I'd never want to inflict someone like me on poor ol' Sam... But that's another story. [img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img])

Well let's see here...
Height. Height is good. I am no hobbit, I'm afraid.
A sense of humour. Or maybe just the ability to humour me and my awful jokes.
And of course, strong character. Meaning that if he gets the One Ring offered up to him, he can pass the test, because I seriously doubt I could suffer a Dark Lord in my presence. Imagine how badly the Orcs would stink up the house!