I am not that new of a member, but with yer permission, Sharon... [img]smilies/wink.gif[/img]
I first started reading Tolkien as a senior in high school, right around the time of the fabled "senior slide" (College admissions were behind me, and I was ready to cut loose). The first time around, I feel that the books instilled in me a sort of new appreciation for epics, if you will.
What's really interesting is that during the living hell of freshman year, I looked back upon Sam & Frodo's struggle in Mordor more than once, and somehow these particular two characters, the ones that I didn't think I was too fond of (as compared to some other ones like Gandalf and Tom), were the ones who gave me the most inspiration to keep going.
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~The beginning is the word and the end is silence. And in between are all the stories. This is one of mine~
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