I saw the first film, and then someone said to me: "If you liked the movie, you're going to
love the book."
My wallet was conveniently stolen a few days later (coincidence? I think not), and so I bought a copy of
LotR to tide me over at the DMV, where I spent four hours reading and having creepy experiences with the other patrons.
By the time I got out of the DMV that day, I was hooked.
It took me about a month to finish the book. I was a senior in high school, had recently gotten into college, and read the book during the lessons that seemed the most boring to me (since I didn't really care about learning math anymore, for example).
Those were happy days.
