I never told my story in that old thread, it must have been somewhere else... But anyhow that was years ago and there are many new members now.
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when did you first read Lord of the Rings? What prompted you to read it? And what was your reaction (first and last)?
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I am certainly among the very oldest of you, and I am apparently quite an exception because I have NOT read LotR as a teenager, but only became acquainted with Tolkien’s works at the age of 50! (rather like Bilbo and Frodo who started out for adventure at 50 as well!
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I only wonder why on earth I had never come across Tolkien earlier in life. Probably because I don’t live in an English speaking country… Though I did spend a year in England (1971 and half a year in the USA (1973), none of my friends, teachers and acquaintances ever gave me a hint ( I used to borrow books from everyone)
Anyhow, it was only when my elder son (then 15) got the Hobbit and LotR (several of his friends from the boy-scouts were Tolkien fans) and started reading them (in German) , that I got interested. (I had already read "Harry Potter" at his advice, but in English, while he read in German) . So I got myself an English copy of the Hobbit and later LotR and we read about simultaniously. (I finished FotR right before the first of the movies came out.)
I was soon more of a fan than my son was! For him, it was just an exciting adventure story, but I got more out of it - it was quite a revelation for me! I have read a lot of books in my life , (also many English ones), yet I can honestly say that hardly any other book has so fascinated, thrilled and moved me, and none has stimulated my fantasy and enriched my life as much as LotR.
I proceeded with the Silmarillion (Rather hard to begin with, but fortunately I have a good memory for names…I was more troubled by the deep sadness in this work.) Thereafter, I reread LotR with a new understanding and appreciation. In between I had also read “On Fairy-stories”(Marvellous! I found so much truth in there!) and “Leaf by Niggle” which stirred a deeper interest in Tolkien’s life and thoughts, so I got his biography and the book by T.Shippey “Tolkien, author of the century”. In the mean time I had joined the Barrowdowns and have since then read ever so many interesting and thought-provoking threads.(Btw, that’s another side-effect of my Tolkien-craze: being rather a luddite, I had never touched a computer before, but my son taught me to use the internet so I could get in touch with other Tolkien- fans all over the world.) In the BD I came across several beautiful quotations from Tolkien’s letters, so of course, I had to have those treasures too!
My younger son (about 12 at that time) soon read the books as well and since he had to read aloud to me (on the teacher’s request) and alternately I read to him, I could compare his German copy to my English one. Alas, in no way does the translation justice to the original! Much of the charm of Tolkiens wonderful language is lost.