Hmmm...How come I never read or posted on this thread back in July? [img]smilies/confused.gif[/img]
Anyway, I've read LotR six times. The first time for plot. The second time for characterization. The third time for description of Middle Earth. The fourth time for the fun and deepening of it. The fifth time for the emotional depth. The sixth time, a spotty reading just to aid Barrowdowns posting. [img]smilies/tongue.gif[/img]
I've read the Sil twice. I read Smith of Wooton Major at least twice a year. It's far and ahead my favorite thing Tolkien ever wrote.
Other authors: Richard Adams Watership Down and Plague Dogs, twice each. I've read Maia once - bodice ripper indeed! shee... I get red-faced just thinking about it.
Chronicles of Narnia about three times each, but not in years. Space Trilogy twice, again not in years. Till We Have Faces twice.
Charles Williams, a couple of his spiritual thrillers, twice.
Well, so much for the list. And even regarding Tolkien it's only the most cursory of introspections. The reading for emotional depth was the most profound. By then I could pretty much recite the entire story, point by point, if anybody asked me to, but the sense of sorrow mixed with joy at the end just washed over me like a wave. It came at a time when I was dealing with a very strong and debilitating sense of loss. So Child, I can truly identify with what you shared.
But Smith of Wooton Major takes me on a journey that can't be taken with any other story. Which is why my location is where it is - the Edge of Faerie.
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