[Kath]

The thing that breaks the enchantment for me is having to analyse the books. I don't mean finding the history behind the writing of it as in my mind Tolkien lived within his created world and the revisons and additions that he made were done to better tell the story of an already full formed creation that just needed writing down. These remain, for me, in the context of Middle Earth and so the enchantment remains.

The problem begins when you try to analyse the writing style Tolkien used. We did this in an English lesson one year and it ruined the story for me for months afterwards. I think the enchantment lies in the ability to let go the consciousness of reality and lose yourself in a world where you can believe the happenings are real. When you begin to look behind the words, not for hidden meanings between characters, but for clues as to why Tolkien used these words rather than these words, it is difficult to remain lost in the world and so the enchantment is broken.

I think I would agree with mormegil and Celebuial about the Hobbit had I read it after LotR and the Silmarillion. Then it would have seemed childish and of a lower standard than the other books. I, however, read it first and at a young age, and I think it is because of this that it retains its enchantment on me. It is linked with my childhood and so I don't want to let go of the world I loved at that time.

The end of the book and the line "Well, I'm back." does not bring me out of the world because to me it is not the end of the story. Though the characters being followed finish their adventures, there is always a new character waiting to take it up again.