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Originally Posted by B88
I must say mark, I wouldn't even be here at the downs. I probably wouldn't have picked up Tolkien's book ever again, or bought the Sil, or the Hobbit. The movies got me back into the mood. I had read the books long before, sure it was good, but it was something that I forgot. Then after watching FOTR in the theatres, I got to rereading, and rereading...and um...rereading, and now I admit, I'm just another nut. I thank Jackson for bringing back the "Middle-earth" spirit in me, and opening Tolkien's world to a wide range of people who never heard of Tolkien before the movies.
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This kind of puts me in a difficult position. For many years I had simply re-read TH, LotR, The Sil & listened to the radion series of LotR & my interest in (though not my love of ) Middle earth had faded into the background.
Then I realised the movies were coming out, & I looked forward to them with a mixture of trepidation & hope. I bought 'Author of the Century' & was fascinated. In the bibliography to that book I saw mention of Verlyn Fleiger. My interest in Tolkien was re-invigorated. I rejoined the Tolkien Society, began working my way through HoME, joined the Downs & became the man I am today
Now, I too must thank PJ for that. Also for the fact that after joining the Tolkien Society again I have visited Tolkien's grave three times at our annual Oxonmoot. As far as having joined the Downs goes - I can only say that it has absolutely changed my personal life in ways I could never have expected ([b]Esty[/i] at least knows how much, but I won't go into detail for fear of being reprimanded for being 'off-topic'
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But - this is perhaps the cause of my problem with the movies. They sparked such a deep fascination with Tolkien's works that I came to find an incredible depth of meaning in the books as I studied them. Fellowship I quite liked, but by the time TT came out I was too aware of what Tolkien was doing. It made it virtually impossible to simply watch the movie as a movie. I had become too immersed in Tolkien's thought by them.
I do find myself wondering what my reaction to the movies would have been if all the secondary literature hadn't been available, if I'd only had my Hobbit, LotR, Sil & BBC tapes. Alas, I'll never know.