when did you read lotr for the first time?

[Azaelia of Willowbottom]

Well, I attempted to start LOTR when I had just turned 13. It didn't work out. At that point, I was still a big Star Wars geek, and what I was looking for was action and adventure in the fast paced sense. Needless to say, it wasn't what I was expecting. I hadn't read The Hobbit, and I'd skipped the prologue, so I was pretty lost at the beginning, and not really willing to embrace the feeling. I did the worst thing possible: in my search for action, I began skimming. I got very confused very fast and quit a few pages from the end of Fellowship of the Ring.

I remember, however, a sense that what I had seen was not all to the story, and that it was actually a great work of literature that I just hadn't been ready to read yet.

In november of that year, almost a year later, I saw a trailer for the movie and thought, "hey, this actually looks good!" so immediately after arriving home, I pulled out my mom's old books and began reading. It was veteran's day weekend. I was engrossed. I spent the entire weekend on the couch in my living room, lying there under blankets and just reading and reading and reading. I still hadn't read The Hobbit, and had only skimmed the prologue, but for some reason, magic happened and I fell head-over-heels into Middle-earth. It was an amazing feeling. I was wandering in a beautiful new world and loving every minute of it.

When I got to the end, I stared blankly at the page through a haze of tears. That can't be all! And of course, I went back to Fellowship and started it all over. I read LOTR five times in a row after that, just because I couldn't let it end. After those five times, I told myself I'd only read it once a year from then on out, but of course, I found that rule very hard to keep and ultimately broke it several times.

I've read LOTR more times now than I can count. I know for sure the number is somewhere up over 10, but beyond that, who knows, since I lost count a long time ago. I may be somewhere betweeen the 13-15 range, though I'm not sure, as I did not keep to my once-a-year rule. Each time I notice several new things, in the description of a chracter, or in the description of a place that I'd never given much thought to. It's amazing!