When is LotR bad for you?

[Boromir88]

Nice thread Volo. Tolkien's good friend, Donald Swann, said some things that I always keep in mind. Swann co-wrote The Road Goes Ever On, along with Tolkien, and the foreward is a pleasant reflection of his friend:

"I used to feel that the Tolkien dimension was almost a danger. I then went against this, and decided I would enter it at any time I chose, but with this golden rule...that I must be able to emerge, shut the book, and get up from the chair. If I can't, I will earn the disappproval of the author. He was an upright man in the real world, and had no intention of casting a spell on anyone. I told him once of a young man who thought he was Frodo. "I've ruined their lives," he said disconsolately."

As much time Tolkien spent on writing his books, that was only a fraction of his life. His work in academics, his family life, his religious life, his time spent with chaps at the pub...I'm simply amazed that he had the time for all this! If I could ask him anything it would be about establishing good time management skills.

Anyway, I think Letter 181 cuts right to the heart of the question:

'I hope that you have enjoyed The Lord of the Rings? Enjoyed is the key-word. For it was written to amuse (in the highest sense): to be readable.'

Seeing as we are all different people with different interests, liking different things, the way we 'enjoy' the books are all different. For myself, I love reading and analyzing the story, particularly it's historical context. If I wasn't in HR, I would totally be a History teacher. Others take interest in the art work, or perhaps RPGing, or maybe the religious context. There are several people I know who are more interested in the author then any of the books he wrote, or perhaps you just want to sit down, relax, and read a good book. So, how we all find our personal enjoyment is going to be different.

One thing to keep in mind though is there is a life to live. The books were written to 'be readable' for the reader's own enjoyment; nothing more. Remembering what Donald Swann says, we just have to be able to 'shut the book and get up from the chair'. As my impression of Tolkien is that he was a warm, and down to earth fellow, he wouldn't want to find out that his story had consumed the life of one of his readers. Afterall, as much time as Tolkien spent writing his story and replying to his readers, he still set the pen down and got up from the chair.

It's interesting people seem to be embarassed at times to let people know things such as Star Wars, or The Lord of the Rings. By like I don't mean read it once and think 'hmm that was fun...next' but like as in you take a deep interest in it and just love talking about it. But really, if you think about it it's know different than someone else's 'obsession.' (if you want to refer call it that) Everyone has something they are passionate about. I have a friend who loves everything that has to do with Anderson Cooper, my mother reads all the Stephen King books...it's really the same passion I have for anything Tolkien related. But we can all set aside our obsessions and get out of that chair.

Although, I'm sure some can tell you I am obsessed with Sean Bean and Natalie Portman, but that's more of a 'strong fondness for two talented actors'

[Lalwendë]

I always wonder why people attach the label to things like Tolkien or Star Wars that they are 'dangerous' because they attract devoted followings of fans who get really into the whole 'world' created. I've met few fans who really do go too far, and those for the most part are just eccentric anyway. And we never say the same things about football fans who have the same devotion, who will not have a red car or wear a blue shirt for example if it is representative of a team they hate. When you listen in to blokes talking through the minutiae of the weekend's footie results on a Monday morning at work, you don't think "Tch! Geeks!" but really they are just as 'geeky' as a bunch of Tolkien fans arguing about Balrog wings.

As for people who think Tolkien is sinister 'devil worship' and then suddenly take an interest because someone tells them he was a Catholic, well, that's a little worrying to me. Makes you wonder how much control their 'leaders' have over them! Likewise the people who make up the largest group of 'disapprovers' that I know, namely the type who think they are snootily 'above such things' as Tolkien, the cod-Intelligentsia.

I'm not sure where this quote was originally found, but a friend of mine shared this with me:

"I am not at all sure that the tendency to treat this whole thing as a kind of vast game is really good--certainly not for me, who find that kind of thing only too fatally attractive."
-- J.R.R. Tolkien

[Lalwendë]

Originally Posted by lordaule

I'm not sure where this quote was originally found, but a friend of mine shared this with me:

"I am not at all sure that the tendency to treat this whole thing as a kind of vast game is really good--certainly not for me, who find that kind of thing only too fatally attractive."
-- J.R.R. Tolkien

It's a good thing there was no Dungeons and Dragons when Tolkien was a lad or maybe we'd never have had Lord of the Rings

[Lindale]

When is Tolkien bad?? When the authorities say so. I remember that in my grade six (I was ten years old, an accelerated little wacko who loved fantasies including Harry Potter and LotR) in a nice little Catholic school, my teacher just lost her nerve and confiscated my FotR that I was reading while lunchbreak, saying how nice little girls don't read this and don't do that instead of yada yada yada... and I called my dad afterwards, not because I loved the books back then, but because I was scared of coming home without my new book. It turned out a very nasty event, with my dad and his mates from the local department of education, arguing with the nuns and the teacher-from-hell. After eons of waiting for a result the book was returned to me, along with an apology to me and my dad, and that was when I thought that it must be good, the book, and that got me hooked to Tolkien.

[Volo]

Originally Posted by Lindale

When is Tolkien bad?? When the authorities say so. I remember that in my grade six (I was ten years old, an accelerated little wacko who loved fantasies including Harry Potter and LotR) in a nice little Catholic school, my teacher just lost her nerve and confiscated my FotR that I was reading while lunchbreak, saying how nice little girls don't read this and don't do that instead of yada yada yada... and I called my dad afterwards, not because I loved the books back then, but because I was scared of coming home without my new book. It turned out a very nasty event, with my dad and his mates from the local department of education, arguing with the nuns and the teacher-from-hell. After eons of waiting for a result the book was returned to me, along with an apology to me and my dad, and that was when I thought that it must be good, the book, and that got me hooked to Tolkien.

Wow! What a story! It seems to have ended very well.