The Tolkien Coming of Age Club - The Barrow-Downs Discussion Forum

Estelyn Telcontar · 10-07-2002, 08:59 AM

Bethberry, you have me thinking about reasons there! I guess one main reason is that no one in my family or circle of friends is as passionate about reading as I am. Then those who do read have a completely different taste in literature (no fiction, or only murder mysteries etc.); and of course, living in Germany means that there are not many who read in English. There are German Tolkien fans who read either the original English books or one of the two LotR translations (one older, one newer, neither perfect and both a favorite topic for discussions!) - I occasionally read (and very rarely post) on a German board. But they are not in my immediate area and most of them are not my generation. I don't really have an answer and can only speculate about the reasons. At any rate, JRRT is not mass culture in Germany, though the movie seems to have attracted enough interest to put the books in prominent places in the bookstores. Maybe there are a lot of 'closet' fans??

10-07-2002, 08:59 AM	#11
Estelyn Telcontar Princess of Skwerlz Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: where the Sea is eastwards (WtR: 6060 miles) Posts: 7,500	Bethberry, you have me thinking about reasons there! I guess one main reason is that no one in my family or circle of friends is as passionate about reading as I am. Then those who do read have a completely different taste in literature (no fiction, or only murder mysteries etc.); and of course, living in Germany means that there are not many who read in English. There are German Tolkien fans who read either the original English books or one of the two LotR translations (one older, one newer, neither perfect and both a favorite topic for discussions!) - I occasionally read (and very rarely post) on a German board. But they are not in my immediate area and most of them are not my generation. I don't really have an answer and can only speculate about the reasons. At any rate, JRRT is not mass culture in Germany, though the movie seems to have attracted enough interest to put the books in prominent places in the bookstores. Maybe there are a lot of 'closet' fans?? __________________ 'Mercy!' cried Gandalf. 'If the giving of information is to be the cure of your inquisitiveness, I shall spend all the rest of my days in answering you. What more do you want to know?' 'The whole history of Middle-earth...'