Psychological depth in Tolkien's characters - The Barrow-Downs Discussion Forum

littlemanpoet · 11-16-2003, 11:02 AM

I usually agree whole heartedly with Lindil, but there is one exception this time. I don't think it takes a reading of the Sil or the other extra-LotR works to gain a full appreciation for the richness of LotR. It didn't in my case. I had only read The Hobbit, its appropriate but not truly necessary prequel.

It seems to me that a certain mind-set is more necessary than all the back-reading. I was blessed, or fortunate, to have it. I'm not sure what to call this mind-set, but I might venture to describe it as more or less not satisfied with the world as it is perceived - a desire for wonder - which reminds me of Tolkien's On Faerie Stories, which I also read after LotR, with its triad of Escape, Recovery, and Consolation.

Having this mind-set, and thus enjoying LotR for the first read, more or less sends one into the appendices, and then back for a re-reading of LotR, which invariably enriches one's appeciation and understanding of Middle Earth. One might follow this with Unfinished Tales and the History, but the appreciation and understanding seem already to be there by then.

11-16-2003, 11:02 AM	#11
littlemanpoet Itinerant Songster Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: The Edge of Faerie Posts: 7,066	I usually agree whole heartedly with Lindil, but there is one exception this time. I don't think it takes a reading of the Sil or the other extra-LotR works to gain a full appreciation for the richness of LotR. It didn't in my case. I had only read The Hobbit, its appropriate but not truly necessary prequel. It seems to me that a certain mind-set is more necessary than all the back-reading. I was blessed, or fortunate, to have it. I'm not sure what to call this mind-set, but I might venture to describe it as more or less not satisfied with the world as it is perceived - a desire for wonder - which reminds me of Tolkien's On Faerie Stories, which I also read after LotR, with its triad of Escape, Recovery, and Consolation. Having this mind-set, and thus enjoying LotR for the first read, more or less sends one into the appendices, and then back for a re-reading of LotR, which invariably enriches one's appeciation and understanding of Middle Earth. One might follow this with Unfinished Tales and the History, but the appreciation and understanding seem already to be there by then.