Do you find that the books grow with you? - The Barrow-Downs Discussion Forum

Lord of Angmar · 07-02-2003, 10:04 PM

Well, I first picked up a copy of JRR Tolkien's the Lord of the Rings at the age of 22, having just completed my collegiate career at Oxford, where JRR Tolkien taught philology and English. I must say that I agree with your views that the story changes and in many ways reflects different parts of your own life as you read it. At first I thought it no more than a delightful if a tad gloomy bit of fantasy writing. But I must say that it has profoundly changed my life and my views on the world, and I find parallels between my own struggles and the struggles of the characters in LotR (if I may make so bold as to say that anything that happens in my everyday life is comparable to the tragedy that is Lord of the Rings and the Silmarillion). Thank you for the wonderful forum topic, it has brought me back to the first time I read the novel, and I hope to contribute more as this thread continues.

07-02-2003, 10:04 PM	#2
Lord of Angmar Tyrannus Incorporalis Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: the North Posts: 833	Well, I first picked up a copy of JRR Tolkien's the Lord of the Rings at the age of 22, having just completed my collegiate career at Oxford, where JRR Tolkien taught philology and English. I must say that I agree with your views that the story changes and in many ways reflects different parts of your own life as you read it. At first I thought it no more than a delightful if a tad gloomy bit of fantasy writing. But I must say that it has profoundly changed my life and my views on the world, and I find parallels between my own struggles and the struggles of the characters in LotR (if I may make so bold as to say that anything that happens in my everyday life is comparable to the tragedy that is Lord of the Rings and the Silmarillion). Thank you for the wonderful forum topic, it has brought me back to the first time I read the novel, and I hope to contribute more as this thread continues. __________________ ...where the instrument of intelligence is added to brute power and evil will, mankind is powerless in its own defence.