How old were you the first time you read LOTR? - The Barrow-Downs Discussion Forum

Araréiel · 07-09-2004, 10:29 AM

Sad, I was 21 when I first read The Hobbit, and 21 when I first read LotR-starting the day after the first one came out on DVD. *sigh* So much time wasted.

I know this is an old thread, but I beleive in giving children books and letting them decide for themselves when they are ready to read them. If a child glances at it and doesn't read it, then he's not ready. But he may pick up a book and devour it! Better to have that option available.

Mithalwen · 07-09-2004, 11:33 AM

I agree with that. I read the Hobbit aged 8 or 9 after it was serialised on Jackanory (a wonderful programme but probably far too low tech for today when children are expected to maintain attention for no more than a nanosecond - an actor reading a book with a few drawings would probably not cut the mustard ) and loved it. So I was given the LOTR the following Christmas. Although I was a quick reader and reading books way above my age range, I ground to a halt at the end of the 2 towers - this was before I was old enough to appreciate Faramir and i have always found the endless slogging agross wastelands with Frodo, Sam and Gollum the worst bit of the book.... by the time I got back to Gandalf and Pippin at the beginning of ROTK I had lost the plot..... I went back to it about 2or 3 years later and happily escaped into middle earth for the rest of my adolescence.....

Pippin Pondlily · 07-12-2004, 10:25 AM

I first read The Hobbit for school when I was in 4th grade -- so maybe 8 years old? Then I read the Lord of the Rings books the summer before 6th grade that would be about 10 years old then. I really enjoyed them even if I had some trouble with the vocabulary and immagery but I've read at least FotR annually since and parts of The Two Towers (my favorite of the 3) and RotK as well. But just recently I had to reread and analyze all three LotR books and I really got to appreciate the literature WHICH led me to this website.

I loved The Hobbit the most and I think that that is an excellent book to read to toddlers before bed or nap/kip time, I did to the little girl (4.5 years old at the time) that I babysit and she actually enjoyed it.

Happy reading eh?

- P. Pondlily

Alda · 07-17-2004, 12:34 PM

I remember doing a book report on the Hobbit in fifth or sixth grade. We had to use a shoe box and create a scene from our book inside. You would place the lid of the shoebox back on and peer inside through a peephole, the inside of the box being illuminated by one of those small white christmas lights. I don't think I recieved a very good grade, I wasn't (and am still not) very artistically inclined. But I was proud of my paper cutout of Bilbo stabbing a paper spider.

I read, and reread, and reread, the trilogy and the Silmarillion while in junior high. I discovered Unfinished Tales while I was in highschool. I remember being thrilled and kind of mad at the same time. I found the book at the library and saw that it had been published three years earlier. They had just gotten around to getting a copy. But seeing as I didn't even know it existed imagine my suprise.

I suppose it would be too much to hope that there might be another unfinished manuscript that Christopher Tolkien is busy editing at this very moment? A dusty sheaf of hand written notes recently found locked in a desk in the basement at Oxford? I dare not hope to believe in such treasures beyond the cellar door.

Himhenwen · 07-17-2004, 04:55 PM

I don't rightly know when I first started to read the books. I had started the Hobbit and thought it was to slow for me. Then about four years ago my best friend told me that I should try again. I just finished the last book about six months ago. And I am rereading them all again.

ninlaith · 07-20-2004, 08:39 PM

I believe I started reading The Hobbit when I was 13, only because I didn't even know we had the books, and started reading LOTR directly after.

Encaitare · 07-20-2004, 09:05 PM

I found a copy of FotR in my house when I was around 12. I liked it but just couldn't get past the part with Tom Bombadil, simply because it moved so ..s-l-o-w-l-y.. Then I saw the first two movies and loved them, and decided to read the books. Since I already had a basic idea of what was going on, I found them a lot easier to read, and I loved learning about all the things not in the movies. I simply couldn't wait to find out what happened in the end, so I read RotK very quickly (and nearly went mad trying to not leak out spoilers to my friends!). I've become much more of a disciplined reader since I was 12, so I went and read the Silmarillion and Unfinished Tales, and I'm currently reading the Lays of Beleriand. It's just interesting how differently I view the books now, because I now feel that I can really appreciate everything in them as opposed to being turned off to them because of the slow pacing. Long live Tom Bombadil!

07-17-2004, 12:34 PM	#4
Alda Pile O'Bones Join Date: Jun 2004 Posts: 15	I remember doing a book report on the Hobbit in fifth or sixth grade. We had to use a shoe box and create a scene from our book inside. You would place the lid of the shoebox back on and peer inside through a peephole, the inside of the box being illuminated by one of those small white christmas lights. I don't think I recieved a very good grade, I wasn't (and am still not) very artistically inclined. But I was proud of my paper cutout of Bilbo stabbing a paper spider. I read, and reread, and reread, the trilogy and the Silmarillion while in junior high. I discovered Unfinished Tales while I was in highschool. I remember being thrilled and kind of mad at the same time. I found the book at the library and saw that it had been published three years earlier. They had just gotten around to getting a copy. But seeing as I didn't even know it existed imagine my suprise. I suppose it would be too much to hope that there might be another unfinished manuscript that Christopher Tolkien is busy editing at this very moment? A dusty sheaf of hand written notes recently found locked in a desk in the basement at Oxford? I dare not hope to believe in such treasures beyond the cellar door. __________________ The wind is part of the process The rain is part of the process -- Ezra Pound, Canto 74 Last edited by Alda; 07-17-2004 at 12:49 PM.

07-17-2004, 04:55 PM	#5
Himhenwen Pile O'Bones Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: far far across the glassy sea in the Grey Havens Posts: 16	I don't rightly know when I first started to read the books. I had started the Hobbit and thought it was to slow for me. Then about four years ago my best friend told me that I should try again. I just finished the last book about six months ago. And I am rereading them all again. __________________ Himhenwen

07-09-2004, 10:29 AM	#1
Araréiel Registered User Join Date: Jun 2004 Posts: 92	Sad, I was 21 when I first read The Hobbit, and 21 when I first read LotR-starting the day after the first one came out on DVD. sigh So much time wasted. I know this is an old thread, but I beleive in giving children books and letting them decide for themselves when they are ready to read them. If a child glances at it and doesn't read it, then he's not ready. But he may pick up a book and devour it! Better to have that option available.

07-09-2004, 11:33 AM	#2
Mithalwen Pilgrim Soul Join Date: May 2004 Location: watching the wonga-wonga birds circle... Posts: 9,461	I agree with that. I read the Hobbit aged 8 or 9 after it was serialised on Jackanory (a wonderful programme but probably far too low tech for today when children are expected to maintain attention for no more than a nanosecond - an actor reading a book with a few drawings would probably not cut the mustard ) and loved it. So I was given the LOTR the following Christmas. Although I was a quick reader and reading books way above my age range, I ground to a halt at the end of the 2 towers - this was before I was old enough to appreciate Faramir and i have always found the endless slogging agross wastelands with Frodo, Sam and Gollum the worst bit of the book.... by the time I got back to Gandalf and Pippin at the beginning of ROTK I had lost the plot..... I went back to it about 2or 3 years later and happily escaped into middle earth for the rest of my adolescence.....

07-12-2004, 10:25 AM	#3
Pippin Pondlily Animated Skeleton Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Savannah Posts: 41	I first read The Hobbit for school when I was in 4th grade -- so maybe 8 years old? Then I read the Lord of the Rings books the summer before 6th grade that would be about 10 years old then. I really enjoyed them even if I had some trouble with the vocabulary and immagery but I've read at least FotR annually since and parts of The Two Towers (my favorite of the 3) and RotK as well. But just recently I had to reread and analyze all three LotR books and I really got to appreciate the literature WHICH led me to this website. I loved The Hobbit the most and I think that that is an excellent book to read to toddlers before bed or nap/kip time, I did to the little girl (4.5 years old at the time) that I babysit and she actually enjoyed it. Happy reading eh? - P. Pondlily

07-20-2004, 08:39 PM	#6
ninlaith Wight Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: in my hobbit hole Posts: 204	I believe I started reading The Hobbit when I was 13, only because I didn't even know we had the books, and started reading LOTR directly after.

07-20-2004, 09:05 PM	#7
Encaitare Bittersweet Symphony Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: On the jolly starship Enterprise Posts: 1,814	I found a copy of FotR in my house when I was around 12. I liked it but just couldn't get past the part with Tom Bombadil, simply because it moved so ..s-l-o-w-l-y.. Then I saw the first two movies and loved them, and decided to read the books. Since I already had a basic idea of what was going on, I found them a lot easier to read, and I loved learning about all the things not in the movies. I simply couldn't wait to find out what happened in the end, so I read RotK very quickly (and nearly went mad trying to not leak out spoilers to my friends!). I've become much more of a disciplined reader since I was 12, so I went and read the Silmarillion and Unfinished Tales, and I'm currently reading the Lays of Beleriand. It's just interesting how differently I view the books now, because I now feel that I can really appreciate everything in them as opposed to being turned off to them because of the slow pacing. Long live Tom Bombadil!