Before and after the movie

[Tigerlily Gamgee]

For me... it was the movie that made me pick up the books and read them.
For quite a while I was not reading anything because I wasn't inspired to read anything (sad, I know). I had heard of The Lord of the Rings and I have always loved fantasy, but I never considered tackling such a large undertaking. My friends all love it (those who have read it all the way through), so I had heard about it (but sadly, I didn't even know what a Hobbit was [img]smilies/frown.gif[/img] )
I went to see the movie because of my love of movies in that genre, but I got more than I expected. I got a fantasy adventure with true emotions (something you don't get very often)... and it is these emotions that lead me to the books. I was so upset at the end of the movie (particularly because I wanted to know what would happen to Merry and Pippin) that I had to go get the books to find out what happened...

The book lead me to another world with even more that I never expected. I fell in love with them right away. I was mad at myself for not reading them before, but at the same time I may not have appreciated them as much...
It was my lack of knowledge about a lot of things in the book that lead me to these sites and this message board. I wanted to learn more and find out as much as possible.
I am now collecting every Tolkien book I can get my hands on (& that I can afford) and I am trying to learn as much as possible about this great author and his creations.

In short, if it wasn't for the movie, I probably wouldn't be here (that sounds terrible)... but it is the dedication and knowledge at this board that keeps me coming back to learn more, and I am even more excited when I can help someone out who is new and has some of the same questions that I once did.
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