How has your reading changed?

[Eonwe]

when i first read LOTR, i was about twenvle i'd say. i read it very quickly (i think i read fellowship and tt in less than two days, but had to wait a week or so for the return of teh king to come back to the library; it killed me) and was primarily interested in the plot. i thourowly enjoyed the read and it prompted me on to the hobbit, silmarillion and i just started unfinished tales. and here, i guess.

anyway, as i said, when i first read the books i was primarily interested in the plot of LOTR in particular. now that i've read some backround information, when i go back to LOTR, different things make more sense. like when aragorn says whatever about bilbo having the cheak to make rymes about earindil in the house of elrond, that's his own business.

also, when i first read it, i went very quickly and just started recognizing names for their letters, and didn't sound them out. (if you know what i mean). so someone might be "that guy who's name has starts with and a", or whatever. and allot of the names i pronounce with english pronounciagiont (seerdan for cairdan, etc.) now that i go back and read them again, i love going to the appendixes and sounding out the names and re-learning them. and i have a better appreciation for different names. especially love osgiliath. i sometimes find myself repeating the names just cause they sound so beautiful.

anyway, all that to say: how have you started reading differently.

(if there is a thread like this already, my apologies)

[Folwren]

I, too, first read the books when I was twelve. It took me more time to read them...but I always read things slower, to take stuff in more.

However, I've read the LotR several times since then, and the Silm. half way through (got stuck and died out on the Realms of Beleriand...I feel really dumb saying that here on the Downs), and I've also read the Lays of Beleriand. Those two books didn't really change my reading of the LotR too terribly much, it was just the more times I read the trilogy, the more I could get from it.

For instance, Sam's character, for one, I loved from the very first time I read it. The second time, I got to see more and more of that character. The third time I read it, my love for Sam spread to Frodo, who Sam loved so well, and I got to peek a bit into Frodo's character, and the farther I read on and the more I saw of Frodo, the more I loved him, too.

So, I guess you could say, that the way my reading has changed is, I've been able to delve more into the characters. Also, I've read the appendixes, and some history on Tolkien himself, and I will say that those things have shown me a lot more in the books. Like the story of Aragorn and Arwen...and then the bit of Tolkien's parents dying, and all that sort of stuff. It's very intriguing, really, what all he put into his books.

I like this thread. I don't know myself if there's been one like it before.

-- Folwren

[Estelyn Telcontar]

This is a good thread topic! As it's more about personal experience than actual book discussion, I'm moving it to the Novices and Newcomers forum. Please continue reading and posting there - thanks!

[Bêthberry]

I am an inveterate underliner of paperbacks--not of hardcovers but of paperbacks. What I find intriguing is coming upon an underlined or starred passage, for which I have made no other comment, and not being able to see what prompted me to mark the passage in the first place. Or, seeing how it relates to things which my subsequent reading doesn't really place a premium on.

[Eorl of Rohan]

Hm. When I first started reading it, it was -I shall admit it- after the movie came out. Except for the fact that I didn't know that the movie was out. My mother found this book sold on the market, marveled at LOTR's size and bulkiness, bought it, brought it home, forced me to read it despite my resistance, I read it at 15, decided I didn't understand a word (Hey, I couldn't speak English then!), studied some more English, read it again at 16 because my mother hauled away my whole selection of books because I wouldn't study for the midterm exam, fell in love with it, read it and read it and loved it and memorized it, the love went on for two years, and then I went to high school, I forgot about LOTR, and a week ago I found the book beneath my bed while I was cleaning, read it, fell in love with it, came here.

0_0 If this isn't the superfluous diary of a madman, what is?

[Eonwe]

the best thing about lotr rings is no matter how many times you read it, you always find something new. or work out some puzzle.

i always love working out the kingship of aragorn. it is so confuseing to me (i don't know why). every six months or so i forget exactly what happened and "have to" go look it up again. and i love reading through the book while refering to the timelines and stuff. it makes for a much more holistic view of teh offten confuluted plot.

another thing is that after you have read it a number of times through, you (or at least i do) start picking it up and reading parts you especailly love. so you get stuck in a rut. sometimes i pick it up and read a part i loved and had forgotten about. i love it when that happens!

so i guess my reading changes cause i find new things all the time.

[Lathriel]

When I first read LOTR I also just read it for the plot. Since then I have actually become more interested in characters than what happens in the book. Right now I am in a phase where I don't always care for the plot as long as the characters are well thought-out and interesting.
So now when I re-read LOTR I don't really rush through it because I feel that if I do I will miss a whole bunch of things; besides I am not in a hurry since I know the story. I prefer to read slowly thus finding a new detail every time I read it.
Also as I matured to my current age (since I still have some more growing up to do, 18 doesn't mean you are a complete adult) different details seemed to pop out at me or different aspects of the story.
I know some people who can't stand re-reading a book but then they probably haven't used the right books to try it with. However, I am convinced that most people who liked this book, even of they aren't big fans (like us) will re-read it again one day.

[Gandalf_the _white]

I've read the trilogy a few times now and see Gandalf as a father figure!
(OMG i've learnt so much from him {looks dreamy amd murmurs " a wizard is never late, nor is he early, he arrives precisally when he means to!" lol)

[Laitoste]

My reading has actually changed quite a bit since reading The Lord of the Rings. I used to just look at the plot and the characters (a little). Now, however, I look more for description and scenery. This may also have to do with the fact that I write descriptive essays best (very unfortunate if you aren't taking an English class--description doesn't always work best for history courses!). I just realized this fact this year, due to the large amount of reading I have to do--and none of it particularly enjoyable...

Now, when I read The Lord of the Rings, I look for bits that actually put me in Middle-Earth. These selections kill me.

reading is not so eays 4 me but lotr has a ncie name so i read it cos it was nice and it was intresting with the gold writting and the nice elfins and i did not know all the anmes but i tried to read the sindarinn langage but it was too hard so i tried to learn the qenya langage but it was not the best. so lotr has helped me find out what langage is best.

[Himilsillion]

Before reading LoTR I was really just reading a lot of Science Fiction novels. Since I have read LoTR I have started to read more fantasty and just plain more general fiction. It has really opened my eyes up to some great literately pieces I was really missing out on.

[Dimturiel]

I was 13 when I first read LOTR and before reading it I was mostly into adventure books that had teenagers as characters. I first read it very quickly and mostly just for the plot, although I have to admit that I felt very attracted to the characters too. Now I read it twice a year, at Christmas and in the summer holidays. As I read a lot of books-more than three a month- rereading LOTR is for me like stopping in a familiar place to rest and to gather my strenght before venturing into the unknown again. I like the characters also and I learn a lot fom them, especially from Aragorn and Gandalf. And I think that I will continue reading it at least once a year for a long time, if not all my life, because whenever I read it I discover new things, and after reading it I feel wiser and ready to face the real world again.

[Salacia Deloresista]

My mom read The Hobbit to me when I was 5 or so, before I could read properly on my own. I read the Lord of the Rings trilogy when I was 11. Since then, I've read them many, many times, but in the last few years have slacked off a bit. In the beginning, they were just stories. Really awesome stories, but I'd do things like skip the songs to get to the next piece of plot line or description.

Not anymore.

I can't bear to write in my beautiful books. The ones I first started reading were some insanly old editions that my mom read when she was younger. I recently recieved my own set as a present from a friend, and as soon as my books and I are reunited, they will be filled with lovingly placed highlights and underlines and notes. I also have a huge number of notebooks where I copy out quotes that I like, and things like the elvish and dwarvish rune system from the apencices. They're not so much books for me anymore, but lifestyle guides, more important than any vogue or cosmogirl ever could be.

[yavanna II]

Originally Posted by Eonwe

the best thing about lotr rings is no matter how many times you read it, you always find something new. or work out some puzzle.

another thing is that after you have read it a number of times through, you (or at least i do) start picking it up and reading parts you especailly love. so you get stuck in a rut. sometimes i pick it up and read a part i loved and had forgotten about. i love it when that happens!

so i guess my reading changes cause i find new things all the time.

I do that too! And I think I changed in a sense that I really try to comprehend and analyse what I read... especially that part about Beren & Luthien, and the Dernhelm-Eowyn thing with Merry.

oH... wah... i read LOTR when I was 12, but understood it fully when I was 14; and now that i'm 16, I still enjoy rereading everything