Let's take a walk down memory lane...
In the 7th grade I was in a amateur rendition of "The Hobbit". I was chosen for the part of Thorin Oakenshield, which to any of you who have read the book know, is a rather important part. Whether or not I did a good job I do not really recall (I only really remember that my costume was really really bad), but it is aside the point. Even at that young age, I understood that to get a better understanding of my character, i needed to read the book. I wasn't a tremendous reader at that age, but I'd done more then my fair share. So I got out the old copy of "The Hobbit" that we had and read it, not really understanding everything, but somewhat understanding my character.
Fast forward to the next year, I eventually heard of the Lord of the Rings films. A girl in my science class, who was currently reading "The Fellowship of the Ring", said that there was no way I could read the books before the movies came out. Taking the challenege to heart (fuck that bitch seriously), I got a hold of the books, and read them, all 3, within a month of the movies release. I use the term read here lightly, because I skipped the songs and other parts I found boring. I wasn't at the midnight showing of Fellowship, or any of the Lord of the Rings movies. I'm not that guy, but I saw them all in theaters, some more than once.
Fast forward to the next year. I kid from my seminary class is reading "The Silmarillion" and I ask him about it. He says that it's like LoTR but more complicated, probably too complicated for me. So I went out and got it, and filling my it was my own personal quest to prove this haters wrong, I read it. It really is a more difficult text, but there's is so much information going on, I will say at that time I enjoyed it more than LoTR or The Hobbit.
I will say that i've read a lot of text, encyclopedias, and all manner of things considering the Lord of the Rings. I was in a LoTR club my sophmore year dedicated to the works, but I will say most of these people were Jackson fanboy's (and girls), whereas I was deeply invested into the books. But as time went by, It moved slowly to the back of my mind.
Now you might be wondering what the hell this has to do with anything, but due to the recent loss of my computer, I've had to turn back to books (which is by all means a good thing). Having found The Hobbit in my sisters small library, I decided maybe it was time to re-read it. It had been at least 4 years since I had touched a Tolkien novel.
I will say that I finished the hobbit and The Fellowship of the Ring, and am half way through The Two Towers. I will write what I feel the second I finish Return of the King (or possibly Silmarillion, but that would be chronologically out of order!) This is just an opening to what I hope will be a long, thought out blog about what i've felt and though while reading the series again.
*I also feel the need to mention that via the gaming community on Warcraft 3: The Frozen Throne, I built many relationships involving the custom mod called "The Ring Wars". Pretty much withing the game you can edit and change spells, characters, etc. Ring Wars was a mod based on the events in Lord of the Rings, but instead of focusing purely on the fellowship, it included the entirety of middle earth. Matches between the two sides (6 players to each side) could last upwards of 2 hours. That my friends is pure strategy and teamwork.
bl7
9 years ago
