Need some help ...

[BlackCaptain]

If some of you might've noticed or not I haven't been on these boards as frequently as since I've started...

I just can't find the lust I once had for these books ... I mean I used to love talking about these things, but now that I've realised that it's always either a black or white answer to debates I've lost interest...

It seems Bag End is the only interesting place for me anymore because it doesnt involve pure answers to things...

What do you all do to stay in love with these books. I love the mythologyh and depth and respect it like nothing else; like no other work of art; but I find it so hard to discuss what is unevolving. Any pointers?

[Gandalf The Grey]

Well met, Black Captain.

* enters, lit pipeful of Southern Star already in hand, smokes contemplatively, bows a greeting *

What would you say if I were to advise you to loosen your intended grasp upon the Ring for awhile? Especially as you're now taking such a keen interest in the Shire, seeing that you're hanging about Bag End. * good-natured smile * :)

Though I do not wholly jest. Good weather will soon be upon us. I for one will be spending far more time outdoors, out on the nature trails whether walking or on horseback, going by boat to an island when I can.

TTF will still be here on my return, I trust, ... and the more refreshing for being myself more refreshed!

[Nóm]

I think Gandalf The Grey gives an excellent reply.

It's probably normal for readers' passion to wane from time to time. Perhaps it is not worth fighting against this. Just the same I'd always recommened reading more on Middle-earth. HoME is just full of information... something for everyone I think. And even tales and parts of tales not found elsewhere.

When you say 'unevolving' do you mean a discussion that sticks on topic and dies away? If so, I'd noticed this too. Had an old plan to make an Inn that was just a place for casual (versus the often more formal found in book forum threads) talk about Middle-earth, a place to use our imagination and let the topic go off in any direction it likes. This free flowing sort of discussion is something I mostly experience over MSN... and not at the forum. In the end I didn't start the Inn... figured there would be little if any use of it as intended, and I was unable to find a parter to help get it off in the right direction. In fact your post here inspired me to go for it... but I now see they are not accepting any new Inns. But even so, I think a more casual chit chatting about Middle-earth might take place elsewhere at the forum. It's a beautiful thing when it does happen in some random thread.

[Elbereth]

I share your lack of enthusiasm for Tolkien, Black Captain.

After two years of reading one Tolkien book after another ...and spending much of my free time in this forum...I have quite burned out on it. I simply can't find any motivation to discuss Tolkien. When I do chat about Tolkien, I really don't want to discuss anything in depth...so I chat in the silly topics or I discuss the Tolkien topics that are really not that serious.

The way I have been coping with it has been staying clear of my Tolkien books, and all Tolkien related areas of the bookstores. I have avoided using Tolkien in my social conversations with friends...and I have started reading non-tolkien like books.

I have found that in the past....if I ween myself away from Tolkien for a bit...it makes it easier to come back to it later...because too much of a good thing is never good.

So if you need a break...take it. But just don't give up on Tolkien altogether. In a few weeks/months/years...pick it up again. You'll be surprised to find what you missed the first time around. And who knows...you may have a new perpective on life when you do...which will make a difference on how you look at his tales and make you see his world from an entirely new light.

[Niniel]

*Raises hand*
Here another one of the people-who-have-read-Tolkien-too-much-lately. But I have taken a break already (because I just had no time to spend on reading), and I quite feel like reading Tolkien again soon.

[BlackCaptain]

Elbereth, you capped up everything I'm feeling perfectly, and I'll try your advice. Thanks.


And Nom, when I say 'unevolving', I mean that Tolkien books aren't something that change with time, like world affairs. I could stay much more interested on a board concerning politics or a TV show or something because it's always changing and there are new people coming in and out that can be critiqued and such. But with Tolkien, you've got this HUGE library of information concerning a fantastic and fictional world that, while surpassingly deep and interesting, just can't change. If Chris Tolkien would continue to put out new books concerning Middle Earth, maybe in the 4th age or something, then that would be evolving. But I feel like discussing Tolkien's works is like discussing a History book at school... Yes it's interesting to know everything that's happened and know all the names of these great people of our world, but after that, where do you go?

I'll try reading some other books and putting myself away from Tolkien for a while for a comeback to his books.

[baragund]

BC, here's another variation on the theme but as soon as you feel that reading or discussing Tolkien is work then it's time to set it aside.

It's perfectly OK to burn out on Middle Earth and feel the need to walk away from it for a while. What you will find if you return to it, especially after a few years, that your perspective on the characters and stories will change, your attitudes toward them will evolve yet the stories will become welcoming and comforting like a perfectly broken-in pair of jeans.

My interest in JRRT's writing comes and goes in cycles. Thanks to the films and thanks to this forum, my current cycle of interest is lasting longer than the others but I feel it starting to ebb. That's fine because I know that, two or three years from now, another cycle will start, I'll pick up the books again and enjoy them every bit as much as I do now. I'll also "see" things in the stories that had not ocurred to me before.

I'm pretty much repeating what the others said but I hope this helps.