What draws you back to the Lord of the Rings?

[Telchar]

What is it about the Lord of the Rings that draws you back to read it again and again?

Tolkien's writings just have this feeling to them.. You can go and listen to lays in the Hall of Fire, have a cup of tea with Bilbo in the heart of the Shire or go venture to the depths of the darkest halls of Moria.. It's like beeing home and away at the same time..

[Morwen]

I love his style of writing for it is most unique, and that is partly what draws me to the LOTR. The relationship with the characters also draws me back. I grew a connection, a link, with the characters, that alowed me to feel what they felt at times. The characters are so easy to fall in love with. But in the case of the Sil, and its soul stealing qualities, I grew connected with it. The range of emotions, the style of writing, and the characters draw me back to both the Sil and LOTR.

[Talierin]

Easy. I fell in love with Middle-earth, so much that if I don't read it over and over I lose a part of myself. Middle-earth is like a half-forgotten dream, lost to us in the process of waking up, until one man, a genius in fact, remembered it and was kind enough to return it to us.

[ReadWryt]

I can put it down any time I care to. Really! I don't need to read it, I WANT to read it. But it's MY copy...keep away from it. Precisous tome...yessss my precious...

[Beorn]

I've always been the type of person who wants to travel the country, who wants to go all over the world...And see stuff, go on a mission. I want to be in some type of competition where you are chased across the country or something, and that if you are caught, you lose something. As you can see, this LotR is a place that like to go into.

Also, I love to read Tolkien's writing because of the realism of it, a realism which I've only found that Tolkien has. His characters are so developed, his verses so profound, and his ability to tie things across almost a dozen books amazes me. I don't think I'll ever find an author that I like as much

[Orin]

The grammar, man. It's all about grammar. Sentence structure, usage, you should have put a comma there...no wait, I see now it's not necessary... those kinds of things draw me back. It also helps that it is one heck of a tale.
My problem is, I can't go back to it. I gave away my copies to some students who were reading parts and didn't have the complete set. For the first time in thirty years, I have not had at least two sets of those tattered paperbacks. I think I am going to Jones.
Christmas...er, I mean the Holidays....(don't want to offend) is coming. I hope to find the red leather edition with the two fold out maps under the tree. Hear that Santa? I need to diagram some more of Tolkien's sentences.

[Aerin]

I love Tolkien's use of the English language. The writing is so clear and precise, it's like watching a picture being painted, the scenery is so vivid. The storyline is exciting, and there are so many plot twists and turns that 'it keeps you on the edge of your seat'!

I have always dreamed of being somehow transported to another world where I would be sent on a dangerous quest. I would fulfill that quest, thereby proving myself worthy of admiration.
I guess that's partly the fault of too many fantasy books when I was young, and an over active imagination!

[Evenstar]

I love the world that Tolkien presents in these books. The characters come to life and I feel as if I'm really there. It's the best escape I have from everything crazy in this world. I can imagine that I'm there and all my problems disappear. That's why I keep on coming back. I love the ME.

[Grond]

Tolkien's richness is what keeps bringing me back to the works again and again and again. Richness of characters, richness of history, richness of language, richness of so many different emotions and finally the richness of the world of Middle-earth. How can anyone not love these works???:)

[Courtney]

I like them because at first, the reading is kind of slow, but as you read on it just keeps getting more in depth and more interesting. It's like a rockslide. When I first started reaading it I was like, it looks okay, and then the next thing I knew i was in the middle of the third book, and was looking for the Silmarillion. I've been reading them almost constantly for the past five years.

[Ciryaher]

The main reason I read any book more than once is to find things I have looked over before (I swear I find something new every time I read LOTR).

Tolkien's books are very in-depth, and you are told so many things about the world, you want to be a part of it as much as possible.

[Tar-Steve]

That's why I keep re-reading. I know there's things in there I've missed and everytime I re-read I find a few more of them.

[Thorondor]

I think it is because the ring has a hold on me. . .Yessss, Precioussssss. . . . .

[DGoeij]

Because its just so much more than one story. It is the history of a beautiful world, you keep coming back to find out more and more. Every time I open up one of the books, I find out new things, see new connections and keep feeling good. And I love reading the English, it is so rich a language, and professor Tolkien was so good in writing in it.

[JanitorofAngmar]

What draws me back is always the steamy sex scenes described in erotic detail! I just can't get enough of that book!

Oh, yeah, I like Gandalf too.

[Orin]

Yes, oh Cleaning One, Where can I get that copy? I believe those bits were edited out of my copy. I do have a few paragraphs of the Goldberry/Frodo "encounter" behind Tom's house, but that's it.

[Rian]

I've been reading LOTR since I was nine, and I always find some new detail - no matter how small- that jumps out at me everytime I read it. (fyi - I'm 28).

Tolkien has a way to make the story come alive, and the world around me disappears for awhile. It's like going to see old friends and talking about the past. I get so caught up in it that I don't notice the passage of time. Kind of like the hobbits when they visit Tom Bombadil.

[Greymantle]

JoA, man, I've said it before and I'll say it again: you are one funny guy. I nominate the Janitor for the "Wit of the Forum" award!

[Elanor]

I'll second that nomination. Anyway back to the topic I can read The Hobbit and LOTR over and over it takes me away and for a time I am tramping over green hills, visting elves, or facing dangers untold. Then I close the book and am faced with reality again and thats a drag.:(

[Beorn]

What draws me back is always the steamy sex scenes described in erotic detail! I just can't get enough of that book!

It sounds like you have a LotR book cover on the Karma Sutra

Yeah, I'd say he gets Wit of the Forum...

[Dain Ironfoot]

I have that copy too.......wait no thats "Buffy the vampire layer"

[Dain Ironfoot]

I like when the cops find the drug lord but can't find the drugs, only to find that they are in him. then they explode and die, but the indian guy comes in and bam bam bam, he starts to hold off the cops with a bb gun.

[Moonbeams]

I honestly don't know what draws me back to Lord of the Rings. I've read it so many times, you'd imagine I know it all by heart. Whenever I start reading it again, there is no world around me but the world of the book, and every page is a suprise, like I've never read it before.
I think it's magic. Definitly. Tolkien got some help of his elven friends and bewithced the book so every time you read it is like the first. That's it. Magic.

[The White Rider]

The Lord of the Rings is simply a well written book. The ability that Tolkien had to create a world as real as he did was amazing. Also I just recently discovered that LotR has christian themes hidden within it, so as I am currently reading it I am also looking for these themes. That is what keeps me coming back to the Lord of the Rings.

-The White Rider

[Dain Ironfoot]

common what about the magic and amasing powers and people that he has?

Elves,
Dwarfs,
Hobbits,
Men,
Ents,
Orks,
Trolls,
Eagles,
Tom b,
And dragons?

[Thorson]

Originally posted by Telchar
What is it about the Lord of the Rings that draws you back to read it again and again?I'll be honest, the reason I reread the trilogy (after some 20 years) is beause I wanted to refamiliarize myself with the characters, the places and events before the film was released.

Having said that, I have come to look at some of the characters differetly. I have come to believe that Frodo is possibly the most noble and courageous character in the story. He is so small and appears so defenseless, yet he alone steps forward and offers to take the ring to Mordor (though he knew not the way). Only then did the others stand by him.

:)

[Dain Ironfoot]

Magic.......................MAGIC!!!!!!!

[Orin]

Having given all my old copies away to students, the new three volume set with the movie covers draws me back. I've read and read the story twenty some times. To be honest, now I just read selected bits here and there. It's the new books that will draw me back this time, after I tackle that Silmarillions and Zillions thing.

[Dain Ironfoot]

I love the magic.

[Mandella]

The attention to detail.

Tolkien as a world builder is second to none, only Douglas Adams comes close.

Compared to other fantastic worlds in lesser literary works, Tolkien's Middle Earth seems so much more alive and real. It's got history that makes sense, triumphs and tragedies that stay with you for a long time and some of the most memorable characters ever written!

I am one of the few who actually read The Hobbit before LOTR, so my first brush with the hobbits was with Bilbo. I also didn't read LOTR as a book the first time. :eek: ;)

My friend had a comic series of LOTR, which I liked immensely. I was also surprised to see familiar characters in them, Bilbo, Gollum and Gandalf. Following that, I saw the Bakshi animation, which despite being very flawed inspired me to finally read the book, a decision that I'm very grateful for.

I have since read the trilogy (or is it six books?) some ten odd times, both in my native tongue and the original english. Silmarillion had a rough beginning, but once it got going I didn't stop reading until I had finished. That book only served to increase my admiration for Professor Tolkien, having realized just how old Galadriel really was! Now I can't help but to think of her father and brothers when reading her dialogue with Frodo.

It's this uninterrupted sense of cohesive history with the characters, the monsters and even the cities and forests of his creation that truly separates Tolkien from the rest.

[Grond]

Mandella, your post is inspiring. It is for those very reasons that Grond continues to come back the works again and again and again. The richness of the world, the changing history from early drafts in HoME and UT to the finished product in the Sil and Hobbit and LotR. It is so much like the real world. Myths first develop over the eons and then become embedded in reality in their finished form.

Prof. Tolkien was an expert at understanding this and didn't publish anything other than the Hobbit until he had much of his world's history developed. What a marvel and what a joy. The cohesiveness of the world and the richness of the tales. That's what keeps me coming back. (Oops.... I just realized that I've already posted here. Oh well, you get a double dissertation by the Grond-meister on this one.)

[Eonwe]

I still haven't found another book that I like.:(

[curious_nomad]

Fantasy books are just entrancing. They wrap you up within their world and don't let you out until you finish. It's the way it is. That's why I read LoTR, WoT, Chronicles of Narnia, and Harry Potter and finished all of them currently in print.

That and reading the innovator of the fantasy genre is quite fun when trying to see which authors have more creativity than others.

[aemmett]

I always go back to LOTR beacause I feel totally immersed in a world of magic, loyalty, love and adventure. It is also impossible to "take it all in" in one reading. I feel so privileged to live in the country that inspired Tolkien to write in the way that he did. If only real life could be so wonderful.

By the way... am i the only member of the forum that lives in England???

[Dain Ironfoot]

Magic, magic, magic, magic, magic, magic.............

[Rushlight]

I'm new here to these forums.......but it has been 30 Years since I read the whole trilogy. I can't believe 30 years has passed, but it has. I read the books (like 3 times) back in my early high school days (ok, so now guess my age!) Anyway, my husband began The Hobbit awhile back and is now past Fellowship of the Ring and on to the Two Towers. I'm right being him now reading Fellowship of the Ring yet again. Although the "basics" of the story haven't left me in 30 years, I'm delighting in more detail and enjoying the story now more in my 40's than I ever did as a teenager. I guess I'm drawn to the escape of Middle Earth.......sometimes that's a more exciting place to be.

[Courtney]

Welcome to the forum Rushlight!
I completely agree with you. When I stop reading the books, though, everything in real life seems all grey and dismal, and I just can't focus on anything else until I finish whichever one I am reading because nothing else seems as important.

[Orin]

Hey Eonwe, how's all the snow up there? I'm near the end of the first book of the Wheel of Time. I like it. Try that one. Robert Jordan wrote it.

[WARDNINE]

God...
It's just, so, you know...
I (Gasp!) don't like fantasies, as a rule.
I despise Star Wars (ducks to avoid tomatoes), etc.
Here is my love.
There have been great writers of fiction.
There have been great mapmakers.
There have been great historians.
There have been great poets.
There have been great songwriters.
There have been great linguists.
There have been great genealogists.
There have been great men.
Never before, nor will there ever be again, all of those in one man. One normal, thinking, functioning man. To read Tolkien is to think, "My God, he must have been consumed, obsessed."
Nay, that creature was a man perfectly normal, so much like you and me.
He liked to have a beer with friends and discuss other authors, and the weather, and religion.
His letters most often pertained not to this masterpiece, but to general things.
The writing, his command of the English language!
Ah! One could weep for joy.
I feel, as I'm sure others do, that he wrote things for me, not for the world at large.
He speaks to me through his books. "Yes, Virginia, there is a JRR Tolkien. He lives, and lives forever, thank God!"
I swear, as others have, that every time I open the books, I find something new.
These enormous volumes, and yet, you know that one race preferred the colors yellow and green.
Not one stone unturned.
Madness, I tell you, and yet, not. A most extraordinary man. Unrivaled genius. Let us all be thankful we lived to see the fruits of his mind.
The life lessons he taught the world- destroy the trees and you destroy yourselves. Have mercy and forgiveness on those who wrong you, no matter how hard it is to dole out. Even the littlest among us can change our destiny. And on and on.
That's it, I guess. Oh, and Tom Bombadil. How cool is he?

[WARDNINE]

Oh, and the coolest Tolkien story ever, is, of course......
The birth of Middle Earth.
Grading papers one day, awful papers, he got so pissed that he turned to his typewriter and typed, "In a hole in the ground there lived a Hobbit".
Then he thought (I'm paraphrasing)
"What the hell is a Hobbit??!!"
and he spent the rest of his days answering his own question.
Proof indeed that your/my "stupid little thoughts" may have some redeeming qualities after all.
What a cool dude.

[Atticus]

I have a post in The Halls of Fire that says it all. But as for a simple answer: pure addiction.

[Aldarion]

I've virtually worn out my original copy from '75 (once had the Two Towers stolen by a hideous bully at school; fortunately returned and apparently even he became interested as he'd nosed it a bit). Can't count how many times I've gone over LotR, Sil and UT as well as the excellent Tolkien Bestiary by David Day (good summaries/timelines: anyone else come across this latter publication? (New thread?)

The histories are true to themselves, essentially free of allegory (as Tolkien vehemently asserts), vast, brilliantly organised and not cloying which I find is an inevitable feature of what happens when fantasy books are written for children (of which I would aver LotR et al are clearly not so hence their popularity with younger people), particularly of Professor T's time.

Aemmett, I'm sure their are plenty of english members on this site besides me!›

[ReadWryt]

I'm actually a HUGE fan of Larry Niven's "Known Space" stories. The guy has written well over 2000 pages of stuff in short stories and novels that all take place in the future of our universe that have nearly the completeness of Middle-earth. Nobody I have read is capable of creating as truely Alien aliens as him, in my opinion, and his vision of all aspects of technological advances effect on our spiecies is amazing. (My personal favorite are the "Flash Crowds" that occur because of Teleportation Technology. With global News Networks millions of people see that some event is happening and tens or hundreds of thousands of people all step into booths to see it first hand...as do the Pickpockets and criminals.) Of course Niven has the entire history of human kind and a background in Physics and Astrodynmamics to build on, as opposed to a love of Language and a desire to gift his nation with a mythology, which I feel makes what Tolkien did a much greater feat.

[Branwen]

Originally posted by Talierin
Easy. I fell in love with Middle-earth, so much that if I don't read it over and over I lose a part of myself. Middle-earth is like a half-forgotten dream, lost to us in the process of waking up, until one man, a genius in fact, remembered it and was kind enough to return it to us.

Talierin,would you mind getting off my brain?...:)

[Talierin]

*Tal sits down harder on Branwen's brain*:D

Hehehe, one of these days I'll get working on a project I've always wanted to do, collecting ringer's stories about how they started reading the books, and why they love them.

[Oridin]

A fantastic writer, an incredible story both combine to bear the most profilic and beneficial legend of modern times. The reason(s) why I come back are simple: Tolkien is a God among writers; all other stories, especially of the fantasy genre, pale in comparison. His style of writing and extreme detail of the landscape and people that live within his imagined world is unparallel. He is my inspiration. I owe my style to Tolkien alone. For a while I thought no one would read such detail in a story, but I always come back to Tolkien. His tales, his legends are an example that great detail will end in greatness of art and story. I try to give homage to him in anything that I write. If it weren't for him, I wouldn't be writing or reading for that matter. His grace has left a scar so severe and visible, that I wear it with pride not shame.

[EverEve]

ur rite, hes a really good writer, and i really love the stories!

[EverEve]

well said. hes an awesome writer, and the world wouldnt be the same without the trilogy! u really can picture nearly everything he writes becuz he supports it with soo many details:)

[EverEve]

dains rite, there is a lotta..........MAGIC!!:D

[Lindir]

It´s very well made. The laguage is beatiful and if there are any mistakes in the books, I have not found them yet. The size of it is perfect. Many modern fantasy writers need 10 times as many pages to come up with something that is not even half as good. Tolkien doesn´t ramble on and he doesn´t have endless sub-plots that lead no where.
But the main thing that drives me back time and again is that it is now somhow a part of me. I can´t even imagine puttning it away, never to read it again. I never get tired of it and that is truly amazing since I know it better than I know myself.

[Aldarion]

Have you noticed how Tolkien's histories have so many different "endings" dotted hither and thither?

Sam returning to Rose Cotton; Tuor going to Valinor with Idril; Arwen's death; Legolas and Gimli going to Valinor; Celeborn's departure etc

Wonderful stuff!

Truly incomparable works in the fantasy genre...

[Aredhel]

What drew me back to the LotR is Middle-earth. Whenever I read it, I was drawn into it, and could escape my problems.

[singleton]

What draws me to the LOTR again and again is that the way he writes is amazing:D
Its as if you're actually there!

[Orin]

Once again, it's the grammar, man, the grammar! I was reading the Hobbit to my son (He falls asleep as soon as I start, but loves it anyway) and there were a few sentences that were a paragraph long. The master of the correct compound compound-complex subordinated clase sentence was Tolkien.

[Fionnuala]

I do appologize for the length of time it took me to reply to this... it takes time to gather thoughts on something like this... (not to mention I only read this for the first time last week) But to get to the question... what is it that draws me back to LotR again and again...

Well, It is hard to say. ME is the most amazing creation. It has everything! Myths, history, struggles and language. The depth of history that is given to LotR and all the other books is amazing! If one didn't know better you would think it was a history of a real place... truely amazing! You feel transported to ME and when you put down the book it is like awakening from a wonderful dream which you want to re-capture by falling asleep as quickly as possible.

Also, it is not some fairy story ending 'they all lived happily ever after'. It is a bitter-sweet story, and is very much like life in that respect. And the charactors are real... they are not 2 dimentional paper cut outs... they have a clear personality, history and everything!! This makes them easier to relate to and fall in love with... I think that ever charactors adds so much tot he book that if you take one way you miss out on so much.

Finally the lanugages are amazing! I am in the prosess of trying to learn Quenya... and have been for a few months... having studdied quite a few languages... Quenya (as I presume are the others) really is like a real language... with awful irregular verbs to memorise... 'faux amis' and everything else that makes a language 'real'.

Basically, to cut a long and drawnout bunch of babble short...

Lord of the Rings the the most totally amazing, fantasic, magical book that leaves you feeling that 'even the smallest person can make a difference' !!!(I appologize if that quote is wrong... I am just going off the top of my head!) and that you too have made a personal journey along with the charactors that reaches accross many many mortal lives and gives you a small taste of immortality as well!!!

Well, I think you see what I am getting at...

~Fionnuala

[Khamul]

What draws me back is the fact that even though i know the story line ec. I still am able to feel a certain amount of action and not really suspense but anticipation. Most books i have read more than once, I get tired of them but not LOTR

[Anduril]

I think this is a good threat to know much of you all guys...
the reasons you give are stronger and in some cases very very deep.

I hope mine be a good one...

I've always liked the story due to the realistic impression that causes into the reader's mind and heart...LOTR is not just a "story" or a "fairy" tale (Tolkien write about all these matters in "Tree and leaf"); it's about friendship, courage, wisdom, love..
All of this epic matters that cautivate the imagination and the feelings of those who read the books...


:p

[Inwe]

Quite simply the world Tolkien has created is so real I want to go back for more.

[ssgrif]

The huge list from Wardnine, which I wont quote here, I have to agreee with but need to add a few more of my own reasons for going back to JRRT books, not just LOTR.

I'm no literary expert but Tolkien is the only writer who's been able to allow me to imagine what Middle-Earth is really like. Everyone uses there imagination to conjour up the people places and scenery when reading a book, but with Tolkiens works, It takes the littlest of efforts.

The books are great, and they are so indepth, I have to keep going back to them to remember the little bits I've forgotten.

[chrysophalax]

Tolkien's works were the first books ever to move me to tears.
The worst part being that at the time of my first reading(30
years ago)I had to wait an entire week between TTT and RotK!
:(

[Courtney]

That must have been awful!:( The end of the two towers made me start crying right in the middle of English class. I was sooo embarrassed. I had to leave the room...

[Beleg Strongbow]

I come back because of it's pure greatness and originality.

[Orin]

It's the Grammar, man, the grammar. Syntax!

[LadyGaladriel]

Its the Characters and their Uniqueness (Cant Speell)
"Rocks Gently"

:D

[Son of Elrond]

I first read the Lord of the Rings series when I was about 10 years old, back in 1965-1966. I've read many books over the years, but Tolkien's masterpiece never let me go. His writing style paints murals in my mind's eye every time I read any part of the books. I've just finished re-reading all 3 again since I saw FotR it's opening day. I own and have watched the RankinBass/Bakshi animated movies a number of times. Bakshi was able to capture some of the simplicity and beauty of the Hobbits and Middle Earth, but didn't go the length of the story. Tolkien was a master of the written word and phrase. His continuity and writing style, the descriptions of everything about the saga of the Ring and, yes, the tale of morality threaded throughout the story makes this the kind of writing we readers usually only dream about. Tolkien will be admired hundreds, maybe thousands of years from now for being one of the greatest, if not the greatest storyteller of all time.

[Grond]

Welcome to the board Elladan or is it Elrohir? Anyway, welcome fellow denizen of the Alligator State. PM me with where in SE Louisiana you reside. My father's family is from Angie.

You'll find this place a veritable gold mine of info on Tokien and a place to get into in-depth discussions on a wide range of topics from Hob - LotR - Sil - UT - HoMe. Hope you enjoy your stay. I live in the thriving metropolis of DeRidder. :)

[Ingwë]

The Lod of the Rings is my favourite book :) It is great, very interesting, it has a lot of information in it and it just makes me read the most interesting moments again and again. If I search something in LotR I read the whole chapter, not only that moment. It is great book :)

[Berserker]

What is it about the Lord of the Rings that draws you back to read it again and again?

Tolkien's writings just have this feeling to them.. You can go and listen to lays in the Hall of Fire, have a cup of tea with Bilbo in the heart of the Shire or go venture to the depths of the darkest halls of Moria.. It's like beeing home and away at the same time..

Exactly!! Same feeling here. When I read LOTR again and again I feel inside a world of such opposite situations, like feeling safe, in danger, fresh, etc.

Each chapter and each place gives me a great sense of freedom and being at home.

[ingolmo]

The thing that draws me back to LotR is Middle-earth. I think that out of all of Tolkien's creations, Middle-earth is the greatest. All it's places, details, cultures, history are simply a masterpiece.

[Narsil]

A revived thread, eh? :D

As a rule I tend to re-read every book that I like. People tease me about this all the time. IMO the first time you read a book you are merely letting it sink into the surface. Like wetting a sponge. You need to re-read it at least one more time to let it sink in. If it's a really good book it becomes an experience, a journey and it's always a different one with each reading.

With Tolkien, there is so much detail, so much that is under the surface that re-reading his books several times is a new experience each time. Plus, if you read The Hobbit, The Silmarillion, Unfinished Tales or HOME the added knowledge and perspective you gain puts a new "spin" on LOTR. They all compliment each other. I found I was looking at LOTR an entirely new way after reading The Sil. Now that I'm reading UT I'm looking forward to re-reading The Sil, and LOTR again.

Plus, Tolkien's descriptions of ME are so vivid that you actually feel as if you've been transported there. The characters are so well developed that you feel as if you are visiting old friends.

Plus, I just like reading them. It's like eating a chocolate fudge sundae. Do you ever get tired of eating a sundae? :D

[ingolmo]

It's like eating a chocolate fudge sundae. Do you ever get tired of eating a sundae? :D

I know this is entirely off topic, but I do. :D