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I'm glad I have lived long enough to have had a wonderful experience in my extreme old age (71), in this case an experience most people had when they were much younger - the reading of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. How I never got around to Tolkien previously even though I enjoy reading will remain a mystery to me. The feeble excuse that I was not an English major doesn't explain much.
Old age can't be all bad if such delights as The Lord of the Rings await us. (Disclaimer: It's true that delight is not the universal experience; for some people such as academic literary critic Harold Bloom, Tolkien is not their cup of tea.) But I now understand Tolkien's enormous popularity on both sides of the Atlantic.
I have sought out further reading on Tolkien in the library and learned that I have lots of company in:
1. ...the experience of this rather long work (about 1,000 pages for The Lord of the Rings) seeming short.
2. ...the experience of immediately upon finishing the book, going back and re-reading large parts of it if not all of it.
3. ...the feeling that there is more there than I gleaned on first reading.
Hail old age! It is an opportunity to make up for previous sins of omission by enjoying the deep pleasure of experiencing the best that Western civilization has to offer.
Anybody else of like mind? What is your take on The Lord of the Rings? What have been your discoveries?
I just watched The Seventh Seal for the first time. Haven't seen many of the classic movies, so am hoping retirement has some good ones in store. This was a fine beginning. And after I retired, I joined a book club for the first time; what a pleasure to enjoy lively discussions of books. Haven't experienced this since college. Glad for you, reading The Hobbit for the first time. And an added benefit - the trilogy, which extends the pleasure for many hours.
I read it in my early 20s and loved it. And my 30s. Haven't since but will. Read the trilogy then the Hobbit. If you haven't read that, do. While not as good as the trilogy certainly enjoyable.
When you're ready to move on, I'd suggest Alice in Wonderland/Through the Looking Glass.
I read it in my early 20s and loved it. And my 30s. Haven't since but will. Read the trilogy then the Hobbit. If you haven't read that, do. While not as good as the trilogy certainly enjoyable.
When you're ready to move on, I'd suggest Alice in Wonderland/Through the Looking Glass.
Thank you. I re-read Alice three or four years ago as part of my search for good children's literature and was disappointed.
I just watched The Seventh Seal for the first time. Haven't seen many of the classic movies, so am hoping retirement has some good ones in store. This was a fine beginning. And after I retired, I joined a book club for the first time; what a pleasure to enjoy lively discussions of books. Haven't experienced this since college. Glad for you, reading The Hobbit for the first time. And an added benefit - the trilogy, which extends the pleasure for many hours.
How good of you to mention film as another area of exploring the best of civilization! An especially worthy recent film, a real work of art in my opinion, is Blue Jasmine, written and directed by Woody Allen.
I read The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings trilogy long ago. As a matter of fact, I re-read the books several times to get the most out of them. I even have the red book version of The Hobbit that has elvish runes and a map of Middle Earth in it.
They did a decent job with the LOTR movies and I have all of them in dvd format.
Also recently bought the trio of Hobbit dvds that I enjoyed.
If you want to drive yourself crazy, read The Silmarillion. a five part book that details what Middle Earth was like before the Hobbit and LOTR. Too heavy for me.
If you have already read those works, maybe a foray into Tudor England would be interesting? Throughout my life, that is the period I continually return to . . .
It's not that long but the audio version, narrated by Sissy Spacek, of To Kill a Mockingbird has to date been my come-to-Jesus retirement literary experience.
I had long ago read the book and seen the movie but Spacek's narration nearly brought me to my knees. Spacek IS the voice of Scout, they are one and the same, and hearing Scout tell her story, well, perfection. I agree with the reviewer on Audible who said "Harper Lee wrote the book just so Spacek could narrate it".
Now I'm anticipating the release of the prequel, Go Set a Watchman. Not sure if I'll read or listen to it (Reese Witherspoon narrates). My expectations are low, no way the book or the narration can measure up to TKAM.
I've not read LOTR, although I love the mythology and greatly enjoyed the movie trilogy. I own the audio version of Fellowship of the Ring, narrated by Rob Inglis. It's on my short list of next reads/listens. Fingers crossed that it lives up to the rave listener reviews. If so, I'll of course read the other two.
Last edited by biscuitmom; 06-27-2015 at 09:38 AM..
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