What made you love the books so much?
 

I'm really interested in what led so many people around the world to love Tolkien and his works so much. So i'd really like to hear your reasons and what you think is so special and different about his works.

I think my main reason is that Lord of The Rings is one of the only books i've ever read that never ceases to bring a tear to my eye, even at the happiest bits. I think if an author can manage to bring out so much emotion in you and immerse you in the book completely, it has to be one of my all time favourite books. I also get really intrigued by the mythology, i've just started the Silmarillion.

What are your reasons?

my reasons for being a Tolkien-fan are these:
- he has made a complete new world, fascinating and wonderful, in which there are things of unknown power, might or horror.

- how he descibes things in M-E and Valinor and all lands of which he tells stories. He takes so much time and space (in his books) to let you know how things look in ME.

- his writing-style.

Those are three reasons why I like tolkien, and of course the whole story-telling is great.

greetings, lathspell

The reasen I think is that i like that kind of fantasy stories, and his wroting style is very good, you always want to read further and further. [img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img] [img]smilies/wink.gif[/img] [img]smilies/cool.gif[/img]

* The world that Tolkien introduced to us.

* Things we could imagine now that we could not last time. His way of writing is fabolous.

* He has great imagination which makes the whole place seem like a better place.

* Once you've started the first page, you just HAVE to keep reading it.

* And his way of writing is very confusing which makes you have to read it a few times at least...like The Silmarillion in the beginning (whew! Hard reading there!)

* And also he is the original one with all these elves and orcs where now other writers all start writing about fantasy because of Tolkien who had opened up everybody's imagination.

I mean like....Tolkien's fantasy land (Middle- earth) has been around for decades!

Tolkien is the greatest of the greatest writers ever! (Well....sure there are more...)

[img]smilies/tongue.gif[/img]

I was four when my father first read me The Hobbit(my image of orcs was rather like a pumpkin with legs, a fact which never ceases to amuseme) and five when he (my father) got sick of rereading The Hobbit and moved on to LotR. Thus, it's been a part of my life for over three quarters of said life. All other reasons people have already listed aside, I've been theorizing, arguing, discussing and obsessing about these damned books since then; I'd love them from overassociation, if nothing else. *L*

Well, for the past year my so called "friends" at school were being real snobs toward me. At Christmas, my mom got me the Felloship of the Ring. I hadn't even read the hobbit yet, but I heard about it. When I started reading, it was amazing. It took me to a place where anything can happen. Where people have exciting adventures and meet extraordinary creatures. It was a place where you could find friends who would stick by you til the very end. When the times got the hardest. I wanted to be in that world so much. So, I developed a love of the story as I read it over and over. I just kept wanting to go back to that world to get away from reality. I love it!

I love it because it's one of the few books where I can feel joy and sadness in the same scene and even in the same breath. Some of the finest moments in life are like that, but so very few writers seem to capture that sense of the bittersweet.

I love it because the characters seem so real and so believeable that I can not get them out of my mind or heart. Generally, when I shut the pages of a novel, even a piece of "great" literature, I may say, "That was good." or "That was not so good.", but I stop thinking about it in just a little while.

This is not the case here. I care so much about LotR that I even worry what happened to these characters after the book itself ends. I can not tell you how often I have thought and wondered about how Frodo might have changed and grown in the West. Did he ever find rest before going on beyond the circles of the world, or how lonely was he, especially after Bilbo chose to pass on? How hard it must have been to be a hobbit when no others of your kind were there!

And what about Sam. How often did his missing friend creep in to his thoughts in what was otherwise a very fulfilled life? Did he ever wonder why he had been appointed to take one path in life, and his closest friend such a very different and separate one?

How long did Treebeard live without his beloved Entwife? And how did the last Ent feel as he came to the final sleep and knew that there would be no others of his kind behind him?

And I wonder exactly how Galadriel was received as she stepped off that ship. And how Arwen felt as she sat in the forest with no elves and no humans about her and waited, alone, for death. I know I'm not the only one to take these things to heart, since Tolkien himself admitted in his Letters that he worried deeply about Galadriel returning to Elvenhome.

You know, part of me believes that, if I could understand the meaning in this book, I would do a lot better job sorting out the values and choices in my own life. I wish I had Aragorn's certainty about knowing that right does not change. Or I wish I could be like Treebeard, able to experience sadness but still not be unhappy. And, most of all, I need the commitment and gentleness that Frodo embodied, his ability to be obedient to the path he knew was right.

How many times have I wished that Tolkien had lived another 50 years so he could have told us more of what happened in this magical world. But that's the way life is. When you have a good thing, something that has meaning, you can't help but want more and more. Well, I am glad we have as much as we do!

sharon, the 7th age hobbit

[ May 29, 2002: Message edited by: Child of the 7th Age ]

That was all really well put, sharon. Tolkien's books are the only ones I know that always leave me wanting more and leave so much room for imagination. There are so many questions I have about the subject that I could spend a life time trying to find the answers. But I know I'll be a Tolkien fan for life. [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img] [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img] [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]

You pretty much took the words from my mouth, Sharon. I completely agree with you.
I find it amazing that Tolkien could create a world and characters who are so real that you actually have to make yourself believe that they never really existed. I think that I have changed since reading the books as well.
My love of nature has come back with a vengeance and I cringe every time I see land being cleared off for new subdivisions or shopping malls. I think, "No! The Ents!". I find it horrible that there is so much destruction in the world today & I often yearn to live in a world such as Middle Earth (not that it was completely care free, but I think I may like it better than here sometimes).
I just love the richness of everything in Tolkien's writing. He uses a language that I have not read in many books ever. It is pure brilliance.

Sharon took the words out of my mouth too.

The world he created is amazing. It's the only mythical place that I almost believe is real. When I read the book, or immerse myself in the languages, a big part of me believes it is real. The fact that he created these languages is incredible! I love to learn about these languages, and spend much of my spare time working on them, to enrich my life. Tolkien has touched my heart in a way that few authors ever have, and I have read literally hundreds of books.

Well, i have to say that i find the books of LOTR fascinating. The story and the level of detail.
But i really love the Silmarillion.

Definitely the bittersweetness, as people have mentioned here already. The way he can tear your heart to peices and make it soar with joy at the same time. Everytime i read the last few pages of Return of the King, I can't help but want to cry for Frodo's sacrifice and how everything had changed so much; but at the same time, I'm rejoicing because he is going to a place full of bliss and healing, where he can be with the people he loves. There's just this underlying melancholy in Lord of the Rings,the nostaligia,the endless stories untold and the inevitable fading of beautiful things and unspoilt nature that really touches me. I also love Tolkien because of his stories are just so completely new...as in, when i read them, they were like nothing i had ever experienced before. The incredible, inescapable, seduction of evil (the Ring), the steadfast loyalty and friendship (Sam), the sacrifice (Frodo) and the power of love and compassion (Frodo's attitude towards Gollum). Let's not forget the songs and poetry too! A favorite of mine is The Road goes ever on and on...it's just so touching because it's so true-nothing ever really ends, no one knows what's going to happen, and everyone is so small and insignificant in the great scheme of things. THe themes presented in LOTR are so universal and diverse, and can apply in so many different situations.

Another reason I Tolkien so much is because he created such a vast, harmonious, intricate world that may or may not have existed. It makes you think... what if...what if the world we live in was once the Arda that Tolkien described? How do you know that Hobbits, the hidden, unknown West, the blissful Valinor, the mysterious Lothlorien, the dark Moria,and beautiful Rivendell... don't really exist? Sure, if you look at it realistically, Tolkien's world was all his creative imagination, but he does link his world to ours, (ie-the Fourth Age, the age of Men) so you don't ever really know whether or not Middle Earth was real. And it's a delightful prospect to entertain, to think that maybe your ancestors were of the house of Fingolfin, Thingol, Barahir, or Beor and dwelt in the hidden paradise of Gondolin or Doriath. Tolkien believed in his world, and he makes YOU believe in his world. You don't know if it ever really existed, but you hope and dream with all your heart that it had. And sometimes you muse that you'd rather live in Middle Earth than our world today...you'd love to escape into the beautiful harmonious world he's instilled in your imagination. Few writers can have that kind of effect.

It's often hard for me to find the words to express why i love Tolkien. I feel overwhelmed with thoughts and emotions...all I can be sure of is that i LOVE Tolkien's works...they're so profound and they've changed the way I look at many aspects of life. You may close the book when you've finished, but the characters and adventures stay close to you always.

[ May 29, 2002: Message edited by: Jessica Jade ]

So many reasons there are for loving this great book and the world of it. So many feelings does it evoke.
I'd just mention one emotion that in my opinion is strong in it. That feeling is hope. And it makes you read the book further, and it really makes you want to live,as there is hope for everyone who is not corrupted or selfish. There is nostalgia there all right, but also hope and faith that maybe it was, and maybe all will be

[ May 30, 2002: Message edited by: akhtene ]

I love this story because two simple hobbits who are seem so fragile and small struggle up Mount Doom to defeat great evil.

Because the ring of power that tempts even the best and strongest and grows heavy and seeks to consume even the soul can be unmade.

Because Galadriel, Elrond and the other elves choose to diminish and go into the West for the sake of Middle Earth.

Because even the dead rise to conquer evil.

Because Faramir and Eowyn find houses of healing for broken hearts and wounded minds.

Because an ents' true name speaks the essence of who he is.

Because Tom Bombadil's house has become a place to mentally retreat.

Because Galdalf is such an approachable wizard.

Because Legolas and Gimli become friends.

Because Merry and Pippin learn to be servants.

Because Strider was a wandering protector before he ever became Aragorn the warrior and king.

Because every character who seeks good over evil experiences a transformation of heart and mind and spirit because of his experiences and his comrades.

Because I am more courageous and forever changed for having known them.

[ May 31, 2002: Message edited by: greyhavener ]

You all put it so beautiful! *sob* No I'll be serious.

I love the books because of ... everything. I just believe in it. And Tolkien's language(s) is great. I keep wishing I could write in the same way, (and I'm also trying...)

And it's one of the only stories, where I can actually remember the storyline, and stille keep discovering new details...

*Mele

That seems to be the key theme for everyone here. Since I was a little girl my favorite reading, besides fantasy and science fiction, was histories and legends, from the mythologies of the Greeks to Robin Hood.

When I first found LoTR, I thought I would be reading a fantasy, and instead found I was reading a legend! And this legend recorded not only the great deeds and words, but the very heart and souls of the heroes. It was something I had never experienced before in any book.

Now we have other authors who try to show us what was "under the skin" of the heroes of our own mythologies, but Tolkien did it first, and he did it best.

I've always felt that the greatest artistic works defy quantification. People seem either to love or hate Tolkien, which I regard as a token of supreme achievement; after all, there's nothing truly remarkable that inspires indifference or vague satisfaction. Tolkien's writing leaves me with a lump in my throat and an indefinable consciousness of the presence of beauty. At the risk of descending into hyperbole, I could express the sensation with the following lines, which have much the same effect on me:
Would that every work of fiction could be so evocative.

[ May 31, 2002: Message edited by: Squatter of Amon Rudh ]

I loved the sheer detail. Some of my friends said it was difficult reading the first few chapters of The Fellowship of the Ring becuase of all the detail, but I have always relished that. No other fantasy book I have read has conveyed the idea that the author believed in the world he wrote about. That is what gives the LOTR such depth and realism. It's so rich with detail and culture that sometimes I half-wonder if Middle Earth exists in another dimension that Tolkien had the opportunity to travel to. [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]

I just finished reading The Silmarillion a couple days ago. It's so amazing how Tolkien has created a past, present, and future of his world. One of the most poignant themes in the Sil is death and immortality. After having read the enchanting tales, I've realized all the more the burden of being immortal and the freedom that death brings...and that you should not be jealous of people because you're not sure if what they have is a good thing in the first place! (ie-the Númenoreans' jealousy of the Eldar's immortality). Tolkein's stories are just so amazing because I can feel myself learning as I read them. There are many other things I've learned also but there are too many too recall or name!

I read the books because I saw a picture of Legolas (didn't know that then), saw that he was gorgeous and wanted to know if he was good or evil. No Joke! This is true. Then, after reading the FOTR, I became really interested in Tolkien's work and read on.

he has made basically the building block for almost all fantasy novels. he has in depth information on places and things, that may not even appear in stories. i love his in depth description, and i love stories being told in 3rd person omniprescent.

This question has already been well-answered through replies ranging from the rollickingly ridiculous to the astutely sublime ... all such answers being worthwhile and myself most appreciative in the reading of them. I hope by adding an answer to contribute my own piece of mithril or two.

1) What drew me to The Hobbit was the graceful honor inherent in this single phrase from Riddles in the Dark:

2) What drew me to Lord of the Rings was the awesomely wonderful high esteem in which Hobbits hold the celebration of a birthday. [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]

~~ Gandalf the Grey

To tell the truth, I like how big the trilogy is. Six books, sweet. And every paragraph taps directly into your imagination, using extroadinary imagery to show you in detail everything, but never going into so much detail that it is a painted picture in your head. It's like borderline reality. And all the themes are true, and all the ideas aren't really that original. God, what could possibly make someone not like the trilogy. (Except one of those crazy religions).

You know I really don't know. It is a very emotional story and a very big one at that. I do have a very strong love of hobbits but I don't think that's it. It's just an interesting story. I also don't now why I love Tom & Goldberry so much. [img]smilies/confused.gif[/img]

If I were to answer all the reasons Id need my own forum. but heres a good one

Tolkien didn't make all the top notch characters superhumans he chose hobbits, a wizard that couldn't use his power just wisdom, an exiled king, a stubborn dwarf, A perfect elf(that is for all the Legolas fans)
and so on

I think it was Tolkien's writing style that made me love these books. He was very creative with the scenery and characters. He also did an excellent job with the story line. There was always something new. As soon as I'm about to put the book down, I read an extra paragraph with a new conflict and I must continue reading!

Thanks for your opinions everyone! i have to say i agree with all of them, and i know i'll always love lord of the rings and all the other books

the writing of tolkien was just so rich that i couldnt help but love it. I was surprised when i found the sheer imensity of the History of middle-earth that he created.
I also find the characters very interesting. In many instances you can relate to the characters in the book

I have read (a very few) other authors who have had the incredible ability to create their own world and totally pull me into it. JK Rowling did it with Harry Potter, Anne Rice did it with Vampires, and Tolkien did it with Middle Earth.

But the thing that Tolkien did that no other author could do was something that he, himself, coined a term for: the "eucatastrophe." The eucatastrophe is to fairy tales what the tragedy is to drama: it is the Highest Art of that, particular form. In the eucatastrophe you have the "ending moment" of sheer joy, of utter bliss. The Lord of the Rings is full of eucatastrophic "ending moments."

For all the other reasons others have already listed, but mostly for the highest of heights that Tolkien has taken me to in his noble, valient and pure world, that is the reason I love and believe in Middle Earth!

the escape from reality. Well ME can be a reality too. hmmmmmmm
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Hmm...for me I think it was that this world I was reading about I understood, and felt it would understand me. (if that makes sense) It was real, meainging it was not all good or all bad, it was both, like life. Also, I REALLY related to Frodo's character, and now as I read the book as an adult, I feel that even more so. There is something about it that just makes me feel at home, and no matter how many times I read it or see it or think about it, it draws me in, whether from the Magic of the story or the beloved written words I can't say. That and I always seem to think of it in difficult times. If I don't, it finds me. The movie came out and all was good, but then my life fell apart and low and behold, I felt the strong desire to read the book again and so I am and it is helping me in two ways as it has so many times in the past:

1. It gives me a place to escape to where life is as I would want it to be (for the everyday people who live there)

2. It gives me something to relate to, to hold on to to know I'm not alone.

That prolly sounds really corny, but that's the truth of it, so...lol.

Perhaps an escape into a different life NazgulNumber10? lol. Or someone else's reality as you wish it? *shrug*

I think the books are great because Tolkien was able to create not only a land with races, geography, and troubles, but also with a grand mythology. Especially the Silmarillion is wriiten to be more then a nice novel but mythology on itself, and Tolkien really succeeded with that setup.

Only God know cause I don't

I didn't even know who Tolkien was until about a year and a half ago when I read a biograhpy on C.S. Lewis for a book report. (This was in 4th grade) And in the book, the author made it sound like it was just a really long book that is boring, so I wasn't really sure if I should read it.


Three things I like about Tolkien is:

1) He is very discriptive and almost makes you believe there is such thing as Middle Earth

2) The characters are very well developed.

3) His books are so much different then all the other books on Earth.

I love Lord of the Rings, because when your sad or upset, it makes you feel better. and when your happy it makes you even happier. it can take you far away to a lovely little world, where hobbits live, and people go off on adventures. It's so detailed, that you can completley picture yourself there. I also love it because Middle Earth is so complete. theres seperate languages, and cultures, and a whole history, that most people don't even know about because they can't get through the silmarillion.

I also love it because i love the characters. it's the first book that i've ever cried over. and not just once or twice. whenever anything happened to the fellowship i'd start crying. I had such a love for the characters. I felt like i really knew them and was really experiencing everything along with them.