What was your first Tolkien Book?
 

Hi guys,
I was wondering...what was the first Tolkien book u read? and what made u like it so much that it made u continue reading Tolkien?
With me it was the Hobbit. I had never read fantasy before and i guess it was a good way to start [img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img] With me it was the idea of escaping to another world that had me hooked. I am a writer myself and i just find the idea of creating a world, history and language so ingenious it had me hooked! Well if u would like to share your first experience of Tolkien reading post it here! [img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img]

LotR... it was my first real older fantasy book (i was 10), and everything was wonderful. The description, the way it drew me in, the characters, everything!

When I read the Hobbit at 11 years I found it a bit childish... but a good book nonetheless.

My first Tolkien book (which I still have in perfect condition) was ‘The Hobbit’ 50th anniversary edition 1987.
I loved the characters, and the Map on the first pg I spent ages trying to decipher the runes. Also I think that Hobbits have the same love of food that I have. I Love reading the Hobbit over some nice tea and cake. [img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img]

I read The Hobbit first when I was 14, right after I had seen the animated version on television. A month or so later I was through the LotR and deep in the Silmarillion.

I read the Hobbit in fourth grade when I was first discovering books (we had this simply amazing teacher that instilled in us an amazing appetite for books) but it was just another great book and I didn't know that there were others from the same world that is Middle Earth.

Then highschool happened and I forgot all about it until the hype about the films turned me once again to this magical land.

i read the LotR(the german version) two and a half years ago.
i had heard of the books before. when i heard that they make a film of them i thought that i should read them too.
and i was so fascinated by them,that i also read the hobbit, the sil and the unfinished tales in a few month. and now i'm reading the english original of LotR and i am going to read the lost tales.

I read the Hobbit after getting it from a faily friend and then I read LOTR.

I read The Hobbit first, saw the animated version, and then read LoTR.

The Silmarillion.

That would be the LOTR. I can't remember when I read it the first time, actually, it's always just been there. Though I haven't had a copy of my own until last year.
I've loved the fantasy genre ever since I was a child and, writing a novel myself, I find great inspiration in Tolkien's works.

Last summer my dad suggested I buy the Hobbit and Lotr box set. I had no idea there was going to be a movie about them. I even was too stupid to notice on the cover of the books was printed "An Epic Motion Picture Trilogy Coming Soon From New Line Cinema". It was probably because at the time I was hooked on HP and was waiting for that movie.

I read the Hobbit first. Then Lotr. I finnished Rotk about a week before the movie. By then I was aware of the movie and was begaining my crossover from HP geek to Lotr geek.

The movie is what finnaly made me snap. I found this site a couple weeks later and I am now making my way through the Sil.

I first read Fotr, but i was a bit afraid of reading it because some book i was reading made it sound like it wasn't very good.

I read the Hobbit when I was nine. I thought it was a cute story, but it didn't really interest me at first because at the time I was too busy feeling out the workings of the world with nonfiction science books and the like. It wasn't until a few years ago that I decided I was ready for LotR and the Silmarillion.

I started with FotR. That was may 2001 I think... [img]smilies/cool.gif[/img] Bad idea!!! As I said somewhere else on the board: if you haven't seen the movie and are desperate for details, start with the Hobbit!!!!!!! [img]smilies/wink.gif[/img]

In my school English class we had to read The Hobbit. My teacher liked it and made us read it! Not that I minded once I got into it!!! It was brilliant and then she told us there was a continuation and that's how I got into it!!! [img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img]

The first Tolkien book I ever read was The Hobbit--I think I was about seven years old. Then I started on LotR. And now, a few years later, I'm reading the Silmarillion, and I think it's great! [img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img]

The Hobbit was mine though I didn't like it so I didn't peruse other Tolkien books. The Hobbit seemed kind of juvenile to me though I always loved Gollum. It was my first fantasy read. But now I'm glad it was the first Tolkien book I read especially because I read it two years before I saw the movie.

[ July 22, 2002: Message edited by: AragornsHeir ]

Well, I would say the hobbit, though it is kindof confusing because my parents read the hobbit and LOTR to me. I am sure that they read the Hobbit to me first and then LOTR. I think that I read the hobbit first, and then LOTR.

Now I have read the hobbit, LOTR,(many many many times) the Sil and am almost done UT.

I first read LOTR, when I was 9. But I didn´t buy it (ok, dad did) until about 2 years ago. I had borrowed them from the library the first times. Why? Because I didn´t think of buying them...(silly me).
Then I read The Hobbit late last year (bought it then), and The Silmarillion not long after that (soon getting it in English! [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]) I also have The book of lost tales 1 & 2, also great books. And Farmer Giles from Ham, got it for free from a library a few months ago. [img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img]
I am currently looking for the other books (to buy), any help is welcome... [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]
It seems like the more of Tolkien´s books, the more I want to read, addiction? No no, not at all. [img]smilies/wink.gif[/img]

My first Tolkien book was The Hobbit. I read it and loved it. It was unlike anything I'd ever read - I'd read fantasy before, just not in that style. I really enjoyed it, but I never got around to LOTR till about two years later.

i read the hobbit when i was 15. I wanted to read LOTR first but my dad said that i needed to read the hobbit first, and i wanted an easy book for writing a novel study essay on, using the topic of the quest. as soon as i was done the essay i read LOTR in 3 weeks and started the simarillion about 2 weeks after that. I tried to read some of Tolkien's Letters, but it was a little abstract for me.

I read the Lord of the Rings after I had seen the previews on tv for the movie. I am an avid fantacy reader, but I had never heard of LOTR even though its a classic. [img]smilies/eek.gif[/img] I got the books for Christmas, saw the movie, read the Hobbit, the Sil, and I'm slowly but surely getting though Unfinished Tales.

I first read the Hobbit - I don't remember how old I was. I think I had it read to me first when I was a kid. Then I read LotR when I was 12 but it was a bit confusing. I reread it before the movie came out and again since. Now it's just time to start on the Silm....

The first one I started to read was The Hobbit, but like I have said before, I found it dull, and quit. Then, i started to read FOTR, and I could not put it down! I love the way the J.R.R. Tolkien writes, it's soo smooth and descriptive. Not many people write that way anymore, or they try to copy his style. So, technically, my first one was FOTR, and I think it is the best one by far. All though, ROTK was really good...

I first read The Hobbit when in fifth grade (1981). My interest was sparked because we (my family and I) had gone to the drive-in to see a movie called Lord of The Rings. The movie was the coolest thing I had ever seen, up to that point in my life. That and my fourth grade teacher had read The Black Cauldron to my class, which probably was the beginning spark for my interest in fantasy.
Found out my father had read the books year's before. He still had The Hobbit and FOTR, so I read the Hobbit then FOTR. And eventually TTT and ROTK by the end of middle-school, along with CS Lewis' Narnia Chronicles (which started to drag by the later books) and Stephen Donaldson's White Gold Weilder series (at least that which had been completed at the time).

[ July 23, 2002: Message edited by: Tarthang ]

burra, that's pretty cool that you read The Sil first...how old were you?

Personally, I got The Hobbit as a present on my 9th birthday, I think it was, and read LotR a few years later, and the Sil a few years after that. HoME hasn't found its place yet.

For me it was Fotr. I forgot my book for school and the teacher said that if we didnt have a book we got an f for the day, so my friend lent me her copy of fotr since she had ttt and was reading it. Thankgoodnes for freinds!!! I kept on reading because it was soooo cool and I love fantasy books...

I was 15 at the time, Kate. Our much esteemed Barrow-Wight said that there were some books that I ought to read, so I read them in chronological order (against his advice, I might add).

I read the Hobbit when I was seven and after seeing a twenty second trailer for FOTR last year, I knew I had to read Lotr. I finished Lotr shortly after seeing the film then i re-read the Hobbit and read the Sil, Unfinished Tales and some of the history of middle earth. I'm currently on The Shaping of ME

My first book was The Hobbit. I had to read for school. It was a turning point in my life cause it opened up new worlds in my imagination.

For me, it was LotR. I still haven't read any other Tolkien books, but I plan to read The Hobbit and The Sil. [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]

The 1st one I read was The Hobbit, and I continued reading Tolkien because I thought his books were very very inspiring. http://www.exoticcarforums.com/attac...=&postid=72583

My first Tolkien book was "The Fellowship of the Ring". I love LOTR so much that it's made me want to read EVERYTHING Tolkien has written about ME!

Oh and I read LOTR for the first time in my life this year and I am 23 years old!!!

[ July 23, 2002: Message edited by: Arathiriel ]

Did anyone listen to records with the accompanying picture books (you know, turn the page when you hear the chime)? Forgetting until reading this string, I had the hobbit (for those of you who who didn't have the pleasure of such book-records, it was a very, very brief version--15 minutes I think).

That would have made me about 3-4 (I couldn't yet read on my own). I got a used golden box set of the hobbit and trilogy for christmas years later (late elementary, early middle school???). First fantasy, read solidly for a few weeks until completion.

One problem, cant find any fantasy that measures up, all authors I've read fall short, and I am soon rereading the trilogy to get my fix. Is this a product of my pathology, or do many have this problem. Any suggestions?

Thank you very much for all your replies. They are all worth a read [img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img]

Sorry i forgot to mention this topic isnt closed so u guys can still post what u like in regards to this topic. Sorry about that [img]smilies/tongue.gif[/img]