[Silmiel of Imladris]

I am fairly new to Middle-Earth. About three years ago my friend told me about the LOTR series and how they were going to make a movie trilogy based on them. He gave me the Hobbit to read and I took my time to get though it because there was a lot of stuff I didn't understand at the time. (I must sound pathetic because I was a freshman in high school when I read the Hobbit and most of you guys were much younger and you still got more out of it than I did.) Well after I finshed the Hobbit he gave me the Fellowship to read and I hated it. I struggled with all the names and places that were not explained in detail. After a while I gave the book back because I was having such a hard time and I kind of forgot about Middle-Earth completely. Then I saw the Fellowship preview and I was stunned. I knew that the only way I could totally enjoy and understand the movie for myself would be to finish the book. So I borrowed it from a different friend this time and I struggled with it again. I didn't get much out of it and I only finished it about a month before the movie but when I saw the Fellowship I was like "Oh...now I get it." So anyway after that I read TTT and it was much easier because I knew more and ROTK was a breeze because I got the elvish dictionary that I can't live without. Now I am reading the Sil which I am taking my time on so I won't get lost and after that I am reading the Lost Tales of Numenor and Middle Earth. So I am glad my friends kicked my butt to read these books or I would have never of know about all the fun I would have been missing.