I still remember exactly what I felt when I read the Hobbit for the first time. I was only seven, but I so vividly remember the brilliantly excited feeling as I listened to the story; this was the most amazing story I'd ever heard in my life, and the people and places had me enthralled. I was so worried for Bilbo, when he was fighting the spiders, and when he was riddling with Gollum (I was sure Gollum would really try to eat him). And my first question when the book was finished: "Are there any more stories about hobbits?"
When I finally got around to reading LotR just a few years ago (I tried when I was eight and it didn't work), I poignantly remember the tenseness I felt reading the battle scenes, and the sadness at the falls of Gandalf and Boromir. I also remember feeling a distict similarity in thought between Pippin and myself. Almost everything he said or thought was what I would be thinking in that situation. It's really brilliant when you can connect like that with a story, you know? It makes it seem even more personal, because you can feel that you're really there in a sense.
With Silm and UT, I felt more like I'd just been hit with a baseball bat. There was just so much information and history to absorb. I think the Creation bit in the Silm is really amazing, and it really touched me, how much thought Tolkien had put into this world. And it really helped me see all the depth in LotR as well, because now I can see all the connections to other stories and how the characters relate.
To be brief: I was Dumbed with Astonishment and Amazement which bordered upon Stupification. [img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img]
Abedithon le,
~*~Aranel~*~
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The Hitchhiking Ghost
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