Well, for me the end of the book was like a sudden awakening from an exciting and so realistic dream. And I felt real grief, because for me it was the end of a great book, and the end of that world which I came to love. I think I felt sort of a loss, as if something disappeared from MY life forever and will never be again. Much later I read the Silmarilion and re-read The Lord of the Rings and Hobbit, but some bitterness remained, as I just KNOW what is going to happen and I'm not happy about it.
