Evolution of a Reader

[Azaelia of Willowbottom]

Very interesting post, Mithadan. I've actually felt both griefs--the Harry one and the Tolkien one. The former has far more to do with nostalgia for a childhood suddenly past (I'm 19--I read the first Potter at 11) than a true sorrow over the end of the series (which isn't to say I didn't enjoy the books, because I did).

However, the Tolkien grief is just as vivid, if not more so, at least for me. I remember the day I finished LOTR for the first time--seeing the final page through a haze of tears, then drying my eyes and going back to the beginning. I read it five more times, because I couldn't accept that it was over, before reverting to the once-a-year structure that most Tolkien fans follow. I still, to this day, have not read the final chapter of the Silmarillion because when I arrived at that point, just a few pages from the end two years or more ago, it was the last "new" Tolkien of its kind on earth (I'd been reading nearly confusingly out of order--by then I'd finished Lost Tales, a fair chunk of HOME, and the UT, but all were far less complete). I didn't want to let go of the magic. I'm just waiting for a free Saturday to finish Sil and begin CoH...which I think I might just finish ()

It is true that the stories are still there, and true that they can be read again, and that wonderful new things can be discovered upon every re-reading...at least as far as Middle-earth is concerned. I'm not so sure about Harry Potter, since when I return to those books, I usually just pick out favorite moments and re-read those instead...a re-read of Lord of the Rings is much more time-consuming, because I re-read every word. I will always love Lord of the Rings...the one thing that I am still sad about is that it's never quite the same after you read it once.

I'm not sure what all this adds, so I guess I'll just stop now.