Rereading Tolkien

[HerenIstarion]

uppers

[Child of the 7th Age]

I am feeling a little schmaltzy today so please bear with me.... (This, by the way, is a second go round on this thread.)

I've recently been thinking a lot about this. As life trundles forward, I've become more aware of the preciousness of time. There is a finite measure in my basket. I only have so many hours in the day and so many days in my life to do what needs to be done. So if I re-read this book year after year, sometimes more frequently and sometimes less so but with it always being nearby, I want to understand why this is so.

I could list a dozen quick answers why I find Middle-earth so compelling. There's the undoubted charm of hobbits; the pull of characters like Faramir and Frodo; my personal sympathy with Tolkien's rejection of irony that permeates so much of modern literature; or merely a desire to step beyond what I know and explore another world and history, one that is drawn with such depth and care. But I think the real answer goes beyond that.

Stepping back, I'd have to say that I return to Tolkien because his view of existence and my own strangely coincide, only he expresses his ideas with far more grace and art than I ever could. This isn't what first drew me to the book, but it is what keeps pulling me back. I must say it's very odd that this should be so, since on the face of things I have little in common with JRRT in terms of either background or formal beliefs.

Let me try and explain. There is a core of sadness in Middle-earth that surely must reflect what Tolkien saw in the "real" world about him. It is a core that I have felt many times. It's that sense we have little choice but to fight the "long defeat".....that whether we are Frodo Baggins, Gollum, Lúthien or even Child of the 7th Age, we all face things inside and outside ourselves that make it impossible to succeed in a moral sense. At the heart of both Lord of the Rings and the Silmarillion, and even of the Hobbit, there lies a recognition of an essential tragedy. No matter what we do, no matter how many good intentions we have, the bad things don't go away.

Like the people of Middle-earth, we are in the position of trusting and hoping for a rescue with no firm guarantees that it will ever come. Yet whether we define that rescue in terms of providence or the caring of others, Tolkien's message is clear: if we hold back from despair, if we summon up our courage and keep putting one foot in front of the other, there is at least the possibility of help coming, usually at the most unexpected of times. I feel that when I read about the Rohirrim gallopping onto the field of Pelennor with their horns wildly blowing, or when I see Frodo and Sam snatched up by an Eagle as the great mountain explodes, or when Lúthien's request for Beren's life is inexplicably granted. Just as in real life, nothing comes without a price. There is no eucatastrophe in our world that is granted free and clear. Frodo must leave the Shire, and both Beren and Lúthien will eventually die. And that too is how I've come to understand that things must be.

There is so much truth in this portrayal that I have to laugh when someone says going back to reread Tolkien is nothing more than an escape or an obsession. The truth is when I read the book, I often come face to face with myself, and the mingling of the sweet and the bitter seems to encapsulate that truth. I may not be Frodo Baggins, but which of us hasn't sometimes felt we are holding back a personal night with a single sliver of light? Tolkien isn't the only place where I find this truth. I have seen it in a friend's eyes or in other expressions of creativity or in my own formal religious beliefs. But, more than with any other author, I feel this truth in Tolkien's world and it mirrors what I understand about myself.

[Imladris]

I used to read Tolkien several times within the year, though I haven't read it this year (which is quickly going bye-bye) because of time issues.

However, when I was reading Tolkien yearly/semi yearly it was because he gave me something that other fantasies that I had read lacked. It was...depth...myth...he waded into the MacDonald's sea of shadows, saw one, and described whatever it was that reflected it more clearly than any writer that I had known. It was as if I had tasted ambrosia (for it was true myth though I didn't recognize it) and I wanted more.

I don't believe that I feel LotR as deeply as Child because I haven't lived long enough yet.

I suppose I come back to it for the various reasons that others have mentioned. I read it because the writing style is good -- the story in and of itself is a very good teacher for writers. For me, it teaches how to write, and how not to write.

Other re-reads:

The Prydain Chronicles by Lloyd Alexander.

A Horse and his Boy b

Peter Pan by J. M. Berry -- it keeps me young at heart. Corny I know, but it makes me realize that life is short...and that we mustn't become like John (or was it Michael?) who grew too old for stories.

The Harry Potter books

Till We Have Faces by C.S Lewis.

There are more....but those are the main ones. The link that all of them have with Tolkien and LotR is nobility and self-sacrifice. True mythic elements.

[Lalwendë]

I often re-read books that I've enjoyed, and I don't think it's a strange thing to do at all. With poetry nobody would think it odd to read it several times over, so I don't see that it should be different with fiction, after all, reading is a pleasure!

I don't have any set pattern for re-reading LotR, I often just pick it up to look something up and find myself a few hours later having read far more than I intended to, I just get swept up in it. This goes for anything by or about Tolkien too.

How strange though that there are so many other Tolkien readers who also like Austen - I also re-read Austen. What does this mean? I suppose that we like good writing! What else do I re-read? I've read most of Thomas Hardy's novels several times over - especially Jude the Obscure, and I also re-read anything by the Brontes over and over. Other favourties I read many times are Possession, The Secret History, HDM, Gormenghast, Dracula, The House of the Spirits, and in the non-fiction genre, anything by Bill Bryson. Sometimes I just read favourite 'bits' over, sometimes the whole thing. I could make a huge list here actually, because once I've read a book I invariably go back for more. I will even read favourite books from childhood, and never get rid of books because if they were good enough to buy they are good enough to keep!

[Lyta_Underhill]

I will even read favourite books from childhood, and never get rid of books because if they were good enough to buy they are good enough to keep!

Bravo, Lalwendë! And it is good to see someone else with Gormenghast on their list! Now that's a book that requires immersion, and it features probably my favorite villain of all time--Steerpike! And as for getting rid of books one has enjoyed--I've regretted it every time I've done that, and I inevitably search for and find 2-3 copies of the same book to make up for my initial stupidity in getting rid of it the first time! Many of my re-reads are in the realm of supernatural legend or speculative books; however, it is the topic and not necessarily the author in those cases--however, I think I finally reached a conclusion on the matter of the Bermuda Triangle! (That is not to say I won't read another book on it, because I inevitably will!) I also have enjoyed reading the collections of Frank Edwards' strange but 'true' stories and the like. And, having just recently finished "His Dark Materials," I already know I will be re-reading it, and soon! Strangely enough for this thread, I've never read a word of Jane Austen...I've read and re-read many short and long stories by H.P. Lovecraft, Ray Bradbury, Alfred Bester, Kurt Vonnegut, Robert Heinlein, etc. etc.

I think the main reason now that I go back to favorite stories or 'ideas' is that I am searching for a way beyond reality, a window into the other world. Tolkien is a beautiful set of French doors leading into a vast courtyard that stretches into misty mountains and the promise of ultimate light behind...his mythology is so full that the window is not merely a walled garden, but a real "other world" whose light flows into my house.

Like many of you, there are life events that have sharpened my appreciation of Tolkien's work. I read Lord of the Rings first as a winter's time passer in 1991 and enjoyed it, although I thought no more of it afterwards but as a ripping good tale. I was taken with Sam, who, through all that adventure, never lost his essential simple nature and steadfastness--he who could see and live wonders and still comfortably settle down and have a regular family and life.

However, as my memory of the details faded, I began to experience physical and psychological effects from some unfortunate life events I can only describe as like in character to the mindset Tolkien describes in Frodo after Mount Doom--it was OK when he thought he was destined to die in the quest, but, having survived, the wounds continue to beat him down and cause him to withdraw from regular life. I didn't even realize this fully until I finally re-read the books in 2002 and Frodo became the natural viewpoint character. However, the experience and essential nature of the work was deeply ingrained before that, because I had a spontaneous experience of seeing Ents in a forest during a spiritual exercise in 1998. I had all but forgotten the details of the story, but there were the Ents in front of me! Thus began my habit of identifying nice forest spots as "Middle Earth" or "regular world," and my crackpot habit of addressing trees directly. (There are 3 cedar trees along my walking path who probably think me quite strange!)

And now, lest you think me completely out of my mind, I shall end my tale here and hope it is really what I meant to say! Cheerio!

Cheers!
Lyta

[Lalwendë]

I've read and re-read many short and long stories by H.P. Lovecraft, Ray Bradbury, Alfred Bester, Kurt Vonnegut, Robert Heinlein, etc. etc.

Let me shake your hand! It's rare to meet another Kurt Vonnegut fan these days! My favourite at the moment has to be Slapstick - or Lonesome No More, with the Church of the Kidnapped Jesus and Wilbur Daffodil-11 Swain. I also have to read Breakfast of Champions every so often - it's always guaranteed to have you laughing (sometimes sadly) at the absurdity of life!

Gormenghast is just amazing - I can't figure out whether it is fantasy, gothic horror or what! Maybe it just is. That's how I feel about LotR too - it doesn't 'fit' into any category, it just is.

I do tend to re-read certain things according to my mood. If I'm feeling at odds with the world I tend to immerse myself in Philip Larkin, if I'm feeling vaguely cynical I like Kurt Vonnegut, and when I want to exercise the old grey matter I go for some Blake or some other complex stuff (in contrast to watching Rentaghost and things like that... .

[Evisse the Blue]

Originally Posted by Lalwendë

How strange though that there are so many other Tolkien readers who also like Austen - I also re-read Austen. What does this mean? I suppose that we like good writing!

Yes, this is the most obvious explanation.

There are books that I love the first time around but I don't exactly feel like re-reading them, even after a long time. But with LOTR, it's different, from time to time I feel the need to pick it up again, even if it's just to read a passage or two, though most of the times, I read it from start to finish. One of my favourite luxuries is to sit in an armchair at night, with a cup of hot chocolate close by and read LOTR, without having to worry about getting up early the next day. It's more than just the pleasure of reading though, it's like (to paraphrase Lalwendë's beautiful ex-sig), I try with the words to awaken the feeling.

Originally Posted by propagandalf

Because reading LOTR makes me feel safe. (like chocolate).

Weirdly enough, I understand that perfectly. I get that especially with the first part of FOTR.

Other books that I've re-read (though not for the same reasons) - some have been mentioned here before:

Silmarillion, Hobbit, Unfinished Tales (it feels like I'm throwing them all here like apples in a basket )
Wuthering Heights - Emily Brontë
Edgar Allan Poe's Stories - uh, Poe, I guess
The Last Unicorn - Peter Beagle
Possession - A.S. Byatt
Some Shakespeare plays
The Magician - John Fowles
Fahrenheit 451 - Ray Bradbury
Midsummer's Night - Mircea Eliade (that's a book I recommend to everyone on this forum, hopefully you'll find it translated).

I also re-read children's books, (most of thier titles I wouldn't even know how to translate in English), just because I still love them a lot. Among those there's one of my favourite books ever, a collection of Italian folk tales, put together by Luigi Capuana. That book can be read and enjoyed by anyone, no matter their age.

[Marlowe221]

Personally, my re-reading of Tolkien has evolved to the point that I mostly reread passages that I especially like rather than the whole book.

I do this very much in the way that many people read passages of their religious text(s) of choice but rarely read the whole work from cover to cover.

Of course roughly once every 12-18 months I will re-read The Hobbit or LoTR in their entirety. But the frequency of my whole-readings has diminished over the past few years and my passage-reading has become more frequent.

[Formendacil]

Yesterday I brought back What Breaks the Enchantment?, which struck a note with me by showing a significant change or two in my own reading habits with Tolkien over the years, and in today's perusal of the forgotten archives, this discussion of rereading seemed to resonate with a similar theme.

I was about eleven when I first read The Lord of the Rings* and I no longer remember much of that first read-through. Or the one that immediately followed. Or the one that immediately followed THAT. I do know that, between reading other books (I was a voracious reader as a child/pre-teen and shall forever regret that I have lost that Bombur-esque appetite), I returned again and again to The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit--though more especially the former. I went seeking as much that I could find that was similar. At first I thought I liked the fantasy genre, but I have never really found a fantasy author that pleased me, and I also tried to devour everything Tolkien I could find.

At first, The Silmarillion didn't cut it, but after a few attempts--and a year or two of growing up--that changed, and it was the added to the rotation. So too pieces of Unfinished Tales, and I have the dubious distinction of having RE-read each volume of the HoME--some more than once.

All of this was was before I was eighteen.

Then the Internet came (not all bad: note this website), and university, and growing up in general. Not that I ever laid Tolkien aside, mind you. I have reread bits and pieces here and there throughout the years, but the speed has decreased, largely because my overall reading has decreased and because, having read so repeatedly during those formative years, so many of the words of Middle-earth are lodged in the crannies of my skull with a persistence that might be inappropriate outside of a scriptural text.

But why? And why, having so thoroughly squeezed all the novelty out of these texts (the defence that "I learn something new each time" ceased to be 100% true--at least in the sense it's normally intended to have--a long time ago, though I by no means wish to suggest I know everything or have foregone learning) do I return to them? Yes, my current reread of The Two Towers is progressing at what 13-year-old me would have called a snail's pace, but that's as much because I'm savouring the process as because I have far less leisure time.

And it really is unique to Tolkien for me. Like Lalwendë above, I think rereading a thoroughly normal activity and I have reread many a good book--including mystery novels--but the extent to which I have reread Tolkien's work is a cut above the rest of it. I can safely say I will reread Tolkien on a regular basis for the rest of my life.

The main reason I would give is the same one that came up as I responded to the Enchantment Breaking thread: I have, essentially, become steeped in the text. It has thoroughly infected my ways of thinking, my ways of writing. Part of this is because I encountered the work at a pivotal age, but there is more. On this point, the words of Child, earlier in this thread, fit far better than my own:

Originally Posted by Child of the 7th Age

... my personal sympathy with Tolkien's rejection of irony that permeates so much of modern literature

[...]

Stepping back, I'd have to say that I return to Tolkien because his view of existence and my own strangely coincide, only he expresses his ideas with far more grace and art than I ever could. This isn't what first drew me to the book, but it is what keeps pulling me back. I must say it's very odd that this should be so, since on the face of things I have little in common with JRRT in terms of either background or formal beliefs.

...although, unlike Child, I do have a lot in common with Tolkien in terms of my formal beliefs.

In short, and in other words, I return to Middle-earth because it is like returning to my father's house: it is going home. Even if I am long away, I do not feel like a stranger upon returning because it made me who I am and I draw refreshment of self from being there.



*I honestly don't know how old I was. By the time I was looking back to figure it out, it was impossible to tell. But it was somewhere in the 9-11 range...

[Inziladun]

Very well written, Formy.

I first remember reading LOTR when I was maybe 10 or so. My father had read The Hobbit to me before that though, and I even have very vague memories of being taken to see the Bakshi film. In short, I cannot recall a time when Tolkien and Middle earth were wholly unknown to me.
Unlike many here, I have never been a 'fantasy' reader, unless you count Stephen King, most of whose works I've become well enamored of (at least until the early part of the past decade, but that's another matter). Tolkien is the sole fantasy author in my bookcase. I have on occasion leafed through some other authors works, but I just can't seem to get the fire to follow through. All I can conclude is that Tolkien spoiled me. His combination of story, characterization, and perhaps over all, the magnificent verbiage, are unmatched. That's probably why I'm so critical of attempts by others to 'adapt' the books and put a different spin on them. I'm just not interested.

Every couple of years, I seem to get it into my head to read Tolkien again. I finished the latest reread about 4 months ago. Each time I seem to have no trouble immersing myself, feeling the cool night air with Frodo, Sam, and Pippin leaving Hobbiton; following the dim glow of Gandalf's staff in the stifling darkness of Moria and hoping we'll get out again.
Though in latter years my tastes have mostly run to non-fiction, it's ever a blessing to know that Middle earth is still waiting patiently for my return.