What is it about LOTR that keeps you coming back?

[Beren3000]

Hello everyone,
It's certainly been a long time for me since I last "mooted" :D
I doubt if people around here will even remember me.
I don't know why but I really felt like coming back to the Moot to talk with fellow LOTR fans.
I thought it adequate to stage my "come back" through a topic on coming back to LOTR.

I have read and re-read LOTR more times than I care to count. Yet there's always something that makes me come back and re-read it yet again. For me, it's the magic and wonder of his world that keeps me coming back. The childlike wonder of the Shire and its people, the beauty of the Elves, the sad and heroic stories of Men... Whenever I feel like I'm stuck in a rut and my day to day life is just a slide show of the same pictures stuck on repeat, my thoughts immediately turn to LOTR and I pick it up again and feel refreshed :)

So my question to you is this: what is it about LOTR that keeps you coming back? What do you think sets it apart from other works of fantasy/sci-fi?

[Earniel]

I remember you. :) *waves*

To me it's the descriptions and the level of detail. No matter how many times you re-read, every time there will be something that you've forgot and get to enjoy again. It's one of the only books I regularly re-read every couple of years as I know that LoTR will never bore or disappoint me.

[Beren3000]

*waves back excitedly* :)
No matter how many times you re-read, every time there will be something that you've forgot and get to enjoy again. It's one of the only books I regularly re-read every couple of years as I know that LoTR will never bore or disappoint me.
My thoughts exactly. It's probably the only book I've ever stopped to re-read; I usually don't do that because I always have new books I keep adding to my to-read list.

P.S. Glad to see a familiar face welcoming me back, Earniel :)

[brownjenkins]

Probably the positive attitude is what brings me back the most. All of Tolkien's characters are optimists, a rare breed amongst us mortals.

[Beren3000]

brownjenkins!
Nice to see you again.
Yes, you do make a good point about the optimistic tone of the story in general. I think that this is one of the good things about PJ's movies: he emphasizes this optimistic tone...

[Rían]

And hello again! So nice to see you! :cheers:

I just started a re-read after many years. I guess what keeps me coming back is all the truth in the book, and all the beauty.

[EllethValatari]

Welcome back! :)

As for your question, I think that there is definitely something that sets Tolkien's world apart from other fantasies. After reading a few of his biographies, I think I have come to realize what exactly it is. So much of Tolkien's life-not merely his studies-but his life from childhood to adulthood is rooted and woven into Middle Earth. But of course there is also the fantastical aspect of the books, that which he had to create. The life Tolkien breathed into Middle Earth first lures us as readers; but then we are called to return there by that faerie which relies on the imagination.

And yet it remains just out of our grasp.

[Rían]

Just finished FOTR - and spilled a bowl of Cheerios all over it! :rolleyes: Oh well, that only gives it more character (this is my 3-volume paperback version that is held together with packing tape :D )

Starting on TT ...

[Beren3000]

And hello again! So nice to see you! :cheers:

I just started a re-read after many years. I guess what keeps me coming back is all the truth in the book, and all the beauty.

Thanks, Rian! :)
And thanks for the (now legal) beer :D
You're right, Tolkien's works are pretty timeless, aren't they?

Welcome back! :)

As for your question, I think that there is definitely something that sets Tolkien's world apart from other fantasies. After reading a few of his biographies, I think I have come to realize what exactly it is. So much of Tolkien's life-not merely his work-but his life from childhood to adulthood is rooted and woven into Middle Earth. But of course there is also the fantastical aspect of the books, that which he had to create. The life Tolkien breathed into Middle Earth first lures us as readers; but then we are called to return there by that faerie which relies on the imagination.

And yet it remains just out of our grasp.
Hello EV nice to meet you and thanks for the welcome :)
Yes, you're right, I guess the fact that he was deeply invested into his work is what gives Tolkien's universe a dimension of realism and a huge sense of "back-story" that other fantasy writers fail (IMO) to achieve.

Just finished FOTR - and spilled a bowl of Cheerios all over it! :rolleyes: Oh well, that only gives it more character (this is my 3-volume paperback version that is held together with packing tape :D )

Starting on TT ...
:D
I know what you're talking about. My LOTR copy has had it pretty rough, too. I think at one point I spilled a runny egg yolk on it!

[Valandil]

I started re-reading LOTR, in advance of The Hobbit movies, way back in March. I'm reading other things as well though, and don't have the convenient times to read that I used to. So I've struggled. I was in the Prolog for a long time, and then slowly through 'Long-Expected Party'. Yesterday I made some progress. Finished 'Party' and got several pages into 'Shadow of the Past'. :)

[Mark of Cenla]

I love books. It is the best story ever written. Peace and goodwill.

[Lotesse]

I remember you, Beren3000! I can't be sure if we ever exchanged posts, but I definitely remember you. I recently returned here after a lengthy sabbatical, myself. Welcome back, baby!

"What is it about LOtR that keeps you coming back?" Answer: Everything. The truth and the beauty, as Rian noted, and the incredible writing, and the flawless escapism which only becomes a richer and more nuanced experience as time goes by at each re-reading.

[ringbearer]

I have stated this before...its so good! It is as if the author actually believed it happened!

[Mari]

I like how the story feels like new every time you read it.