LOTR

[Amy Z]

Rita wrote:

> My friend Lee has been reading LOTR since she was an undergraduate 
(I 
> guess that means she first read it in 1961?) and is a missionary for 
> it. When people tell her that they just couldn't get into it, she 
> tells them to skip the first half of volume I (each volume is 
divided 
> into two "Books", so start with Book II of volume I) and go back to 
> it later. She said Tolkien liked to start VERY slowly.

Amber et al, I read LOTR when I was a kid, but went more and more 
slowly until I ground to a halt halfway through Return of the King.  I 
just couldn't follow it anymore.  I didn't read the whole thing 'til 
10 years later.  The secret then was:  (a) my dh read it to me--it 
took us a couple of years of bedtime and cartime reading to finish the 
books, but it was a great way to encounter them; (b) he insisted on 
skipping the Tom Bombadil scene 'cause he doesn't like it and was sure 
it would turn me off permanently.  So go ahead and skip that.  It's 
cutesy, irritating and unnecessary.  (I've gone back and zipped 
through the entire trilogy myself since, and I did read it then.)

Amy Z