This blog is for those interested in the work of the greatest fantasy writer to ever set quill to parchment, John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, but especially students of the eminent Tolkien scholar, Professor M. J. Szalecki, who are delving into the works of the master for the first time.
Visit the blog from time to time and let us know how goes your sojourn in Middle Earth.
Hey Mr. Szalecki! I had a crazy busy summer so I only just finished reading the Fellowship this afternoon, but I figured I could still share a few thoughts. I don't know why I never kept reading these books after my first go-round with the Hobbit years ago. They're incredible. Tolkein describes every scene and every change in the landscape with such amazing detail that the reader can't help but feel as though he or she is walking in Middle Earth. I feel the mood based on the Company's location and the surrounding weather patterns. The most wonderful part for me, though, is the characters. Even if they weren't described in all the glorious detail that Tolkein provides, you can still differentiate between them based on their speech. Bilbo, Sam, Aragorn, Frodo, Gandalf, Gimli, Galadriel, all of them have such distinct voices and speech patterns and mannerisms so fitting to who they are and who Tolkein wants them to be that I'm blown away every time there's a conversation. Everyone manages to sound like a member of his species without losing his own distinct self. Elves and Hobbits and Dwarves and Men all speak as who they are. But Legolas is definitely from Mirkwood, and Galadriel is obviously a ring-bearer; Sam is so colloquial and Pippin is so young; Aragorn speaks with all the wisdom of a king but a king of Men, not of Elves as Elrond is. I could probably go on about each character for hours and pages, so I'll cut myself off now. But for not having wanted to start this adventure back in June, I'm certainly glad I sped through As You Like It and joined the Fellowship of the Ring.
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