Author expo: JRR Tolkien A trip to bag-end…

‘Go back? No good at all! Go sideways? Impossible! Go forward? Only one thing to do!’

Bilbo Baggins, The Hobbit.

And so began my love for Tolkien’s work, at a very young age. By the age of 12 I had read all of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, and by 13 had read Tom Bombadil, Farmer Giles of Ham and The Hobbit several times. Only recently have I watched the films, but you can guess my verdict – very good, but simply NOTHING like the books.

So I thought it was pretty funny this evening when…well…THIS happened:

*my little sister had been busily reeling off several lines from the Incredibles, Mary Poppins Returns, etc., etc.*

Me: maybe we should teach our little sister some thing ELSE other than quoting movies (!).

My sister: I know!! We should teach her to do book quotes. Mmmm…Lord of the Rings, Book 12 is gonna be hard…

Me: There’s three books.

Of course, I thought this was HILARIOUS. But it’s easily done. Already this post is getting longer – want me to stop?!

Well, let’s hope you agree with Bilbo, cause over the next few weeks I’m going to review each of Tolkien’s works, and (*EXTREMELY tough question alert!*) maybe even try to decide which is my favourite so far.

Care to join me? Here goes!!

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Tolkien’s full name was John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, and he lived from the 3rd of January, 1892 – the 2nd of September, 1973. He was definitely a smart child from the start, reading by the age of four and interested in learning languages and drawing trees or landscapes – his aunt Jane’s farm, Bag End, is what inspired Bilbo’s home in The Hobbit. He also enjoyed reading books by the famous author, George MacDonald, who also happens to be one of my favourites. 🙂 Though he had lost both parents by the age of twelve, this ingenious little boy grew up to be (as we all know) one of the world’s greatest and most acclaimed authors, with well over 150 million copies of The Lord of the Rings, alone, having been sold, and he wrote 39 books in total. But even though his works have been seen to be absolutely astonishing, Tolkien was forever honest and very humble…

Some who have read the book, or at any rate have reviewed it, have found it boring, absurd, or contemptible; and I have no cause to complain, since I have similar opinions of their works, or the kind of writing they evidently prefer. But even from the points of view of many who have enjoyed my story there is much that fails to please. It is perhaps not possible in a long tale to please everybody at all points, nor to displease eveerybody at the same points..

Foreword, The Fellowship of the Ring.

His dignity, but also honesty in revealing how his work had been received, even if it was negative, both humbles and inspires me as an individual and an author. How many times are we unwilling to share negative feedback we receive for what we write or do? Not only are his stories an immense aspiration for how I wish to write, how he handled his feedback truly stuns and awes me. And honestly, DID I SAY HOW TOTALLY QUOTABLE IT IS!!! Man, you guys are going to get swamped with ’em!

I’ll just share with you a little more of his life here before I go. When he grew up, Tolkien fell in love with another orphan called Edith Bratt, but was refused permission to marry her by his guardian until he was 21; she apparently inspired his fictional character, Lúthien Tinúviel. The Lord of the Rings itself was originally written as one book, but was divided because it was so large and also so publishers had less to lose if it failed. *hahaha. They so didn’t see what was coming!*

Of course, we’ll get to that later. Next time: The Hobbit! And while we’re waiting for that, what do YOU think of the movies?? And what is your favourite Tolkien novel/character?