Lord of the Rings

Finished reading the books once again. And saw the movies too. This seems to have become a habit. Every 3 months or so, I'd get this terrible urge to see the movies again. After seeing them, I'd get this terrible urge to read the books again. And after many hours of breakneck reading, when I finally finish all 4 books, I'd just have to see the movies again!

Something in this epic story of middle earth and all its fantastic tales seem to haunt me, shake me. I don't know exactly what I feel, can't find any particular word for it. J R R Tolkien was a man of immense talent. He brought a world, which doesn't exists, to life. Not only he saw it himself, he made millions others to see it. Peter Jackson's film just made it more accessible and publicised (the movies captured the spirit and tone of the books very well).

This is one of the very few stories where love plays a minor role. Courage, bravery, friendship and hope are the true heroes of this story. Its true that the story does have quite a number of love stories interwoven into it (Aragorn and Arwen being the most prominent), yet those are only substories, kept at the indices.

The sheer amount of writing J R R Tolkien did on this topic is quite amazing too. His son did many of the great edit works and compilations, but the real work was done by the master himself. The way he built layers of stories, starting from the first age, to the fourth....one just can't help but feel overwhelmed. It is unbelievable that this world did not exist...it was all made up (there are middle earth entusiats who REALLY believe that the world exists/existed. There are many strange theories supporting this, including the famous "Hollow earth" theory). I myself, knowing fully well that this is a work of fiction, sometimes can't help but feel that how wonderful it would be if this world existed. Every time I finish reading the books or finish watching the movies, I end up feeling sad. As if I want this story never to end, never to fade. There lies the magic of Lord of the Rings.