Retail therapy and other fun stuff

[kellinator]

Wow. Even with the worm and the annoying patrons, I'm in an amazingly good mood. Well, except for the splitting headache I developed ten minutes ago. Ow. How long does it take an Aleve to kick in? Ow.

Last night I decided to indulge in a little retail therapy at Tar-jay. They didn't have the Jeff Buckley CD I wanted (I've decided, after years of hearing everyone's raves, to try Jeff Buckley), but I found something even better: Johnny Cash's latest, The Man Comes Around. Then I stood there for like an hour debating whether to buy the one-volume version of Lord of the Rings or maybe pick up a copy of The Hobbit for that matter. I managed to bypass both, telling myself the library has lots of copies. Then I went home and didn't even get around to listening to Johnny Cash (it's cool; I've already heard it and it both rules AND rocks) because I got so sucked into the battered paperback of The Fellowship of the Ring I picked up at a used bookstore with alison_says. Stayed up way too late, but it was worth it. I think I've found a new obsession to rival Homicide (though I'm pretty certain I could never be more obsessed with anything than I am with Homicide). I foresee wasting lots of money on action figures in the future.

Now, of course, I'm overwhelmed. Why do the elves leave Middle-Earth? Why is the Lost Realm of Arnor lost? Can someone explain the essential things to read and perhaps let me know if there's a "best" edition of the books? And does anyone know where I can find some decent maps?

Comments

[tikimama.livejournal.com]

Once you've finished LOTR, you can give The Silmarilion a go. It's sort of like the Bible of Middle Earth, all the creation stories. It can be, uh, kinda dry though.

There is an excellent Atlas of Middle Earth that should help with the map thingy.

As far as I know, all the editions are pretty much the same. I like the one volume paperback edition with appendices, I don't know if there is a US one, we have a bunch of UK ones.

melintur is really the expert on this, of course.

[weaktwos.livejournal.com]

I haven't read all the Tolkien books outside of the trilogy, yet, myself. But the Hobbit would be a precursor to the first volume of the LOTR. The Simarillion is another book I've acquired to round out my reading. Of course there are volumes and volumes of analysis of Tolkien's notes..hopefully someone truly knowledgeable will step up to answer your questions.

[weaktwos.livejournal.com]

Oh, but on the atlas issue:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0618126996/qid=1060718755/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_1/102-4492159-6107366?v=glance&s=books&n=507846

This is a good resource.

[ilexx.livejournal.com]

oh wow. i can't believe you of all people haven't gotten into this until now! have fun!

(i love tolkein, yet i just don't have the staying power to read all of it.)

[malinaldarose.livejournal.com]

The Hobbit will give the background on how the Ring came to be in the hands of the Bagginses (we hates them forever!).

The Silmarillion can be difficult to read, though I have found it much easier going since I'm all grown up now than I did when I was a young teenager (I was 12 the first time I tackled it). Christopher Tolkien has also published something like 8 volumes of incomplete stories and notes that his father left behind. The first two volumes are Unfinished Tales, Volumes 1 & 2.

I think The Return of the King is usually published with appendices that give some additional background. My copies are from the late 70's with Tolkien's own paintings on the covers.

[gallowglass.livejournal.com]

Christopher Tolkien has also published something like 8 volumes of incomplete stories and notes that his father left behind.

The full set of The History of Middle Earth runs to 12 volumes now. I've collected them all and one day I'll manage to finish wading through them...

Personally, I've always preferred the Silmarillion to The Lord of the Rings, though it isn't as easy a read. People tend to think this makes me odd. ;-)

[malinaldarose.livejournal.com]

Good grief! 12 volumes? I gave up after the 8th volume came out and I had only read the first two -- I gave them away to a friend.

Though I must say that they do provide an interesting insight into Tolkien's writing process, and writing in general.

[alison-says.livejournal.com]

Hey! You forgot to get the video of the Fellowship I wanted to give you. If you still want it you ought to come over sometime hang out and pick it up :)

[kellinator.livejournal.com]

Actually, last weekend I threw down for the extended version -- but let's hang out anyway! When's good for you?

[alison-says.livejournal.com]

What do you think about driving around and looking at areas of Atlanta tomorrow? I want to look for houses for me and places to potentially rent for my friend. I am not actually touring the houses or anything, just checking out the exteriors and getting the feel of the areas of town. Would you be interested?

[kellinator.livejournal.com]

Cool! I've got a brunch thing I have to do tomorrow, but this sounds like fun. You've got my number, right?