《The Fellowship of the Ring》- My Belated Big Read (1/3)

In parallel with my studying《Julius Caesar》, I also read another BIg book:《The Fellowship of the Ring》- the first of three volumes of the epic novel 《The Lord of the Rings》 authored by J. R. R. Tolkien - and just completed my read hours ago.

This is the beauty of reading - embarking on two (or more) journeys concurrently, meeting the greatest minds and following them in the world of imagination across time and space.😄

On the other hand, while studying Shakespeare’s works has been the ultimate goal of my self-learning journey in English literature, 《The Fellowship of the Ring》was not on my initial book lists, largely because I was not familiar with English literature back then, and partly because the book was not well known here, though its film adaptation was a huge success in the global markets, Taiwan included (and I haven't even watched the film yet though I did view some trailers).

Incidentally, I read about BBC's 2003 Big Read Survey targeting UK readers, in that 《The Lord of the Rings》topped the ranking, with its prequel, 《The Hobbit》, also ranked high, #25 on the list. Though I'm not fond of its genre - high fantasy adventures - in particular, as an English lover determined to explore the world of English literature, how can I miss Tolkiens' works?

So, this is it - I have all the three volumes of《The Lord of the Rings》on my bookshelf, and this blog marks "the end of the beginning" of my exploration in Tolkien's legendarium, too.

While the book was absolutely a great read, as testified already by countless readers across the world, navigating through it is no easy thing for me as a newcomer to Tolkien's legendarium - just like the 4 hobbits starting their epic journey in the outside world, for the first time, out of their comfortable home in Shire where their race has habituated for ages. Thankfully, with the useful online study guide Sparknotes, things became easier and I was able to complete my read earlier than expected.

Apart from the book, I read Tolkien's biography briefly and was equally fascinated for it is also full of hardships, struggles, challenges, adventures, and, above all, love. In my view such rich experiences in life must have provided him endless inspiration for his literary works, as evidenced with greatest writers of all times.

Tolkien was born in South Africa where his father worked for a bank based in London. At age 3, he followed his mother back to London. Soon after Tolkiens lost his father to illnesses. Tolkien and his mother then moved to Birmingham, where her parents lived, and Tolkien was homeschooled by his mother. Sadly, at just 32 his mother died, too, of Type one diabetes that was still incurable then, leaving Tolkiens as an orphan at age 12.

Tolkien spent his childhood and adolescent years in Birmingham countryside, where he learned, played and met his true love in the natural surroundings, and had been inspired to create much of the landscape of the Middl-earth, the eternal, fantasy world in his works, for years to come.

The union of Tolkien, a Roman Catholic, and his wife Edith Bratt, a Protestant woman 3 years his senior, was itself an extraordinarily moving story: for Tolkiens' sake, Edith announced her conversion to Roman Catholicism on their wedding day. Conversely, when Tolkien served in the West Front during WW1, Edith was very worried because many of Tolkien's friends were killed in the war. To let Edith know the whereabouts of his battalion, Tolkien used certain codes in his letters to evade postal censorship, and Edith did track and met with Tolkien outside his camp many times during the war.

Their mutually profound love lasted until the end of their lives. In fact, Edith was the inspiration of Lúthien, a main character in 《The Silmarillion》, another novel of Tolkien published posthumously. When Edith died in 1971, on her gravestone, the name Lúthien was also inscribed. 22 months later Tolkien died, too, and likewise the name Beren - lover of Lúthien in《 The Silmarillion》- was also inscribed on his gravestone.

What a great read - both the book and Tolkien personal story! Look forward to my next journey with Tolkien.😊