Reading LotR as a 30-something Adult versus Reading LotR as a Teenager
Now that I've reread the Return of the Shadow History of Middle-Earth book, I'm rereading this, and it's certainly a different but equally enjoyable experience as a 30-something adult than it is as a high-school/college student when I reread them all about a couple of dozen of times. For instance, it's a lot more relatable to not see most of your closest friends for many months because they live far away (and for stays at each other's places to consequently be days when you do see each other) After all, when I was in high school, my idea of not seeing my friends often was "nooooo most of my friends are in different grades/classes AND lunch periods than me! I only ever see a couple of my friends in my classes!" I, of course, was part of the wave of people that read Lord of the Rings when the movies came out. The Peter Jackson ones, of course, Ralph Bakshi and Rankin-Bass predated my birth by around a decade, give or take a year or two.
Speaking of friendships, it's a refreshing change from most books where romantic/sexual relationships aren't placed on a towering pedestal; platonic friendships are valued just as highly, and it shows throughout all three books. They aren't treated as inferior to romantic/sexual relationships We need a lot more of that in literature, movies and real life.
In other news, I've entered my kitten Nala in the America's Favorite Pets contest. Please vote for her! The voting page is here: https://americasfavpet.com/2021/nala-eb15
Here's what she looks like now, at 5.5 months old:
