Tolkien 3: Logistics

Okay. Finished my third reading of The Lord of the Rings earlier today. Full post on the experience, different from the previous two, to follow.

But for now, logistics, for what it’s worth and before I forget.

The first time I read Tolkien’s masterpiece, I was thirteen years old. I read it during the summer of 1981. My parents were in the midst of divorce. I began it in my home and finished it in my new home, the basement of my grandmother’s house. I vividly recalled reading it in: a tree, on the roof of the house, in a rowboat, on the hood of our family car, at the stock car races, beneath the dining room table, in the basement by the light of a washing machine, among other lesser dramatic locales. It took me most of the summer, I imagine, since I kept no logs at this point. Perhaps 90 days. Three months.

The second time was a little over a year-and-a-half ago. Almost fully recuperated from my surgeries, in the thick of unemployment, feeling the economic and financial pinch of being out of work. I read it from Christmas Eve 2010 to January 27, 2011. Five weeks, exactly. Started at my in-laws in Hilton Head, South Carolina. Finished on the big brown catcher’s-mitt couch in my living room in northern New Jersey. Read it for 35 days, and didn’t miss nary a one.

The third time began on June 30 and ended today, September 29, 2012. Ninety-two days, though I didn’t read every single day. I actually missed 28 days of reading. So though it took me three whole months, it was actually a little over two months of reading. But this third time was different. Looking for a unique way to experience Tolkien, something different from the youthful enthusiasms of childhood imagination or the feverish readings of an adult seeking escape, I decided to listen to the books on tape, and read along. Geekish to the max, yes. A unique experience, also a yes.

I need a few days to digest this third voyage through Middle-earth. Then, perhaps, a lengthy post and, perhaps and more especially, hopefully, something enlightening and interesting about the whole trip.