Author |
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Reiki
Member
08-12-2000
| Tuesday, February 24, 2004 - 12:14 am
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (pron.: Tol-keen; equal stress on both syllables) was born on January 3, 1892 in Bloemfontein, South Africa. His family called him Ronald. His parents, Arthur and Mabel, were from Birmingham, England and his father was a banker who was opening a branch office in South Africa. In 1896 he went on a visit to England with his mother and younger brother, Hilary. His father was to join the family in England later, but he died of rheumatic fever while still in South Africa, leaving his family in dire financial straights and limited income. In Birmingham, Tolkien attended King Edward IV School where he showed a gift for linguistics. It was during these early school days that he invented his first language for use as a secret code between school mates. His mother and her sister converted to Catholicism, a move that would divide them from their relations and would have a long lasting affect on his life. The family was befriended by Father Francis Morgan, who would see the family through some troubled times. In 1904, when Tolkien was 12, his mother died as a result of complications of diabetes, and Father Francis became the guardian of the young boys. They were first sent to live with an unsympathetic paternal aunt and later sent to live in an orphanage. It was in the orphanage that a 16 year old JRR would meet and fall in love with 19 year old, Edith Bratt. Father Francis frowned on the relationship, fearing that it would interfere with Ronald’s studies. He was forbidden to see or write to Edith until he turned 21. He failed to enter college on his first try, but knuckled down and won a scholarship to Oxford on his second try. He majored in philology, the study of words and languages. . He achieved a degree in June 1915. He also began work on early versions of his elvish languages. Once he reached his majority in 1913 he returned for Edith, but she was engaged to another man. Eventually she converted to Catholicism and moved to Warwick to be near Ronald. Nothing short of war could have separated them and in 1915 it did just that when Ronald enlisted as second lieutenant in World War I. While training for several months in England, he began work on some of the first stories based on his elvish language. Finally in 1916 he got the word that his unit would be shipping off to France. But not before he and Edith married on March 22, 1916. Tolkien saw active duty on the western front and after months in the trenches he succumbed to “trench fever” and was sent back to England to recover. Many of his former school mates were killed in action. His experiences in war, the death of his childhood friends, and his confinement during his illness prompted the writing of many of the early versions of The Lost Tales that would someday become part of The Silmarillion and would stand as the basis of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. Ronald and Edith would welcome their first child, John Francis Reuel Tolkien on November 16, 1917. After the war ended in 1918, Ronald obtained a position as Assistant Lexicographer on the Oxford English Dictionary. His Lost Tales got their first public airing during this time, when he read a few of the stories at an Essay Club. In 1920 he was appointed Reader in English Language at the University of Leeds. Here he worked on “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight” and continued work on his elvish stories. He also established a social club, “The Viking Club” mainly devoted to reading Old Norse sagas and drinking beer. Two more sons were also born, Michael Hilary Reuel Tolkien in October 1920, and Christopher Reuel Tolkien in 1924. In 1925 Tolkien applied for and was appointed to the Rawlinson and Bosworth Professorship of Anglo-Saxon at Oxford. A daughter Priscilla joined the family in 1929, as Ronald settle into academic life and worked on his stories. Ronald had gotten into the habit of writing his children an annual illustrated letter from Father Christmas. He also told them numerous bedtime stories and had frequent family reading hours after their evening meal. Socially, he became a founding member of “The Inklings”, a group of friends and colleagues who met regularly for conversation, drink and frequent readings from their works in progress. One of the members was C.S. Lewis, who became one of Ronald’s closest friends. One day in the early 1930, Professor Tolkien had the mundane and tedious task of marking examination papers. Much to his delight one of the student’s had left a page of the answer book blank. One this blank page Tolkien wrote 10 words that would forever change his life and would inspire generations of readers. “In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit.” Tolkien later explained that he then had to find out what a hobbit was, what sort of hole it lived in, and why it lived there. This investigation became a story he told to his children and their friends. It was so well received it began to be passed around. In 1936 a copy would come into the possession Susan Dagnall, who worked for the Unwin and Allen publishing company. She took a copy to Stanley Unwin, the director of the company. He gave it to his 10 year old son Rayner, who wrote an positive review and in 1937 The Hobbit was published. It was an immediate success! Thanks to the Tolkien Society for the information in this biography.
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Yankee_in_ca
Member
08-01-2000
| Tuesday, February 24, 2004 - 12:29 am
Thanks, Reiki, for the reminder in my folder. Are we starting on Monday, or should we have read a certain part by Monday? Here are my answers to your questions: 1. Have you ever read The Hobbit before? yes 1a. Multiple times? yes 1b. If yes, how long has it been since you last read it? 2 years or so Same questions for The Lord of the Rings: 2. Have you read the trilogy before? yes 2a. Multiple times? "nearly" twice (see below answer) 2b. How long since you last read them? I read both Fellowship and Two Towers fairly recently, but have not read ROTK since university days. 3. Have you read any of the other Middle Earth books edited by Christopher Tolkien? no ... though I did read the Philosophy of the LOTR book recently -- interesting 4. Have you seen any of the three Peter Jackson movie adaptations of the Lord of the Rings? all of them, numerous times each 5. How many chapters a week do you think you will be able to read? however many you'd like to read! I'll go with the flow on this one. I'm a reading fool! 6. Are you interested in participating in a chatroom discussion on the books (in addition to, not replacing this board discussion)? I would LOVE to if I can make it work time-zone wise. 7. If you would like to participate in a chatroom discussion, which night of the week/time would work best with your schedule? (Please indicate time zone in answer - Also Thursday nights are unavailable due to a conflict with Survivor chat) Sunday evenings are best for me, as I'm at the gym between around 5-8PM PT (8-11PM ET) weekdays.
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Calamity
Member
10-18-2001
| Tuesday, February 24, 2004 - 10:08 am
1. Have you ever read The Hobbit before? Yes 1a. Multiple times? Yes 1b. If yes, how long has it been since you last read it? Last night Same questions for The Lord of the Rings: 2. Have you read the trilogy before? Yes 2a. Multiple times? Only RotK 2b. How long since you last read them? FotR & TTT a little over 2 years ago, RotK a few months ago 3. Have you read any of the other Middle Earth books edited by Christopher Tolkien? No 4. Have you seen any of the three Peter Jackson movie adaptations of the Lord of the Rings? Yes, all of them 5. How many chapters a week do you think you will be able to read? I'll just guess and say 2-4 but whatever the group decides is fine with me - Some parts of LotR are difficult for me to get through but maybe reading with a group will make it easier 6. Are you interested in participating in a chatroom discussion on the books (in addition to, not replacing this board discussion)? Yes, but I've never done a TVCH chat before - depends if my computer can handle it 7. If you would like to participate in a chatroom discussion, which night of the week/time would work best with your schedule? (Please indicate time zone in answer - Also Thursday nights are unavailable due to a conflict with Survivor chat) Monday & Tuesday are best for me, 7-11PM ET but I can be flexible Thank you for organizing this and posting all that info, Reiki!
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Djgirl
Member
07-17-2002
| Tuesday, February 24, 2004 - 11:36 am
1. Have you ever read The Hobbit before? No Same questions for The Lord of the Rings: 2. Have you read the trilogy before? yes 2a. Multiple times? Just once 2b. How long since you last read them? Almost two years 3. Have you read any of the other Middle Earth books edited by Christopher Tolkien? No 4. Have you seen any of the three Peter Jackson movie adaptations of the Lord of the Rings? All three - I FINALLY saw RotK two weeks ago 5. How many chapters a week do you think you will be able to read? The whole book 6. Are you interested in participating in a chatroom discussion on the books (in addition to, not replacing this board discussion)? Since I don't have a computer at home, I won't be able to participate in chat. 7. If you would like to participate in a chatroom discussion, which night of the week/time would work best with your schedule? (Please indicate time zone in answer - Also Thursday nights are unavailable due to a conflict with Survivor chat) See Question 6 Thanks for your hard work Reiki!!!!}
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Ocean_islands
Member
09-07-2000
| Tuesday, February 24, 2004 - 7:51 pm
1. Have you ever read The Hobbit before? Yes 1a. Multiple times? Yes 1b. If yes, how long has it been since you last read it? 5 years ? Same questions for The Lord of the Rings: 2. Have you read the trilogy before? Yes 2a. Multiple times? Yes 2b. How long since you last read them? 2 years 3. Have you read any of the other Middle Earth books edited by Christopher Tolkien? No 4. Have you seen any of the three Peter Jackson movie adaptations of the Lord of the Rings? Yes 5. How many chapters a week do you think you will be able to read? I don't know, a lot. 6. Are you interested in participating in a chatroom discussion on the books (in addition to, not replacing this board discussion)? Might be fun, but hard to make time for and schedule. 7. If you would like to participate in a chatroom discussion, which night of the week/time would work best with your schedule? (Please indicate time zone in answer - Also Thursday nights are unavailable due to a conflict with Survivor chat) I'll just have to catch as catch can.
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Seamonkey
Member
09-07-2000
| Wednesday, February 25, 2004 - 2:41 am
1. Have you ever read The Hobbit before? Yes 1a. Multiple times? No 1b. If yes, how long has it been since you last read it? decades, several Same questions for The Lord of the Rings: 2. Have you read the trilogy before? Yes, I think I have 2a. Multiple times? No 2b. How long since you last read them? similar timeframe 3. Have you read any of the other Middle Earth books edited by Christopher Tolkien? No 4. Have you seen any of the three Peter Jackson movie adaptations of the Lord of the Rings? No 5. How many chapters a week do you think you will be able to read? whatever works for the group 6. Are you interested in participating in a chatroom discussion on the books (in addition to, not replacing this board discussion)? Yes 7. If you would like to participate in a chatroom discussion, which night of the week/time would work best with your schedule? (Please indicate time zone in answer - Also Thursday nights are unavailable due to a conflict with Survivor chat) Flexible, but 5-8pm pacific would work best for me Thanks in advance. I will be posting some other information here in the next few days just to get us in the mood for Middle Earth. I may have the books, or maybe they stayed with my ex.. so I'll try to order a set in time to join in.
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Twiggyish
Member
08-14-2000
| Wednesday, February 25, 2004 - 7:11 pm
Have you ever read The Hobbit before? 1a. Multiple times? YES 1b. If yes, how long has it been since you last read it? About 25 years Same questions for The Lord of the Rings: 2. Have you read the trilogy before? No 2a. Multiple times? 2b. How long since you last read them? 3. Have you read any of the other Middle Earth books edited by Christopher Tolkien? Yes 4. Have you seen any of the three Peter Jackson movie adaptations of the Lord of the Rings? Yes 5. How many chapters a week do you think you will be able to read? 3 or 4 6. Are you interested in participating in a chatroom discussion on the books (in addition to, not replacing this board discussion)? I don't usually chat. 7. If you would like to participate in a chatroom discussion, which night of the week/time would work best with your schedule? (Please indicate time zone in answer - Also Thursday nights are unavailable due to a conflict with Survivor chat)
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Hermione69
Member
07-24-2002
| Wednesday, February 25, 2004 - 9:50 pm
1. Have you ever read The Hobbit before? Yes 1a. Multiple times? Yes 1b. If yes, how long has it been since you last read it? 2-3 years Same questions for The Lord of the Rings: 2. Have you read the trilogy before? No 3. Have you read any of the other Middle Earth books edited by Christopher Tolkien? No 4. Have you seen any of the three Peter Jackson movie adaptations of the Lord of the Rings? Yes-- the first two, several times. The third one still has not come to my area in open caption 5. How many chapters a week do you think you will be able to read? I'm a speed reader so I can read as many, or as few, as necessary. 6. Are you interested in participating in a chatroom discussion on the books (in addition to, not replacing this board discussion)? Yes, yes, yes! 7. If you would like to participate in a chatroom discussion, which night of the week/time would work best with your schedule? Mondays or Wednesdays is my preference. 8-9 p.m. EST is best for me, but I realize that is probably too early for West Coasters. 10 p.m. EST would be fine, but any later than that would be too late, unless it was a weekend night like Friday or Saturday. I'm pretty flexible as far as what day. THANK YOU REIKI! I appreciated the reminder in my folder, too.
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Reiki
Member
08-12-2000
| Thursday, February 26, 2004 - 12:37 am
Let's go ahead and start reading if that is okay with everyone! I want to thank everyone who has taken the time to answer the questions so far. I think it is good for us all to get an idea of who we are and what we are bringing to the discussions. I know this is kind of crazy and a little disorganized, but I've never done an online book discussion before so it will be a learning process. If you have the books go ahead and start reading and we will see were we are by Monday. I think with The Hobbit we can probably be safe trying to get through at least 4 chapters per week. We can adjust this goal as we go along. I think we are all good readers, but I know how real life gets in the way of reading time. I will set up sub-threads for discussion and questions for each chapter. This Sunday night is Oscar night and also leap year, so if anyone is interested we can start off with an Oscar party to cheer on the Return of the King. I am open to any and all suggestions.
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Djgirl
Member
07-17-2002
| Thursday, February 26, 2004 - 11:57 am
Sounds GREAT, Reiki! We ALL appreciate your hard work! I'll be alone all weekend, so I will have plenty of reading time (it means I'll have to finish the book that I'm reading right now...no big deal!)
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Yankee_in_ca
Member
08-01-2000
| Thursday, February 26, 2004 - 12:24 pm
I agree, sounds great -- the only problem I'd see is maybe we should limit how many chapters we should read before Monday. I know that some of us, given the time, could finish it in a weekend!! How about we hold at four chapters, though if some of us haven't read 4 by Monday, we see where we are? (sorry to make trouble )
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Reiki
Member
08-12-2000
| Thursday, February 26, 2004 - 4:07 pm
No Yankee I think that sounds great and will give us a good idea if 4 chapters a week a doable. Read as far as you can by Monday, but no further than Chapter 4 if you can help yourselves.
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Legalboxer
Member
11-17-2003
| Friday, February 27, 2004 - 2:33 pm
1. Have you ever read The Hobbit before? I listened to a sound recording of it 1a. Multiple times? yes 1b. If yes, how long has it been since you last read it? 18 years ago Same questions for The Lord of the Rings: 2. Have you read the trilogy before? No 2a. Multiple times? 2b. How long since you last read them? 3. Have you read any of the other Middle Earth books edited by Christopher Tolkien? no 4. Have you seen any of the three Peter Jackson movie adaptations of the Lord of the Rings? yes all 3 5. How many chapters a week do you think you will be able to read? up to you all 6. Are you interested in participating in a chatroom discussion on the books (in addition to, not replacing this board discussion)? yes 7. If you would like to participate in a chatroom discussion, which night of the week/time would work best with your schedule? (Please indicate time zone in answer - Also Thursday nights are unavailable due to a conflict with Survivor chat) it really depends since my schedule is not set - i am east coast but can be up late
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Wargod
Member
07-16-2001
| Saturday, February 28, 2004 - 2:39 am
Hey Reiki, do you have the website that had a timeline for the Lord of the Rings? You gave it to me one night in chat, but now I can't find it. And did it cover the Hobbit?
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Reiki
Member
08-12-2000
| Saturday, February 28, 2004 - 10:26 am
War, here is a link to Middle Earth timeline during the Third Age (the time period during which the Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings takes place). This timeline separates out the happenings of the Lord of the Rings into the "The Great Years" I will also put up a more specific time-line for every chapter. Third Age Time Line
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Wargod
Member
07-16-2001
| Saturday, February 28, 2004 - 10:36 am
Thanks Reiki!
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Reiki
Member
08-12-2000
| Saturday, February 28, 2004 - 11:20 am
Here is another great link I just found. This has excerpts from the Annotated The Hobbit. I bought this book after someone (sorry CRS moment) here recommended it. I love all the extra info and illustrations it provides. I especially like the painting by Josef Madlener of an old man in a cloak with a long white beard sitting under a tree. Tolkien purchased a postcard with this picture on a trip to Switzerland in 1911. At some point he would keep it in a file with a note: "Origin of Gandalf". The Annotated Hobbit
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Secretsmile
Member
08-19-2002
| Saturday, February 28, 2004 - 6:08 pm
OK, Reading Hobbit this weekend. Will be ready for Sunday night's official start.
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Seamonkey
Member
09-07-2000
| Saturday, February 28, 2004 - 7:07 pm
I bought my set of books yesterday, but am still finishin a fascinating book so may be behind for some period of time.
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Djgirl
Member
07-17-2002
| Saturday, February 28, 2004 - 7:27 pm
Seamonkey - the way that you read, that period of time should be 5 minutes. lol I will be starting this either later tonight (I'm in the middle of a Buffy marathon) or tomorrow.
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Reiki
Member
08-12-2000
| Sunday, February 29, 2004 - 10:54 pm
For anyone who can make it there will be a chat discussion on Wednesday night from 7-9 pm board time (10-11 EST). You do not need to be there for the entire time, so stop in if you get the chance.
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Calamity
Member
10-18-2001
| Tuesday, March 02, 2004 - 3:20 pm
Reiki: I love all the information you've been posting in the chapter threads and especially enjoy the pictures! It's like opening a book everytime I click on a thread. I hope to post some thoughts about the first few chapters tomorrow. P.S. I had to laugh at the Sunday Arts section of one of our local papers. It showed a screen shot of Gollum & Frodo peering over a rocky ledge at an Oscar statuette. The headline was "we wants it now!", lol.
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Seamonkey
Member
09-07-2000
| Thursday, March 04, 2004 - 12:56 pm
Sorry I missed the chat last night.. I was still so tired from working on the election ALL DAY Tuesday (got up at 5am, at the poll by 6am and we didn't leave until after 9pm).. and I slept very late yesterday, caught up on Starting Over, went to Physical Therapy and then to Curves so got home after 7. I'll be at the next one if at all possible! Uh, I finished The Hobbit this morning, remembered it far more than I would have thought.. I'll wait to start the trilogy until we officially start.. no problem finding stuff to read in the interim .. ROFL.. The cool thing was, since I recently got a Barnes & Noble Mastercard, they gave me $50 in coupons for the store so I went over there and got the boxed set and some other books.. total was only $80, got the $50 off, plus 10% because I have a BN savers card thingy and used the credit card so I'll also get credit toward more coupons.. the only problem was I had only limited time because I had to go to Curves and Physical therapy that day as well and I could hardly tear myself away from the store. AIEEEE!!!}
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Reiki
Member
08-12-2000
| Thursday, March 04, 2004 - 5:46 pm
Don't worry about it Seamonkey, as it turned out nobody was in chat to discuss the book, which was okay because I was a little under the weather anyhow. I'm going to post a chapter discussion page for The Hobbit every day starting this evening. I don't think a chapter a day is too far out of reach for any of us.
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Reiki
Member
08-12-2000
| Thursday, March 04, 2004 - 5:55 pm
Seamonkey, seeing you talk about your boxed set reminded me that I was able to buy a 1977 boxed set of the books through Amazons used books for $17.00. This is the edition that I first read so it holds a special place for and for me is the definitive edition. It has Tolkiens artwork on the covers too which I love. I cant wait for it to get here. If noone has ever tried the new or used selection at Amazon give it a try. I have bought my books for my RL bookclub this way at VERY discounted prices. The books have all been in good condition and have been delivered within a week of ordering.
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