Let's get this out of the way off the bat. I have read all three of the LOTR books and loved them. Adventure, mysticism, the attention to detail! What is there not to like? But..J.R.R. Tolkien's behemoth of a series naturally ingrains a slight strand of intimidation that maybe people forget, leaving people in two large camps, with a narrow few in an itty bitty space between. On one hand are the people that know Elvish, and on the other there is my mom who owns a really nice faux-leather bound set BUT hasn't taken them out of the wrapper. In between are those of us who read, and enjoyed the books but skipped appendices at the end of Return Of The King
People who read LOTR usually fall ALL..THE..WAY in. Examples abound. Stephen Colbert is maybe the most high profile example. In college, a majority of my professors cancelled classes both the day of and the day after the premier of the movies so they could geek out. My political science prof (whom I sat next to at the midnight showing of The Two Towers) reread the books leading up to each of the movies, and rewatched the movies as they were released on DVD. Fandom was STRONG at Emory & Henry College. In my early 30's, I dated a girl who as a kid would fall asleep every night watching the animated movies on VHS in order. Her dad reread all 5 (he included The Hobbit and The Silmarillion) at least once a year. I was reading (for the first time) The Two Towers. For the sake of time, I am not even going to broach the ComiCon folks. They are a whole different level of middle earth. .
But where does that leave the casual reader? There are so few of us out there that can't recall the words written across the doorway leading to the caves of whatever. How many folks do not know the inscription on the blade of the sword Gandalf carries, or even the name? If we broach the subject of LOTR with someone, they are likely to fall into two camps. Deep in the depths of Mordor OR never read it. So few people fall in between, and it kinda sucks. I would love to talk about the books and movies, even geek out to the best of my abilities. But if I do, I end up out of my depths with an uber-ringer. On the flipside, if I talk about all the cool stuff I've discovered about LOTR to someone who has never fallen down the hobbit hole, then I seem like an expert, which I am not. Or the just haven't read them and are unaware. WHAT'S A FELLA TO DO??
How I feel about Lord Of The Rings must be how lots of people must feel about Star Wars. I've never seen a single, solitary minute of a single, solitary Star Wars move and frankly I'm ok with that. People scoff at me, and it must be with the same smugness I scoff at people who have not read LOTR. At the end of the day you consume what you like. Read the books. Watch the movies. Geek out. Don't geek out. Still it is hard being just a casual consumer of Lord Of The Rings, or Star Wars, or anything else people go nuts over.
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