Summer Book Club Week 2 - Not In The Shire Anymore

Welcome to Week 2 of the Summer Book Club! In case you haven't been following along, we are doing a virtual reading of The Lord of the Rings trilogy, and we are currently on Book 1 (The Fellowship of the Ring). It's not too late to join in if you haven't yet! Even if you can't follow our schedule exactly, don't worry--you're still invited to our weekly "meetings." 😉

Well, we'll start with a little update on my progress, and then I want to hear about yours! I'm a little over halfway through the novel at this point. I'll be honest, it was a slight trudge getting through some of the in-between passages, as it were. It can be a little hard to follow the "they turned west, then north, then got back on the Road, then got off it" after a while. Some eloquent prose adds a little spice to these sections, but there's only so much you can do to make that exciting to read.

That's not to say, of course, that I don't appreciate what Tolkien was doing. The long descriptions really add a level of depth that many stories lack today. It gives you a sense that the hobbits are traveling in a real world. In actuality, that's one of the most endearing qualities of Tolkien's writing: his lifelong commitment to crafting a rich world with deep history is nearly unmatched.

I also love how he breaks up some of these passages with excellent poems and songs. You really get a sense of how important tales and ballads are to the cultures of Middle-earth, which makes me sad in a lot of ways. It feels like it's a bit of a lost art in the real world! One of my favorite passages was from the story of Beren and Luthien, which I've written about on my blog before:

And in the glade a light was seen
Of stars in shadow shimmering.
Tinuviel was dancing there
To music of a pipe unseen,
And light of stars was in her hair,
​And in her raiment glittering.

Just beautiful.

​I'm just now getting into the Council of Elrond, and just like in the movie, I love the little hint of nostalgia that Tolkien sneaks in with the reunion of some of our beloved dwarf-friends from The Hobbit. This is one of my favorite scenes in the movie, so I'm excited to read this!

All right, I'm ready to hear from you! Where are you at? Do you have a favorite song or tale so far? Let me know in the comments here or on the socials!