During the Sixties, two or three times a week someone would jump on my chest, hurled me to the ground, flog me about the head and shoulders with a boxed set of Lord of the Rings, and squeal "You gotta read this!! You've absolutely gotta read this!!!" I can't think of a more efficient way of putting me off reading something. Fortunately, about twenty years ago a man whose taste, judgment, and literary acumen I respect very highly told me that about once every five years he reads first The Hobbit, then the entire trilogy. "The Hobbit," he said, "seems as if it started out to be a children's story, then somehow turned into an epic adventure. It may not really be essential to Lord of the Rings, but it introduces you to Middle Earth and some of the characters and sets up what is to follow." I told him that I was a reader of hard science-fiction (among other things), and I tended to get a bit impatient with fantasy. He said, "I think you'll find that this is quite different." On his recommendation, I read all four books. I am eternally grateful to this man. Since then I've followed his example, and every few years I reread all four books. The only problem: now I am really impatient with fantasy that's been written recently. Tolkien's work is like a sumptuous meal—a full banquet. Other stuff I've attempted to read recently is like a bit of bland puff pastry. Tolkien goes beyond fantasy.

When I heard about this movie project, I was filled with dire apprehension. But after having seen stills from the movie, some snippets shown on TV, and a half-hour TV program on the making of the movies, I'm convinced that the "look" is right, they know what they're doing, and if they do make changes (I mourn the loss of Tom Bombadil), they do so with regret and only because of the requirements of the change of media. The reviews I've read so far sound promising. Very promising. I look forward eagerly to seeing these movies.

. . . dreary, dull, over-long, over crafted and less-than-characterised book . . . I'm really sorry your dog died, Clinton. I found the characterizations (if this is what you are referring to) very fine-drawn and vivid, and as far as being "dreary, dull, over-long," and "over crafted," Tolkien's writing is absolutely brilliant. I love his use of words, his images, his descriptions, and the flow of his sentences. He writes for those who truly savour language. God knows, I wish I could write one-tenth as well as he did.

Don Firth