J. R. R. Tolkien

My introduction to Tolkien only came about because I was a Led Zeppelin fan and I wanted to see what all the fuss was about for several of the Zeppelin lyrics. So I went out and bought the Hobbit. 3 days later I was done and bleary eyed from spending so much time reading. Then I ended up seeing the cartoon movie of the Lord Of The Rings. I didn't see how that 2 hour movie could be all there was in 3 books. So I started reading. It took me 2 weeks and I finished all three books. Up until that time I was a science fiction only reader. That was my first trip into the realm of Fantasy. And it was the same year that D and D made it to mainstream.

People read the Lord Of The Rings more than 20 years ago.

This page was written well before the Lord of the Rings made it's way to mainstream movie land. Yes it was visually excellent. But in terms of experience it was nothing like reading the books in 1980...