How long does it take you to read The Lord Of The Rings

[Vorondil]

I take around a month to read it.

 

[Deimos]

First time I limited myself to a chapter a night (I didn't want to finish it too soon 😁), so....
FOTR has 22 chapters (in 2 "books")
TT has 21 chapters (in 2 "books" )
ROTK has 19 chapters (in 2 "books" )

For a total of 62 Chapters it was a little more than 2 months
And IIRC I read it the months of October (31 days) and November (30 days).
All the succeeding two dozen or so times (where I don't limit myself) maybe 2-3 weeks.

 

[Vorondil]

I know someone who read The Fellowship Of The Ring in one day!

 

[Deimos]

I know someone who read The Fellowship Of The Ring in one day!

I can read any one of the three volumes in one day (if I don't do much else that day 😄).
And not a few times I've read a volume in 2 days, i.e., a "book" a day.
But typically I will take 5-7 days to read each volume; hence, the 2-3 weeks for all three parts.

 

[Ent]

First time I read it I read Hobbit and the 3 volumes of LoTR in 4 days and nights.
Lost a LOT of sleep... but I was quite a young Ent in the military at the time, in the barracks during Electronic Power training as an Electronics Technician, and going on 1-2 hours sleep a night for that time was not impossible, as it is now. (Sister had been tryingn to get me to read it for years, but being a typical brother, I made her mad by refusing.)

I've never even tried to read it so quickly since, and have only twice more just read it for 'pleasure' across several days. And now of course, it's more a 'study and research' than a 'reading' so it takes quite a bit of time as other things get read and absorbed to figure things out.

Don't know if I could even manage to read it 'just for pleasure' any more. Too many questions arise as I go through it.

 

[Jimbo Baggins]

The title of thread is poetry.

 

[Deimos]

First time I read it I read Hobbit and the 3 volumes of LoTR in 4 days and nights.
.... And now of course, it's more a 'study and research' than a 'reading' so it takes quite a bit of time as other things get read and absorbed to figure things out.
Don't know if I could even manage to read it 'just for pleasure' any more. Too many questions arise as I go through it.

Pax, Ent, but.... I kind of feel sorry for you.
You have, willy-nilly, lost a pleasure in pursuit of....what?
No doubt your search/study for knowledge and understanding Tolkien's work (and perhaps the man's mind) but at what price?

When I was at university (many moons ago), I was pursuing an astronomy degree.
I had been observing from age 10.
I lived and breathed astronomy, so naturally when it came time for college, it was no-brainer: going to be an astronomer.

But somewhere (post-Bachelor's) it occurred to me: Do I want my hobby to become my job?
Will I move from "I want to do this" to "I have to do this" ?

I willingly (even now) would get up at 2 AM, often in the dead of winter, to observe something-or-other.
But sometimes I miss something simply because I didn't/don't want to get up.
Would I be able to do that as professional astronomer? Probably not.
Now, granted thing have changed and a lot of observing is programmed/automated. But that wasn't the case 40 years ago.

So I stopped pursuing the degree then and there.
And I have yet to regret it, and still get immense pleasure, even joy, from the observing, done for its own sake.

PS... I too was in the military (Navy, 6 years, and was an Electronics Tech, 2nd class [E5])

 

[Ent]

Pax, Ent, but.... I kind of feel sorry for you.
You have, willy-nilly, lost a pleasure in pursuit of....what?

Ah, feel not sorry for Ent.
Re-call his history to mind.

It was 5 decades between Ent's first and 2nd readings, and Ent's 3rd...and that 3rd, though fairly quick, was really his 'beginning of studies,' within these last 2 years. Even now, his beginning foray into the 'deeper things' of Tolkien has but begun.

Nothing is lost, nor will Ent "go mad due to his much study". (To rearrange a quote from a very old source.)

Ent is still but a sapling in Tolkien's world.

But it's true it has been some time since Ent read a book... any book... 'just for pleasure'.

There's just too much he yet wants to learn, before he sees the roses from their roots rather than their petals.

p.s. - I enjoy your story and its pertinent comments much.

 

[Deimos]

"There's just too much he yet wants to learn, before he sees the roses from their roots rather than their petals."

"For every cat, his rat."

...

p.s. - I enjoy your story and its pertinent comments much.

HAHA... Ent [mistakenly?] lapsed into first person... should have been "Ent enjoys your story..."😄

 

[Ent]

HAHA... Ent [mistakenly?] lapsed into first person... should have been "Ent enjoys your story..."😄

Indeed, it would have been more consistent.

But... "who among us is without flaw?" - Master Po, Kung FuI.

 

[Vorondil]

First time I read it I read Hobbit and the 3 volumes of LoTR in 4 days and nights.
Lost a LOT of sleep... but I was quite a young Ent in the military at the time, in the barracks during Electronic Power training as an Electronics Technician, and going on 1-2 hours sleep a night for that time was not impossible, as it is now.

Watch out Ent, you're getting HASTY!

 

[Deimos]

Watch out Ent, you're getting HASTY!

No, no, no.... Ent WAS hasty. He said that happened a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far, away... (oh, wait, sorry, wrong universe...😬)

 

[Ent]

Watch out Ent, you're getting HASTY!

Indeed, Ent did become hasty. And it was entirely unexpected.
When Ent went to that training, his sister insured a copy of Hobbit and LoTR were in his duffle bag.
After so many youthful years of refusing to read it because she wanted him to, he had no intention of doing it then either.
But...well...there was absolutely NOTHING to do in the barracks one afternoon, after the day's Electronics classes were done.
So... he picked up Hobbit. And that was the end of that..!
A 2nd reading soon followed... and between the two a desire to get deeper into Tolkien was set in place.
The five decades of delay were not by choice though in the end they were a happy event.
At last getting started, most all the rest of the Tolkien works were readily available so the 'study' could be much more immediately thorough.

And there you have it. The Saga Of the Ent and Tolkien, or "When Ent Was Hasty", whichever you prefer.

 

[Ent]

First time I read it I read Hobbit and the 3 volumes of LoTR in 4 days and nights

Ent is pretty sure he LIED in the above initial sentence. (Unintentionally..!)
Reviewing memory, it seems certain a break was needed between the chapters of one of the volumes - probably Two Towers - so it took 2 nights, so a little extra sleep could be had for the brain's work on the Electronics training.
So it would have been 5 nights to read them all.

Very sorry about that..!!!!

 

[Amon Rudh]

Pax, Ent, but.... I kind of feel sorry for you.
You have, willy-nilly, lost a pleasure in pursuit of....what?
No doubt your search/study for knowledge and understanding Tolkien's work (and perhaps the man's mind) but at what price?

When I was at university (many moons ago), I was pursuing an astronomy degree.
I had been observing from age 10.
I lived and breathed astronomy, so naturally when it came time for college, it was no-brainer: going to be an astronomer.

But somewhere (post-Bachelor's) it occurred to me: Do I want my hobby to become my job?
Will I move from "I want to do this" to "I have to do this" ?

I willingly (even now) would get up at 2 AM, often in the dead of winter, to observe something-or-other.
But sometimes I miss something simply because I didn't/don't want to get up.
Would I be able to do that as professional astronomer? Probably not.
Now, granted thing have changed and a lot of observing is programmed/automated. But that wasn't the case 40 years ago.

So I stopped pursuing the degree then and there.
And I have yet to regret it, and still get immense pleasure, even joy, from the observing, done for its own sake.

I'm an amateur astronomer too and for every hobby I have wondered, should I 'go pro' but for your exact reasons I never have pursued that avenue. I think I like to take on new hobbies too after say 10 years and this supports my stance also. Sorry for going off topic.
I read for pleasure only and I too tend to read maybe a chapter a day or so as even though I am now retired I still have busy days so maybe 2-3 months on average although it's a much easier read than say HOME. Also I often read 2 or 3 books in tandem which adds to the time so I have opted for 3-4 months.

 

[Starbrow]

I once did a marathon reading and completed the LOTR in 3 days. That was during my college days when I had spring breaks and I could spend all day lying on the couch. I didn't enjoy it as much cramming it into a few days. Now I would rather stretch it out and savor the book over a few weeks.

 

[Valandil]

Currently doing a slow re-read, taking my time. Started The Hobbit sometime in summer - maybe July. Just finished Book 3 of LOTR yesterday - so I'm all set to start "The Taming of Smeagol" - I love this pace.

 

[Olorgando]

I'm sure I've posted something similar on TTF at least once, probably twice ...

It may have been my first reading of the original in 1985 (after the German translation in 1983), though anytime up to fall 1987 is also possible - but I think it was my first reading of the original.
It was a weekend, and I'd probably done some reading Friday afternoon / evening. Anyway, I woke up before 6 AM - on a Saturday!!!!! - and immediately continued reading. Until 1 AM on Sunday. I may have read the entire book from that Friday afternoon to Sunday evening, but I'm not entirely certain of this. What I an certain of is that 19-hour marathon. No way I could duplicate that again ... 😫

 

[Tyelkormo the Fair]

If I'm not doing anything else other than eating and bathroom room time I can probably finish in 2-3 days in my own language, original's probably would take a week