A Book I Love

Gah! I saw this topic was right under the one I wrote about yesterday and honestly wanted to skip yesterday's topic so I could cover this one instead but then I figured, I will write about all of them anyway so why not work on a little patience on the way?
A book I love... it took all of a split second for it to come to my mind and the book or rather trilogy that I love would have to be the Lord of the Rings (there are others, mind you, but at this moment let's just stick to this one).
My love for this book goes all the way back to, that's right, the 5th grade. And, let's be honest, it started with the movie. I recall going to see the Fellowship of the Ring at the tender age of 11. I had turned 11 a few weeks prior and my best friend at the time was having her 11th birthday party and wanted to see the first installment of the trilogy.
My parents hesitated seeing as it was PG-13 and I was still a good couple years away from that life mark but with the help of my friend's mother, they were convinced to let me go and so I did. The first 10 minutes of the movie, I clung to my friend's had so tightly (and she to mine) that our palms were sweaty and I was beginning to rethink my demands to be treated as a mature individual by my parents.
Aside from the fact that I was completely terrified of the orcs, I fell in love with the story and couldn't wait for the next one to come out. However, much to my chagrin, I had dreams, nay, nightmares... for the next 2 months filled with filthy orcses (in the words of Gollum). And by parental decree, I was not allowed to rewatch the Fellowship of the Ring or go to see the following installments until I was older and had demonstrated that I was no longer a scaredy cat.
What was I to do? Everyone else was going to know what happened next before I did! I was to be left behind, hearing what happened through spoilers without getting to experience the pleasure of the brilliant cinematography and life breathed in imagination by Peter Jackson (who, I believe, is a kindred spirit of mine).
Well, dear friends, there I was, sitting in Mr. Aiken's math class when I glanced at the bookshelf to my left from which I had borrowed many a book before, and fate illuminated my despair. Sitting in front of my eyes was the Lord of the Rings Trilogy. My fingers trembled as I reached out for the Fellowship (as my hand always does when I find a book I have been wishing to read) and with it, I walked over to the clipboard he had for us to "check out" books on, wrote down the title with my name and immediately walked back to my seat, cracked the book open and had my heart stolen forever by the words and imagination and world that was Tolkien's Middle Earth.
Tolkien's writing lit a fire in my heart (and as I would soon discover, my fingers for I started writing pretty soon thereafter) and I devoured the Fellowship of the Ring, barely breathing between it and the Two Towers and not even sparing a glance at any other book before reading the Return of the King.
My imagination was captured not solely by the lives of the characters therein, but the landscapes that were painted on the canvas of my mind, the poetry and songs sung and recited by the elves and the hobbits and even the ents. I laughed, I cried, lived and died with these characters--my friends.
I have read this trilogy alone 3 or 4 times over. I even wrote a biography on Tolkien my 8th grade year of middle school while everyone else was writing on Ghandi or Rosa Parks. Frankly, I took a great deal of pleasure in the knowledge that I knew exactly how everything went and ended before the Two Towers movie made it out into the theaters.

Now, everyone has their favorite characters. So how about I address this?
My first favorite character is Peregrin (Pippin) Took. The youngest of the four hobbits, he is also the most naive and childlike of them. I honestly believe that he had no idea what he was getting himself into when he volunteered to be part of the fellowship. I believe I identified a lot with him as a kid and watching the movies now, I am thankful for the portrayal that Billy Boyd gave because I don't think anyone would have done better. I love Pippin because of his vulnerability and also because, even at the end, after all he has been through he is the same. A little older, a little wiser (and thanks to the Entish spring a little taller) he still has the faith of a child, believing in the words of Gandalf and striving to save and be there for the ones he loves, always giving, not sparing.
As I've grown older, I have fallen more in love with the characters of Eowyn and Faramir and I don't think I could like one without mentioning and adoring the other. I'll start with Eowyn... firstly, she is my favorite favorite favorite female in the whole of the Lord of the Rings. (I'm glad that Peter Jackson gave Arwen more of a role but I will address that in a bit.) She wants to show people that she isn't some fragile doll to be kept on a pillow away from the pain, anguish, hardships of her people. She fears a gilded cage! She wants to be of use, go to battle, support her lord, and in the end prove herself. She was completely friend-zoned by Aragorn (and rightly so because he already had the love of his life) but she didn't stop caring for him and his well-being which is something I completely relate to! However, even though her "first love" or whatever didn't pan out, she kept moving forward. She kept to her goals and aspirations and was splendidly put into the path of Faramir. Perfect.
Faramir--ah, how his character broke my heart. Denethor was so blind to how amazing his younger son was. I was a little put out when Peter Jackson made it seem like he wavered when Frodo revealed the purpose of his and Sam's travels and the fact that he had the One Ring because in the book he sent Frodo through. He was a good person, with pure intentions, who longed and yearned for the love of his father. And I would like to believe that he was the perfect match for Eowyn--from what Tolkien wrote of him, he would not have put her in a cage. He would honor her, most assuredly, but no fragile flower had he stumbled upon. After all, she took out that ringwraith without hesitation (broke her arm in the process but hey so did Pippin when he tried to distract the ringwraith from killing Eowyn as she grieved over Theoden).
And now to throw ya'll for a loop. One of my favorite characters was one who was not in the movies (or if he was he had a far different role than in the book). Glorfindel. He didn't have a huge role but he was the one who saved Frodo from the wraiths--you know that awesome horse-riding scene that introduced Arwen in the movie? Yeah, that was his scene and he was the first elf I fell in love with in the book. (I may have even written a small fanfiction my 6th grade year wherein he was the long-lost father of my character... oh yes.)

What more can I say? I could probably go on for a while more but then again, what would I tell you if you ever questioned me about it in person?
But I will leave you with a quote because how else would one end a blog entry about their favorite book than with one of their favorite quotes?

"All you have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to you."

Love,
Me