The Lord of the Rings trilogy came — but she was a wee little baby. Naturally, she wasn’t infected with the craze.
Unlike her elder siblings, the sister wasn’t into books. I had introduced graphic novels a bit late; still, I bought them, so she could catch up with reading comprehension, especially, appreciation.
And she grew. Her interests apparently accomodating more. And I’m just one proud elder sibling, witnessing how possibilities unfold for her as she learns to step out of her comfort zone.
First, she wanted to watch the second sequel of the prequel, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. Conveniently, I told her: “You won’t get much unless you watched the first one.”
She watched these two Hobbit films, and eventually, scouted online for the LOTR films. She, like most, fell in love with Legolas, Thandruil, and the Elves.
A different generation
The speed by which her interest escalate, I realised, shows how empowered kids are, nowadays. She wanted to watch the films; they were a click away. She wanted a collection of images — all Legolas, The Hobbit, and LOTR movie stills and gifs. — she had them in both Pinterest and Tumblr accounts.
And now, she wanted books. This time, however, she wasn’t settling for the digitised formats. I was more than happy to oblige. It meant she’s going to read and we will share this love for books and for reading.
I didn’t know it entailed more and more.
You need to have some answers
She will come back at me with questions. What were those faceless creatures in hoods? Is Bree located in the Shire, or is it a completely different place? I answer as best as I could remember, I mean what could go wrong? I have watched the films and read the books. Familiar territory, eh?
But not really. Some questions were so specific, I was starting to question my memory-retention. Finally, I had to admit my ultimate defeat: I told her to scramble and get diligent and go ask Google.
I don’t have the answers. And as a good excuse, it’ll be a lot better (for her) to find out on her own.
It’ll make you shed funds
She wanted books, so I bought them. But I do have to be cautious. She doesn’t have a good track record at finishing books. Her attentions span is, of course, that of a teenager.
Luckily, with some urging and a threat not to buy her another book, she’d relent. She eventually finishes the damned hard copy.
So far, she had me buying these: The Languages of Tolkien’s Middle-earth and The Fellowship of the Ring.
The former had been a total surprise. She wanted to learn Elvish tongue. Wow. The thought never entered my brain (but it certainly sprang on her). I was half-amused, half-pocket-conscious. To stop her from her teeny, sing-song pleas, I brought her to the local thrift-bookshop.
She have no experience buying books, the sight of piled books, I guess, overwhelmed her. I was at the graphic section, but at the corner of my eye, I could see her dilemma. Where are the Elvish books?
Feeling a bit sorry for her, I told her to check the dictionary and languages section. And boom! The next thing I saw was this beaming smile of hers. My gosh, she was seriously into it!
This was certainly an unexpected turn of events. I wasn’t really expecting her to find the book, or any Elvish book for that matter.
It makes the two of us happy ☺
She’s currently juggling high school, math tutorials, movie streaming, and reading. I’m happy she’s into it — and we could add some interesting topics in our conversations.
We could talk about the Ents and not just about those boys. We could debate about Tauriel’s addition in The Hobbit film, aside from petty issues over household chores.
nobody knows jan 