Ag dul ar ais go dtí Tolkien

Ar ndóigh, léigh mé go minic agus go leor. Chuir mé leirmheasannaí ar leabhair anseo beagnach gach lá eile. Mar sin féin, ní bíonn mé scríobh oiread faoi leabhair go raibh mé ath-léamh aríst ann.

Éist mé go téip le J.R.R. Tolkien ag labhairt roinnt le a scéaltaí ar tseachtaine seo caite. Bhí cuimhne liom an spraoi nuair fuair mé faoi Gollum agus Bilbo san uaimh. Insíonn Tolkien seo le fuinneamh. 

D'fhoglaim faoi "An Hobad, no Anonn agus Ar Ais Arís" nuair a bhí mé deich mbliana d'aois. Thúg máite rang cúig ar iasacht dom. Ansin, cheannaigh mé leaghtha bosca "Tiarnaí le Fánnaí" le Ballantine le haghaidh ar an praghas le $2.85 leis mo liúntas féin.

Ach, ní raibh ag críochnaithe an leabhar mór sin ann. Stop mé os comhair an chaibadil seo caite. Ní raibh mé ag iarraidh é ar deireadh.

Thósaim "An Hobad" é anois leis tuiscint faoi ar thromchúis mall ag fás go fíu. Tuigim seo ina chaibadil féin. Beidh mé eachtraíochta go fheicéail Lár-Domhain mar dhuine fásta, níos mó ná daichead bliain níos déanái.

Going back to Tolkien.

Of course, I read often and a lot. I put book reviews here almost every other day. Nevertheless, I don't write as much about books that I re-read again.

I listened to a tape of J.R.R. Tolkien reciting sections from his stories last week. I remembered the enjoyment when I found out about Gollum and Bilbo in the cave. Tolkien tells this with vigor.

I learned about "The Hobbit, or There and Back Again" when I was ten years old. A classmate in fifth grade lent it to me. Then, I bought the box set "The Lord of the Rings" from Ballantine at the price of $2.85 with my own allowance.

But, I did not finish that big book then. I stopped before the last chapter. I did not want it to end.

I start "The Hobbit" now with an understanding about the slow seriousness growing. I perceive this in the first chapter, even. It will be an adventure to see Middle-Earth as an adult, more than forty years later.

P.S. Biolbo Baigin: Eolas faoi "An Hobad" i aistríuchán Gaeilge /Information about "The Hobbit" translated into Irish. Bhí a fhios ag Tolkien Gaeilge air-- ach ní raibh grá liom é. Tolkien knew Irish--but he had no love for it.