LOL
When first reading the name I instantly thought "hey, funny, like Tolkien's middle names! What a coincidence". After a while I thought "OK, certainly no coincidence. Maybe he did that to honor him." I felt stupid about thinking it was a coincidence.
I knew the name, because I always read everything that is written in a book. I don't start with Chapter one. I start with what is written when you lift the cover. The date it was first published, the original title, ...
Somewhere in there stood the author's full name.
And wow. I just realized that I first read The Lord of the Rings 27 or 28 years ago. There were two versions in the public library. I got both several times. You had to be fast to get one for re-reads. The one I liked best was the red book. Looked cool. Red cover, pages red on the outside and very thin pages. You had to be really careful while reading. Big extra maps to take out and unfold. On the front cover a small simple golden ring and the title and author in small black letters. And you noticed how careful people were with the red book. There was no dirt or folded or missing pages like in some other books, even the maps stayed complete for years.
I managed to get it several times.
And what is memorable to me: this was the first book I have read in English of my own free will (not like boring books forced on us by teachers
) when I was 15 and had already read in several times for years in German translation.
Sorry about the long text, but I get nostalgic when I think about the red book.
