a friend gave me the set of Tolkien paperbacks for my birthday... 1962, IIRC. A life-changing gift. There is no way to determine how many times I have read them. I've also read Silmarillion and Unfinished Tales at least once through and many times dipping. Just starting on the 12 volume series Book of lost Tales. :happy sigh: If you are familiar with any of the sagas and mythologies from northern Europe you kep encounters resonant bits which just add to the richness. Operaguy... were you at the premier of Shore's symphonic assemblage, down at the Hollywood Bowl last summer? Gavin got tickets for us and I took the Amtrak down. Wonderful music, but I hated the way it was put together, with the 4 huge video screens being a major distraction. I'm calling it an "assemblage", because it isn't a symphony yet, merely his favorite bits from the soundtrack and too closely tied to the story. The music can stand on its own, once he finds the courage to admit it and the time to do a proper job of arranging and bridging the elements. Carolly