Life imitates art

[Beren3000]

I thought I'd share with you a guys a truly Tolkien experience I've recently had.
I come from Egypt and, I'm sure most of you have heard, we've had a recent popular uprising in Egypt that ended in the overthrow of the president and his cabinet.
During the initial period of unrest, the police were (intentionally) withdrawn from the streets and the people of every neighborhood took their security upon themselves. As a result, I joined my neighbors nearly everyday in vigilante groups to guard against thugs and looters.

During that time I was on my umpteenth LOTR re-read. I started noticing many uncanny similarities between the situation and LOTR:

1- On the first day I had to join the vigil groups, Faramir was saying: "War must be, while we defend our lives against a destroyer who would devour all"

2- While Mubarak (our president) was digging in his heels and refusing to step down, Gondor was being besieged.

3- After the military council came into power, many pleas sprang up on Facebook asking amnesty for the Egyptian soldiers who left their posts to join in the protests. While that was happening, I was reading this: "The Lord does not permit those who wear the black and silver to leave their post for any cause, save at his own command." "Well, you must choose between orders and the life of Faramir".

The whole ambiance of the story at that point was so like the way I felt during the recent turmoil.
Please understand that I'm not saying there's a mystical, metaphysical connection between the two. It just got me thinking of how accurately Tolkien has portrayed the emotions of such circumstances and how timeless his writing really is.

Ever felt that way? Ever found a situation in your life so like to LOTR that you were immediately reminded of it?

[BeardofPants]

What an amazing experience you have lived through. It's awesome that you found such resonance in LOTR whilst you were going through that.

[Rían]

I saw you online today and totally forgot you lived in Egypt! (you haven't been around for awhile ...) Whew, you've been through some things lately!

I haven't had something happen like you did, but the whole book just has so many truthful things in it that it always resonates with me. I started a re-read a week ago, and I'm still crying at the beautiful parts after all these years and reads (I come up to a beautiful part and think "I will NOT cry! I will NOT cry! This is just a book, and I've read it many times!" but I still cry).

I'm glad you're OK, and hope your family and friends are safe, too. I can see how many parts would resonate with your situation.

[Earniel]

I remember thinking when seeing Egypt on the news, I wonder how Beren3000 is in all of that?

There's a scene in the Fellowship, when Frodo, Sam and Pippin leave Bag's End at night to travel to Crickhollow that has a similar resonance for me, although not quite as life-changing as yours.

It always reminds me of childhood memories when we left to go on holiday. It was also in the late evening when the stars were out and the world looks so different at night. I was very young so I never travelled at night except for that one time of year. It was exciting, especially coupled with being from home a long time, the empty house, travelling far to an unfamiliar part of the world, the bubbly anticipation for the journey...

The ambiance in that scene in LoTR felt so familiar.

[Beren3000]

Originally Posted by BeardofPants

What an amazing experience you have lived through. It's awesome that you found such resonance in LOTR whilst you were going through that.

Thanks for the sentiments BoP It was really awesome. It helped me reconnect with my inner Tolkien geek

Originally Posted by RÃ*an

I saw you online today and totally forgot you lived in Egypt! (you haven't been around for awhile ...) Whew, you've been through some things lately!

I haven't had something happen like you did, but the whole book just has so many truthful things in it that it always resonates with me. I started a re-read a week ago, and I'm still crying at the beautiful parts after all these years and reads (I come up to a beautiful part and think "I will NOT cry! I will NOT cry! This is just a book, and I've read it many times!" but I still cry).

I'm glad you're OK, and hope your family and friends are safe, too. I can see how many parts would resonate with your situation.

Hehehe, yeah I never cease to be amazed by the beautiful parts in LOTR and thanks for your concern, Rian. We are all safe, thank God.

Originally Posted by Eärniel

I remember thinking when seeing Egypt on the news, I wonder how Beren3000 is in all of that?

There's a scene in the Fellowship, when Frodo, Sam and Pippin leave Bag's End at night to travel to Crickhollow that has a similar resonance for me, although not quite as life-changing as yours.

It always reminds me of childhood memories when we left to go on holiday. It was also in the late evening when the stars were out and the world looks so different at night. I was very young so I never travelled at night except for that one time of year. It was exciting, especially coupled with being from home a long time, the empty house, travelling far to an unfamiliar part of the world, the bubbly anticipation for the journey...

The ambiance in that scene in LoTR felt so familiar.

That's great. Tolkien's vivid descriptions at their best, I'd say.

[brownjenkins]

There's no doubt that Tolkien's personal experiences during the First World War greatly influenced his writing. There's a certain reality about conflict that comes through in his work that you don't necessarily see in all fantasy books that write about war. Something very personal.

It's easy to look at the big picture of history and forget about the individuals whose entire lives may have been contained within those very moments. I think Tolkien tried to convey the idea of the individual's role in a grand history in a unique way.

I'm glad to here you pulled through as well!

[The Gaffer]

Wow, I hope things turn out as well for you as they did on LOTR. Apart from the "having to lose everything to save it" bit...