There’s only so much Tolkien I can read before they start to feel like reference books
I mean, that’s the point. J.R.R. Tolkien was fascinated with linguistics and wanted to create his own languages, and all his novels are written to justify the world in which his invented languages exist. He wrote them as if they’re actual historical records.
The only reason The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings are so readable is because they were written like journal entries, tracking the adventures of an individual and his friends on a dangerous quest. Most of his other works are literally just fantasy reference books, defining and expanding the world of Middle Earth.
Tolkien was fascinated with linguistics
That might be an understatement. He was a philologist and a professor for Anglo-Saxon (during which he wrote an important article on Beowulf, apparently still highly influential today) and a professor for the English language and literature after that.
Reading Lord of the Flies
“When the fuck is Gandalf gonna show up and fuck these brats up?”
Pippin over in the corner reading the Father Christmas letters.
He would have liked the parts where Feanor is in battle.
