izmeina | The Preciousssss

Izzie has been a good little serpent. Got back from work at 9pm yesterday and resisted the urge to slink down to the nasty net cafe and lurk in Cyberia for an hour or so. Instead decides - is a new year and Iz has got to be good.

You see Izzie has a list. Iz does this sort of thing now and again and then comes the usual slacking off and procrastination. But having a list and ticking stuff off -seems somehow more effective and satisfying than just remembering all the stuff in your head. I guess it's a bit like a pensieve - you can get the inner creatures to be working on things while you go off and do something else.

But there are a whole pile of things to be done and top of the list is sorting out all the Potter bits and pieces and assorted Goblin garbage before the Min officially opens again for business in March. Lots and lots of messy folders, letters, postcards, scrap bits of paper and other assorted junk just lying around getting more and more chaotic - and just hiding it under the Izzie green hat and hoping it would do the sorting just did not work. And that is not to even mention the tons of books that need to be tidied up and put in their proper places or in boxes because there just is not enough bookshelves in the Izzie 'library'.

The amazing thing about procrastination - finally got round to sorting this stuff and only took about 90 mins - all that fuss about nothing really. So Iz rewarded herself and her helpers by sitting out under the stars and drinking the last of the bottle of 1998 Wynns Cabernet Sauvignon that we only drink for special occasions - like Friday.

And one other NICE thing on the Iz 'to do' list is to get around to listening once again to that delicioussss collection of black and gold ring shaped objects with squiggly writing all around the edges. This time last year one of the radio stations played the whole BBC audio version of LOTR and Iz liked it so much that she went and forked out far more silver sickles than she could afford to acquire the Preciousss for herself..

Was listening to it last night actually - the first disk gets as far as Frodo getting ready to leave the Shire. Frodo in the BBC version reappears as Bilbo in the movies (Ian Holm) Iz prefers the BBC Frodo and especially the BBC Gollum who is just so so much sneakier and tricksier and infinitely nastier and less pathetic than Mr Andy Serkis. I guess both radio and text versions have the advantage of letting you make your own scenery. Of course the movie is gorgeous but Iz always prefers to start with her own impressions and then compare them with others rather than having them ready made.

So this is just the excuse Iz needs to dig up another interesting snippet found while surfing in Cyberia. If Iz remembers rightly, Mr Tolkien's eleventy twoeth birthday is not too far away - think he would have been 112 yesterday. So it was kind of quaint to find a book review about the Preciousssss written nearly fifty years ago! Looks ever so fascinating with 20/20 hindsight.

What amuses Iz so, just about everyone I know who has read it says the same thing. They all invariably hate that silly birthday party with those boring hobbitses. In fact - Iz still has never got past the first two chapters. It was just so so tedioussss. Never mind the hobbitses - we wants the ring. Many of Izzie's ringwraith friends also say that once you get past that bit, then it becomes unputdownable.

I really should give it another try since the story is so damned good. But until now I had been thinking - now I got the BBC version and have seen the first two movies - will not have to bother trying to plough through tomes of tedious text full of uninteresting creatures - ie everyone except Sam, Gandalf, Saruman, The Ents, Wormtongue and of course Izzie's absolute favorite of all -gorgeousssss Gollum.

Did actually read "The Hobbit" two years ago and found it a bit of a drag. It was only the scenes with Gollum that I utterly adored and only the prospect of lots and lots more of him in LOTR that makes Iz even consider giving it a go. Gollum just happens to be my favorite fictional character ever. He's just so utterly irresistable and that lispy sneaksy little voice is ....well ....just adorable.

But really - Iz should be generous and give the guy a chance. Since I don't actually own a copy - makes it a bit difficult. Iz does intend to eventually acquire that set of three hardbacks with the gorgeous illustrations by Alan Lee.

I do have however, a most fascinating book called "Tolkien's Ring" by David Day - also with illustrations from Alan Lee in which he gives all sorts of fascinating background information including the actual stories of the major ring legends that Tolkien used as inspiration. Iz particularly liked the elvish Creature Andvari who lived in a hole with all his gold and The Ring.

Once cannot help but be impressed by the scale of Tolkien's ambitions in creating a whole new culture with languages, history and legends etc. It would almost be like one person not only writing the Bible or the Iliad or Odyssey but having to invent the whole mythology and historical background to go with the main story. Well - maybe reading "LOTR" should get added to the Izzie list for 2004! Would there even be room for anything else?