My Preciousss!

A simple man sets out on his quest to save the world – and succeeds. In doing so he makes lifelong friends with the Greatest of the Greats. Not to mention the highest king of his time who bows to him in respect before the strength of his own assembly. And yet, the simple man comes back just the same to his simple home in his own little town, amongst his own people.

The Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien is easily the best work of fiction you’d get to read – provided you have the patience of going through its 1600 or so pages between the three paperbacks. It’s a tale of sheer nerve in desperate situations, about human capacity to persevere beyond hope and despair in order to preserve whatever little he thinks is innocent and beautiful in the world – even if it means that he’d never get to see that beauty again. It’s a tale of undying friendship and love, of loyalty and not the least – of Hope! And what it can make us do…

The most adorable character in the book is that of Samwise Gamgee, the protagonist’s gardener who gets caught in the quest only to pay the price of his harmless inquisitiveness to know what serious matter was being discussed between his master and the old wizard, Gandalf. And yet, he remains with his master, as the last man standing, even as everything else either falls or fails.

Frodo: I can’t do this, Sam!
Sam: I know. It's all wrong. By rights we shouldn't even be here. But we are. It's like in the great stories, Mr. Frodo. The ones that really mattered. Full of darkness and danger, they were. And sometimes you didn't want to know the end. Because how could the end be happy? How could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad had happened? But in the end, it's only a passing thing, this shadow. Even darkness must pass. A new day will come. And when the sun shines it will shine out the clearer. Those were the stories that stayed with you. That meant something, even if you were too small to understand why. But I think, Mr. Frodo, I do understand. I know now. Folk in those stories had lots of chances of turning back, only they didn't. They kept going. Because they were holding on to something.

Frodo: What are we holding onto, Sam?

Sam: That there's some good in this world, Mr. Frodo... and it's worth fighting for.

For the non readers – the trilogy directed by Peter Jackson is highly recommended. But while it’s a masterpiece in its own rights, it does not quite meet the perfection with which emotions are depicted in the books. In all fairness to the movie, it’s just impossible to achieve that. Yet it comes quite close.

A word of caution though – the story and its characters, even the treacherous Gollum, might get on to you. As they have to me. And it might take a while for you to come out of the effect. But eventually you will.

For now, my bike is called Shadowfax ;)