Sunday, January 10, 2010

Into the West.


Yesterday night I had dinner with all my cousins and went to dance. My cousin Rocio was leaving today for Berlin, and we wanted to have a good time with her.

Me with Rocío!
 
At la Vaguada, as always here!
Tshirt - Pull&Bear customized
Skirt - Bershka (second hand)
Tights - Calzedonia
Shoes - Sonia Rykiel vintage
Ribbon - Offbrand

And today, I pass the evening in a hip hop competition, it was great and I had a lot of fun there! We've got here plenty of good guys on this!


Tonight I was going out, but when I was having my dinner, I realized that they were showing on TV "The Lord of the Rings: The return of the King"... so I stay home for seeing it. Yes, of course I saw it before (at the cinema, two times; on DVD -I've got the collection-); but I love those films and those books... you know, there are lots of good books outside here, I know... but for me, TLOTR contains not only a good story, but also means so much for me... Let me show you why...

J.R.R. Tolkien.

It was the 9th of December of 1991, my tenth birthday; and that day, a package arrived home, from my dad. My parents were divorced when I was very young, and I didn't see my father very often, because he lived so far away from me. Sometimes he sent me presents, normally books... and in that time, he realized that I wasn't like the "normal" girls; so he was always sending me books and tapes with awesome music.That summer I spent it with him at Barcelona, and during it, he had been telling me stories about a faraway place called Middle Earth, about a magician and a tree that could speak. My curiosity was boundless, I wanted to know who or what was Tom Bombadil, I wanted to read the poem about Tinúviel ... and he insisted that I should wait, that was not the time yet, but I insisted and insisted ...

So, here I am, my birthday... I opened the package and I found three books wrapped, and a letter. In that letter, he explained to me that those three books were the path to another world, a world full of adventures, good and bad moments; that I might cry, I might smile... but always, always, I should lead my imagination fly and my heart guides me into the shadows, just for finding the light...



He said, "First, you must know Bilbo Baggins, so you must read The Hobbit first. After that, follow Gandalf into The Lord of the Rings... and finally, find the beginning of al the things that cares at The Silmarillion". So I took The Hobbit, opened it and started to read, smiling as I was reading the dedication wrote inside it... "Walk with Bilbo and don't lose sight of Gandalf. In the next book you'll meet Barbol. Leave your imagination fly free..."
And I read...

And in a week, I read the full story of The Hobbit (for a ten years old girl, reading a book like The Hobbit in a week is too fast!). So I opened the second book, The Lord of the Rings, and read the dedication... "So that the paths of the imagination lead you to the truth"... and I read... and read... and read for six months... and I laughed, cried, smiled...

 
 
 

And after those six months... "Meet the beginning of everything, and make your dreams come true", said The Silmarillion...

So for my next birthday, he gave me a Bestiary from Tolkien's world. And a book for learning Quenya.... And I read all the books again, and again...



My father died when I was twelve years old. And I keep all his books and records, and the books he gave to me... Thus, these books are not just nice stories about things I like. They're almost like his legacy, a gift that opened the door to an unexplored world for me, to be who I am today.
He never saw the films of Lord of the Rings, only the old animation ... but I'm sure that, despite the failures, would have liked them, perhaps because it is set in the beautiful illustrations by Alan Lee, our favourite illustrator... I remember talked with him about this...

So, now you know why I love so much this books! And why I always cry and smile when I see the films, read the books or listen to the music of the films!

Thanks for reading and have a nice Sunday! I'm coming back to Barcelona today... yaw!! Oh, and thank you for all the cute comments, tips and advice for the cold weather at Berlin!!

Illustrations by Alan Lee and John Howe.

21 comments :

  1. Wow, that's such a sweet story :) I've never particularly wanted to watch LOTR but you've tempted me into reading the books.

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  2. ains ando enferma y leer esto me hizo llorar!! que bonita historia :)
    Yo nunca fui una niña que le gustara leer, lo odiaba XD pero ya de "grande" eh comenzado y me gustó mucho el señor y el hobbit, me faltan los otros! y si es estupenda, no aguanto porque salga al cine el hobbit, adoro a Bilbo

    saludos!! muaaah!!

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  3. K, Into the West is such an epic song. I am such a sucker for anything Lord of The Rings or Hobbit.

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  4. jo, Libe, que bonito todo. Gracias por compartir esa pequeña parte de tí

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  5. I'm a HUGE fan of Tolkien, there is just so much going on within his books. I have the movies too...the extended version lol! It's interesting to read about Tolkien himself too.
    xoxo

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  6. Ay, Saha, escucho esa canción todas las semanas... Y ahora me parece todavía más bonita :) Te recomiendo "El retorno de la sombra", uno de los libros en los que el hijo de Tolkien mete mano de los escritos de su padre y te cuenta cómo podría haber sido todo en lugar de como realmente fue. Como curiosidades, te apunto, que Gandalf iba a hablar en francés, que Frodo se iba a llamar Bingo (por un peluche del hijo de Tolkien) y que se estaba preparando una continuación de El Señor de los Anillos (aunque esto último viene en otro libro, con fragmentos de lo que tenía ya escrito).

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  7. que historia tan preciosa :') yo también amo LOTR y aunque me gusten mas los libros las películas me parecen geniales, no me decepcionaron! la de veces que me he visto las 3 películas seguidas... xD como las vivo! muchos besos amor!

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  8. mmm.. libe.. i love your cousin! hahahahahaha

    nos vemos de aqui poco, mover maletas, subrallar planos, mirar cosas, preparar las camaras i a berlinear cual dominguero en benidorm!

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  9. thank you for the button I love it ^^

    I tried reading LOTR buts I have a short attention span :(

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  10. k bonito!! tu papi al menos te ha dejado un buen recuerdo... fue tu cumple o ha sido tu cumple?? ^^

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  11. OGH...Tolkien es, fue y seguirá siendo DIOS para los restos. Nadie salvo él podría haber creado ese grandioso universo de 'El señor de los anillos'.
    'Into the west' es mi canción favorita :)

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  12. Lord of the Rings is sooo epic!! I'm a true fan, lol. Loved your outfit btw!

    xo
    Sophie

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  13. Los libros del Señor de los Anillos también significaron mucho para mí. El Hobbit lo leí por casualidad porque me llamó la atención en una librería, con unos 12 años. A partir de ahí empezó la aventura Tolkien, aunque el Señor de los Anillos me costó un poco más, especialmente El Retorno del Rey.

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  14. Looks like you had a wonderful time with your cousins!! Love your skirt.

    Lulu Letty

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  15. Me has dejado sin palabras... :')

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  16. Que historia tan preciosa T___T!!!
    enserio, esque me he quedado sin palabras T_T

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  17. Thank you for sharing such a heartfelt story! It's wonderful how your father has left a legacy with you through these wonderful, magical books! I remembered the first time I watch the movie, I knew I couldn't wait till the rest of the movies came on, so I went and bought the entire series and finished them off within weeks! I'm definitely a true fan, just like you, my dear:)

    xx

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  18. I loved the hobbit and the LOTR books, I actually read them twise:) Never been able to finish silmarillion though, to many names. But, i'll giv it another try:)

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  19. Very touching story! I'm currently reading The Hobbit to my son and daughter, ages 4 and 6, respectively. They love it. Also, I really like the selection of art you have for this post. Fingolfin battling Morgoth by Howe is one my all time favorites.

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