Literary Joys

Here's a post totally unrelated to physical activity!

When I used to commute to work by LRT about 1-2 years ago (for about a 1 year period) I went through a period of unusually high reading activity. For someone who had only read a few fiction books in his life until then (Fantastic Mr. Fox, Trainspotting, Notes From A Small Island, Bravo Two Zero are those that spring to mind), I went absolutely crazy!...reading twice a day during my 35min LRT journey.

I read Memoirs Of A Geisha, Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha, 1984, Sense & Sensibility, The Life Of Pi, The Famished Road, Ghandi's autoboigraphy, The Hobbit and a few more I can't remember.

Now that I drive to work my reading has all but died, but I did buy The Art Of War by Sun Tzu recently. I read it bit by bit now and again as it is not really a story, more a collection of wise thoughts on how to win a war.

The event that led me to write this post happened a few days ago on the way to work. Having surprisingly and thoroughly enjoyed The Hobbit (which I hope Jackson makes into a movie), I decided to start reading The Lord Of The Rings, even though I've already seen the movies. I am now about 180 pages into The Fellowship Of The Ring and must say that the corresponding first 1/2 hour of the movie misses out more than half of what I've read so far. No Gildur, no Farmer Maggot, no Tom Bombadil and no Fatty.

Anyway......I was so engrossed in Frodo and his small hobbit chums that I missed my stop and ended up in Petaling Jaya before I realised. I had to get on the next train going the other way. Apart from falling into a slightly drunken sleep on the Northern Line in London many times, I have never missed a stop and certainly not through reading a book! I guess there is something engrossing about JRR Tolkein. I read The Hobbit in no time - could hardly put it down.