Unrealistic Deadlines - The Lord of the Rings Revisited and dressmaking for Easter

 

(Photo from Amazon)

 Perhaps it's a bit ambitious to try and finish rereading the entire Lord of the Rings by Easter, so I can watch the films back-to-back with a group of friends and not have them spoilt by having the books fresh in my mind. Maybe reading fifty pages a day, fitted round many other hobbies, self-created deadlines, and real deadlines, is unrealistic. Maybe it is a bit ridiculous to stay up till 11:30pm so I can finish the day's quota of pages (if I'd stayed up another half-hour, I could just have started the next day's...). 

I don't really work well with deadlines; maybe it wasn't such a good idea. The thing is, I love the films. The soundtrack, scenery, cinematography, (most of) the acting, and most of the characterization is amazing. (Though Pippin and Merry are coming off so much better in the book! Seriously, I'm really liking Merry now!) But I know that if I don't finish reading the books on time, then I won't enjoy either the films or the books nearly as much. 

At present, I am about three-quarters of the way through The Fellowship of the Ring. I have read nearly three hundred and fifty pages in six days, which I am rather pleased about! I have been struck by several things that I did not appreciate or feel when I read them first a few years ago: (Spoilers begin now!)

The backstory to the books is so interesting! How could I ever have skipped A Shadow of the Past and The Council of Elrond? Not only are they - ahem - rather crucial to the plot, but they are so compelling!

Legolas is so much better in the books - I've never understood all the hype around his character in the films. Merry is a real character, not just a sidekick for Pippin. Pippin isn't just a comedic fool (well, maybe that's not true - he is, after all, a "fool of a Took!"). Gimli is taken seriously! And there are some seriously creepy bits in it - the feeling of menace before Weathertop, the intimidating nature of the Black Riders as the hobbits leave the Shire, the terrifying Fog on the Barrow Downs, gripped me as they did not before.

I'm also empathizing with the characters much more, mainly with the hobbits. I felt relieved when Strider joined the company at Bree. I shared in their bewilderment in the Old Forest. I was terrified when the Black Riders were slowly creeping up on Weathertop. 

Boromir is amazing. I know he acts wrongly before the end, but then he redeems himself. His love of his city and country, his loyalty and his bravery struck me yet again. Aragorn and Gandalf are both noble in their own ways. I forgot how much we see of dear old Bilbo in this book, too. I appreciate Sam far more than I did before.

Finally, I'm understanding each people's psychology and mindset much more than I did, as mirrored in their dwelling-places. We see the hobbits, who love the earth, the countryside, growing things, the home and the family (alone of the characters does Sam, the hobbit, have a beloved father and, at the end of the book, children). We see the elves, who live in peaceful woodland, but are never entirely at peace because they know of the Shadow in Mordor. The dwarves, with their love of what lies under the earth (only Gimli is undaunted by the dark in the Mines of Moria) live in mighty halls carved underground. The Men are more unsettled: Boromir is proud and single-minded, and he fails to understand clearly the true menace of the Ring. Aragorn (who, because of his more noble nature, is in some ways a foil to Boromir) roams over the land, fighting against the Enemy. He cannot, he tells Frodo, rest for long: even at Rivendell, where his heart lies.

(Spoilers end!) I've almost finished The Fellowship of the Ring; I'll have some more ramblings up here when I've started on The Two Towers!

Another deadline I've set myself is to sew a skirt by Easter. This project is slightly more realistic, as I only need to do a little every day. If you ever read this post, you'd have seen the sewing projects I wanted to get done this year. This is not the first on the list; I'm using the fabric I bought for the first one, though: 

And I'm making the skirt from this pattern: 

I was thinking of making the blouse, too, but I certainly won't have time for that before Easter! 

Apparently, it was traditional to make a new item of clothing to wear on Easter Sunday, so hopefully this skirt will tick the box. I've tried to do this for the past few years. I made a wrap skirt that basically worked (it ended up a bit too small for me, but I loved it so much I wasn't going to admit it!). I also made a blue polka dot dress. It looked lovely in the picture on the pattern, but it certainly did not work. It had a sort of crossover look to the bodice which ended up not properly crossing over, and the skirt was a bizarre shape. The sleeves didn't fit in the armholes, either! That Easter, I didn't have a new thing to wear, but, to be honest, it took some of the pressure off: unlike last year, there was no last-minute hemming on Holy Saturday. This year, I decided to try and make something new, but to start right at the beginning of Lent so I'd have a chance of finishing it beforehand. It's working well: I only need to make and sew on the waistband and hem it! 

Congratulations for reaching the end of this extremely rambling post! I'm hoping to start The Two Towers tomorrow, so I'll be writing more about that (probably in more detail) sometime over the next few weeks. I may also write about my thoughts on the films. First, though, I need to try and finish at least one of the drafts I've started but not completed!