What are we holding on to?

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 matter. 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. 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 and 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 on to, Sam?

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

Lord of the Rings is one of the most amazing books I have read. The story and the characters capture your heart in so many ways. The words Tolkien used and the way the characters would say it is just so captivating. And all the poems and songs, it's just all...so incredible. You know, words really can't describe what I feel towards this universally loved trilogy.

The first time I read it was when I was Grade 5? I was 10 years old, so, yes. I didn't understand it much. I'm reading it again now, though. I was able to purchase this 50 year old 3-in-1 copy on eBay for only 5 Singapore dollars. I was on top of the world when I won the bid! The copy's beautiful and the pages have turned yellow with age. It has that old book smell that I really love and the font is just so pretty. It's one of my most prized possessions.