How did you begin to like LotR??

[Gordis]

Reading this thread left me open-mouthed. I can’t say I am really an old-timer, like Earniel, but I am here for at least three years, mostly in the Lits, and I have never seen before that a simple question: “What Tolkien books have you read?” was perceived as “jumping posters for their credentials” or “aggressive behavior.” Neither have I seen that people who have read a lot of Tolkien were implied to be condescending snobs.

That is something new, guys. Entmoot has always been friendly. Especially friendly to newbies (and don’t forget that Curufin and DPR themselves are still newbies). I don’t remember a single ugly brawl in the lits thread with calling names and such – thing that often happens on other forums. Here anyone can proudly say that he/she adores the movies and nobody would think less of them. Here anyone can fearlessly admit that they have read nothing but LOTR and Hobbit and (while keeping that in mind) the others would be happy to discuss Tolkien with them. Those who have read much more would only take care to quote the texts unknown to the others more extensively and give more explanations. In short, the Moot has always been friendly to people new to Tolkien.

But now we seem to swing into the opposite direction: when people who have read few of the books (and long ago at that) seem to feel frustrated by those who have read more and recently and try to “put them into their proper place”. Quite new for me is this line of reasoning: “I believe only LOTR and the Hobbit - and all the rest is crap not worth reading. If you draw your arguments from these sources, I won’t even consider them.”
And now it is prohibited to even ask what books another Mooter has read?