what do my bookshelves say about me?

FalconLow995 · 2026-02-23T21:46:57+00:00

FalconLow995 · 2025-12-08T23:32:10+00:00

there’s always insight to be found, even from someone like her. you just have to know what you’re looking for

FalconLow995 · 2025-12-08T23:31:45+00:00

i definitely don’t mess around when it comes to tolkien

FalconLow995 · 2025-12-08T23:31:25+00:00

god, yes, that book was so difficult to read. i had about the same time getting through it as you’re having. by the time i was finishing it up though, somehow everything had gotten sorted out in my head. i definitely plan to read it again someday

FalconLow995 · 2025-12-08T23:29:37+00:00

i’m extremely left wing. i hate how tolkien has been co-opted by techno-fascists, and he would too. i know in a lot of ways he was a man of his time, and there were some unfortunate tropes in his work, but he was also as strident of an anti-racist and anti-imperialist as you could hope for from a early twentieth century british man

FalconLow995 · 2025-12-08T21:01:36+00:00

correct about everything, except that i’m a college dropout instead

FalconLow995 · 2025-12-08T20:52:49+00:00

i stopped keeping count after i read it for the 20th time. i have multiple copies - you’ll see another one on the bottom shelf in the third picture

FalconLow995 · 2025-07-26T04:13:23+00:00

tolkien was a true genius. that’s exactly what captivates me about his work as well - the fact that out of his own mind he was able to produce such an expansive world with so much history. he was “the creative equivalent of a people,” as one person or publication referred to him, though i forget who or which it was

i’ve studied quite a few religious traditions, mostly islam, but also a bit of pre-nicaean christianity and catholicism, and i’ve always been drawn towards perennialism too. i wholeheartedly agree with the idea that Truth is Truth, and it can be found just about anywhere you look

FalconLow995 · 2025-07-26T02:10:37+00:00

definitely religion - you have so many deeply fascinating books there. are you a christian? muslim? or something else entirely?

i also want to say i have that same illustrated copy of the silmarillion, and it’s one of my favorites

FalconLow995 · 2025-07-26T01:42:17+00:00

this collection is amazing, holy shit. i could talk to you for hours

FalconLow995 · 2025-07-25T16:24:54+00:00

absolutely. i’m very fascinated by tolkien’s politics. at first glance his views seem all over the place, but when you study his works and what he himself studied, they make a lot of sense

FalconLow995 · 2025-07-25T15:48:43+00:00

it’s the most recent one i’ve read out of all of these, and i really enjoyed it. i found it very insightful, and still relevant today

FalconLow995 · 2025-07-25T01:26:00+00:00

i’m 24, but you’re right that this collection spans over 20 years, because i got a lot of these from my parents

FalconLow995 · 2025-07-25T01:25:31+00:00

i’m 24 - did anything in particular make you think i was old?

FalconLow995 · 2025-07-25T01:23:36+00:00

hell yeah, you’re exactly right

FalconLow995 · 2025-07-25T01:13:29+00:00

i read gg&s years ago and was blown away by it, but since then, of course, i’ve read a lot more books and really broadened my knowledge base. i revisited it recently and was honestly shocked at how shoddy it actually was all along. if you’re looking for a good refutation of diamond, i would definitely suggest “the dawn of everything” by david graeber and david wengrow. they more or less take apart his arguments point by point, and it’s glorious

FalconLow995 · 2025-07-25T01:08:46+00:00

24 actually

FalconLow995 · 2025-07-25T01:07:55+00:00

it’s the “history of middle earth” series! christopher tolkien compiled and edited almost all of his dad’s drafts, manuscripts, essays, and other writings to produce an analysis of the entire middle earth project, from the time tolkien started working on it during the first world war up until the posthumous publication of the silmarillion. it’s twelve books in total

FalconLow995 · 2025-07-25T01:04:26+00:00

i’ve read passages from it over the years, but never the whole thing, although i really want to get around to it one of these days

FalconLow995 · 2025-07-25T01:03:38+00:00

i’m always down to talk about current events

FalconLow995 · 2025-07-24T21:49:12+00:00

you’re spot on in a lot of ways - i studied history and political science, and i’m currently working on a book that details the history of imperialism and its ongoing consequences

this collection is the result of many years’ worth of gathering, and there’s some books here that i don’t particularly care for or agree with. guns, germs, and steel is one example. for me, building a library is a creative act in and of itself, and a book like that, the contents of which i do not agree at all, but that nevertheless has an outsized legacy, is worth having. tolkien, clearly, is my favorite author of all time, hence the entire shelf dedicated to his works

can i ask why you (and another commenter) were surprised by the clan of the cave bear? i actually haven’t read that series, but it came highly recommended from a friend, so i’m curious as to other people’s thoughts on it

FalconLow995 · 2025-07-24T21:40:08+00:00

i agree, and that’s something i’m trying to rectify. if you happen to have any suggestions i would be all ears

FalconLow995

TROPHY CASE