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| A Tale That Grew in the Telling by GamgeeFest | 105 Review(s) |
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| whisperer | Reviewed Chapter: Epilogue 2 on 5/8/2013 |
| I enjoy your story very much. I finished it in one sitting. Thanks for this. :) Author Reply: Thank you, whisperer! It's always wonderful to get new reviews on an old story. Glad you enjoyed it! | |
| nancylea57 | Reviewed Chapter: Epilogue 2 on 12/9/2008 |
| what an emotional rollercoaster, the ride you provide is amazing. Author Reply: Thank you! It was a rollercoaster to write it as well! I'm glad you enjoyed the ride. :) | |
| Socrates399 | Reviewed Chapter: Epilogue 2 on 11/26/2008 |
| So, I was reading this, and it's not 3 am...just like for Sam and Daisy (and like Sam, I have stuff to do tomorrow!) :-) Anyway, I enjoyed the story. Thanks! Author Reply: Oh boy. I see Rose is going to have to give Sam another lecture about overly long bedtime stories. Now he's keeping the humble readers up all night! :P Thank you so much for reading! I'm glad you enjoyed Sam's story, but dear me, do get some sleep! =) *sends Rose after Sam* | |
| Frodo Baggins | Reviewed Chapter: Epilogue 2 on 7/21/2006 |
| That's it? No! It can't be! That was *so* wonderful! I can't even explain to you how intriguing, how heart breaking, how much it made me laugh through my tears and made me smile again. You do Sam so very well! That poem at the end...that was so sweet. So Sam. That was wonderful story. hannon le a thousand times over! Namarie! GOd BLess, Frodo Baggins Author Reply: Yes, that is it. A good thing too, or Daisy might never have had any sleep that night. :D I'm so delighted that you enjoyed the story so much. It's always wonderful to hear how this tale affects my readers. I'm constantly surprised with they respond to it so deeply. I'm especially glad that you enjoyed the poem! I don't try my hand at poetry very often and so I always think it's mediocre at best. Thank you for reading! | |
| Frodo Baggins | Reviewed Chapter: 31 on 5/23/2006 |
| Once again, a wonderful chapter. I'm glad this will end on a happy note. The clouds of angst are clearing and there's blue skies ahead. :) I really like the nick name part. I don't have a nick name either, but I'm not bringing it up to any of my cousins or siblings. They coudl think of some that I would never want to answer to. :) Namarie! God BLess, Frodo Baggins Author Reply: Yes, a happy ending is necessary after the angst-fest that this story turned into. I don't have a nickname either but like Frodo, it never really bothered me. Frodo will likely regret bringing the subject up now; his cousins can come up with some very interesting, and not necessarily flattering, names. ;) Thanks for reading! | |
| Frodo Baggins | Reviewed Chapter: 30 on 5/23/2006 |
| I've been enjoying this story immensly. Hannon le. The end is so near, it's driving me crazy. So much...so much...alas! I don't know how to express in words what this story is. So many words come to mind and fall short. Hannon le, mellon nin. God Bless, Frodo Baggins Author Reply: I'm glad to hear you're still plugging away at this story! I'm flattered that you are enjoying it so much. Thank you for your kind praise. :) | |
| Frodo Baggins | Reviewed Chapter: 11 on 4/26/2006 |
| Oh, you have me on the edge of my seat!! I love this! This chapter was especially sweet. The line: ‘Please,’ he thought, ‘please tell me. I will help carry your wounds if you would but share them with me. Please.’ That was so touching. Your whole story is a plethora of wonderful characters, emotions, and hints that have me clicking "Next" constantly. Thank you so much for this story. I love your cottons and Gamgees....and your Frodo and his relations. You draw the reader in and let me picture what's going on inside the characters head and what they are doing without being tedious and over descriptive. Namarie, mellon nin! God Bless, Frodo Baggins P.S. In one of the earlier chapters...four, I think...you said something along the lines of "the five years before Rosie reached coming of age stretched tortuously before Sam..." I believe you meant "torturously". "Tortuously" means something like a twisting, winding road I think. :) I'm sorry. I tend to nit-pick, but I just thought I'd let you know as a friend. Author Reply: Merry is such a sweetie in this chapter. He cares so much for Frodo and wants to help him, yet he realizes here that there are some things that he simply doesn't have the experience needed to really, truly help. He can comfort Frodo, and he does to the best of his ability, but he can never understand what it's like to lose a parent, much less both. I'm glad you found this story and are enjoying it so much. It was an adventure just to write it - I didn't know much more than the reader what was going to happen next in some cases! It certainly has a good many more cliffhangers than I ever planned on. Thanks for the tip! There's always going to be a typo or two or twenty that I overlooked and I'm slowly finding and weeding them out. :) | |
| Queen Galadriel | Reviewed Chapter: Epilogue 2 on 4/21/2006 |
| Hi again. Drat, I knew I'd forgotten something! (Say, that sounds familiar; I sure hope it doesn't storm tonight. :)) But seriously, I know I'm putting my comments ahead of where they belong, but I must tell you I loved Melilot's comment to Merry: "But you owe me. I had to cry." LOL! I got to that and would have laughed aloud if it hadn't been like one o'clock in the morning. My bad. But it just struck me as so hilarious in the middle of all that angst. That sounds like something I would say! LOL! Great moment of humour there, especially for those of us who like to act and know we're no good at it. :) I'm so glad I'm going to get to do a short story for you! :) Anything you want? I've only discovered you recently, and it would be a great help to know what you'd like. I've got several vague ideas running through my mind already, but can't settle on one. Even if you can't think of a plot, if you could tell me the characters you'd like, it would be great. (Sam, of course!) God bless, Galadriel Author Reply: I tried as much as I could to throw in little lines like that, to lighten the story for just a moment or two. I figured that Mellie wouldn't be the type who would normally fake tears to get something and so she would hold Merry to the promise that he'd pay her back for it somehow. :) Anything with Sam would be great, whether it's him at Bag End, with his family, or with his friends, it doesn't matter. Maybe we can see what he does on his days off, but whatever you want to write would be wonderful! I can't wait to read whatever you come up with! | |
| Queen Galadriel | Reviewed Chapter: Epilogue 2 on 4/21/2006 |
| Do you know I stayed up till near three o'clock this morning, trying to finish this tale, and now I've finished it I wish I still had it all before me again? I expected to say, "Does it have to be over?" But it's a perfect ending, the kind that leaves you happy and at peace, wishing you could live it again but not wanting more, contented with what is there. Oh, undoubtedly I'll read this again; it's going on my list. But a story is never the same the second time through. For the first time I find myself pitying Lotho. I can't believe it; I didn't think that could ever happen. See what miracles you work? :) First I find myself angry with Frodo (though of course I melted and forgave him everything when I understood fully) and now I'm pitying him whom I've often called "the Loathesome." I cried with Sam when the news came that Frodo 'had drowned,' really cried as I haven't done in a while. And of course I was elated when Frodo came home, and even more so when he returned to Bag End. I love the banter and the quiet talk between the cousins. The birthday party was so wonderful, and I love the conversation between Frodo and Sam on the hilltop. I'm so glad Sam let himself relax for a minute and just be a friend, and the cake thing had me laughing hysterically! Sam knows them very, very well! LOL! And I simply adore Sam's gift to Frodo. Sweet, beautiful, poignant, priceless, all fall short. I can't begin to tell you how very much I've enjoyed this. I always try to wait a while before rereading a story, but I'm very anxious to read this one again. Of all that I've read of yours, this is the ultimate masterpiece. What to read next, I wonder? I can't decide. Oh, and if parts of this were made up, then what really happened? :) God bless, Galadriel P.S. If I may, I'm going to write a short story for you and put it under my "Gifts" as soon as I can. That's my way of showing other authors how much I appreciate them. :) May I? Author Reply: Thank you so much for your high praise! It's very much appreciated. I can't tell you how thrilled I am that you enjoyed this so much. Once I realized that Lotho was going to be the "villian" here, I knew that everything that happened in the story leading up to that point had to reflect, in some way or another, the turmoil that Lotho is experiencing. I knew readers would never care a stitch about Lotho himself, but I figured that a few might have vicarious sympathy for him because of what the other characters have gone through already. The misery is just beginning for Lotho though - he has no hope of proving himself to his father any more and there's no one, besides his mother, to offer him any comfort or ease - and you know Lobelia isn't going to be offering much of that. As Sam tells Daisy, it's enough to make anyone bitter and spiteful. I'm glad I was able to both bring you to tears and make you laugh. That tells me I did my job well. :) Sam knows that his master is fond of him and he allows them to be equal friends when he can. And he knows Merry and Pippin well - after so much heartache and angst, that joke was just screaming to be told. I can very well imagine Frodo and Sam playing such games in their youth, and reprising them now to remember their carefree days after everything they've been through. I'm truly glad you enjoyed the poem. I don't try my hand at poetry very often and I always feel its inadequate. Whatever you read next, I hope you enjoy them just as much. This was pretty much one of the very first stories I wrote, and many that came after are inspired by this one, "Took Madness", "Mid Years Walking Trip", "Under the Harvest Moon", "Somewhere Only We Know" and "A Night to Forget" to name a few. This story also helped me to establish the hobbits' lives pre-Quest, so many of the themes visited here continue to come up in my other works. Daisy got it right for most of the made up parts. My theory while writing this was that whatever Sam didn't make up, he borrowed from other times in his life and altered them to fit the story where needed. So most of what he tells actually did happen, but not exactly in the way that's represented here and certainly not during this same time frame. You certainly may write a short story! What an honor! I'm truly touched. | |
| Queen Galadriel | Reviewed Chapter: 23 on 4/20/2006 |
| I thought of waiting till the end to review again, but I can't, or I'll miss something. I feel I must compliment you on how very well this is worked out. I'm impressed! Even while my head is spinning and I feel as if my heart would burst to bits with anxiety. Imagine. I'm a hopeless case of melodrama. :) Oh, poor Sam! His frantic listing of all the clues to when Frodo was upset made me ache for him. He knows his master better almost than anyone, and I can certainly identify with the guilt. I know it wasn't his fault, but I'd do and say the same things in his place. Part of me is shouting that Frodo needed him, and the other, more reasonable part whispers, "Would anything be any different?" And if it isn't enough that I'm so...how shall I say, extremely anxious even when I know the end must be happy, I find myself grieving with the cousins. And I know Frodo's alive! I'm almost angry with Frodo Baggins right now. I pity him for the Ring-madness-he couldn't help that and I hate that thing so much! And certainly he didn't mean to fall into the river. But to go and intend to go to Rivendell! It's rash and thoughtless! I could lecture him at this moment-"Frodo! What are you thinking of? What about those who love you, who are grieving and worrying for you, who think you dead?" Of course he doesn't know they think that, but come on! *sighs heavily* But surely he'll come to his senses just in time; he is no fool, after all and he does have a heart and is one of the five dearest Hobbits in all the Shire. I love Berwin! He's such a wonderful OC! I was unsure at first, since the Rangers distrusted him, but if he cares for Frodo, or any of the Hobbits for that matter, he's won me. :) Goodness, what a mess. Frodo in Bree, doing something I can't believe he's doing; Merry and Pippin and the rest of the family grieving; Sam worried and soon to be grieving as well. And yet in the midst of it all, romance is blooming, and glad memories are made. It takes a very good story to get me so enthralled, and it has to be very real for me to feel as if I'm the one experiencing all this. And even while it can be a bit exhausting to vibrate so between such different emotions :), I love the feeling. Thank you so much for this wonderful story! God bless, Galadriel P.S. Also, when I get so caught up, I tend to be rather forceful, as others could very likely tell you. I hope I'm not *too* forceful, but I admit to yearning to rouse such force of feeling in my own readers. :) Author Reply: You're not forceful at all. I love getting your reviews and I have to admit, they're making me appreciate this story all over again. Everything you're feeling while reading it is everything I was going through while writing it. This story changed on me so many times and in so many unexpected ways that I'm still surprised to this day that I not only finished it, but actually managed to make it work! Sam is the most heartbreaking hobbit in this story. He's so far removed from everyone else and is at the mercy of the speed of gossip to find out what is going on. He has nothing to do with him time but think of all the clues he missed and blame himself. Merry and Pippin aren't doing any better and things will get worse before they improve. Frodo's not thinking very clearly at this moment but he does realize that he can't just leave without sending some sort of word back to his family. All he can see right now is how much closer he is to finding Bilbo and now he has the opportunity to follow after him unhindered. Berwin is a good guy and always had been. I don't think I ever considered him being anything but an unexpected friend. I did know that Berwin needed to find him first, for anyone else that came along would either be too late or have ill intentions. It was simply meant to be that they would find each other. Things are a mess and will be getting messier, but life moves on. No matter what else happens, life moves on. The rebuilding of the Shire, Marigold and Tom's promise (and to a lesser degree, May and her beau's upcoming nuptials) personify that perfectly. I'm so glad you're enjoying the story and thank you again for your lovely reviews! | |