I read his books as a kid and then moved on. I remember liking them but I never had a desire to learn Elven languages or dress up as Gollum (sp) for Halloween and I never felt the need to put him on a pedestal of any sort even though I can definitely appreciate the effort he put into his books and their importance in the history of the fantasy genre. I respect Tolkien but I get seriously annoyed be his fans at times when they turn him into some kind of flawless artist of pen and paper. Of course, just as dumb are people who want to overly criticize his flaws in some attempt to show how awesome their skills at critiquing literature are.