Another report on what seemed to be a very popular event in Wellington. [More]
Category: Original TORn
Corrina reports from the booksigning at the Green Parrot yesterday: “It was MASSIVE! My flatmates and I got there about 3.30pm, ‘cos we thought it started at 4.00 (turns out it started at 4.30) and so we managed to get a fairly good place in line. we stood around for an hour, trying in vain to ignore the squealing girls, who at first were cute… but then got a little OTT… especially when we heard one group talking about seeing Viggo around town in his car, and passing out his number plate…hmmmm….
3 film crews turned up, one from each of the national news teams and another from the kids’ show What Now… who only really succeeded in making the squealing girls even louder – which was actually kinda funny.
So around 4.15 Viggo turned up with Jane Johnson from Harper Collins, and about half an hour later we finally got in. I got a copy of his book “Coincidence of Memory” mainly because it had some photos he’d taken of NZ in there, and I wanted to see how NZ looked to him. When I got up to get my book signed, he did the usual “what’s your name?” thing, and then won me over for life by being one of the few people to spell my name correctly without assistance! He is a really quiet guy, but he didn’f deny anyone anything, he posed for every photo he was asked for, and was just a generally nice guy.
What was the major shock tho’, was when we got outside and saw how huge the line was! We couldn’t tell how far back it stretched from where we were until we were actually out of the line completely… I’m certain even Viggo must have been surprised at the turn-out. I’m now actually really pleased he was the first Fellowship member I met… even tho’ I’m still hoping to spot one of the hobbits before they go at the end of the week.”
Thanks to David for the link to this article on Viggo at the booksigning yesterday. [More]
Ataahua writes: A remarkable first edition of JRR Tolkien’s novel, The Hobbit, inscribed by the author, and thought to be the only copy from the family likely to be offered at auction, will be sold by Sotheby’s on July 12. [More]
Ianthe sends us a link to a fascinating opinion article from the Boston Globe which cites fantasy in general (with FOTR being a specific example) as a prime coping mechanism for dealing with violence in a non-violent society. [More]
Democritus attended Viggo’s booksigning in Wellington, along with half the city, he says. His report’s here