The original English editions are beautifully and eloquently written, to a degree that is rare in current works of fantasy, partly because it signifies a more formal bygone time of the previous century.
The stories from Middle-Earth always manage to conjure a nostalgic set of memories within me; how I used to drop by my best friend's house every week-end to go on adventures, watch The Lord of the Rings films over and over again, eating dinner underneath their grapevines in sweltering summers, petting their way too heavy cat Flip, running through their large house, drawing in the attic workspace of his dad, and so many more rich and fond memories.
These seem to have all become mixed up in any revisiting of the primary works of Tolkien, even though I did not read the actual books until I was fourteen or fifteen. And when I did, I tore through them all in seven days, during a trip to the south of France. Am I even making new memories when re-reading these works or will they keep on telling me the same stories for ever?
Though Tolkien's work is a slow read, it captures me wholesomely when I give it proper attention. Reading it thus becomes like sizzling in a warm bath, thoroughly enjoying the moment in time itself, without worrying about anything else.
I once read about someone who decided that the Lord of the Rings series would be their re-reading series of choice for the remainder of their life. They then read the books again every year. This had been going on for a couple of decades. I can partly extrapolate the appeal of this, similar to how I personally enjoy re-reading the Harry Potter series. At the same time I feel like I am too young to start re-living my life. There exists a trend that people mostly continue to listen to the music from their twenties without discovering many new works after a certain age. But I am not in that stage yet. Furthermore, the number of amazing works being published in recent years and the coming time greatly exceeds what ever has been available to anyone before. I can no longer afford to remain stuck in one golden era like older people could; the quality and diversity of publications now deserves all my recognition.
My advice would be to just read LotR once and then look ahead to all the wonderful modern classics being published right now.