Can't remeber where I read it or if it's an original thought but reading lotr was like reading the main story, okay, but also sitting at the campfire and hearin

Can't remeber where I read it or if it's an original thought but reading lotr was like reading the main story, okay, but also sitting at the campfire and hearing about stories from before. The whole book is as much about the fellowship's quest than the backstory of the whole world and that's what got me in when reading it. It's not about what's happening to our heroes but what happened to others before.