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Lord of the Rings
I was wondering how many people have actually read all of the novels. What was your favorite or hated thing about the books?
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I loved the books. The only thing I hated about them was all the stuff the movies(even extended editions) missed. It made me sad. Though, I will admit Im looking forward to seeing how they butcher The Hobbit when they finish the movie.
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I have read all of the books from the Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings Trilogy. They were all great books. I can't really say that there was anything I particularly disliked about them. I think they were almost totally perfect. I'm sure there may be a slight flaw somewhere, but I sure haven't found it and I have read all four books at least twice. My favorite one was The Fellowship of the Ring because I liked having all nine adventurers together, and I liked the chapter with the barrow-downs and Tom Bombadill since they always leave him and the old forest chapters out of any rendition movie wise. I will say the Play Station Two Fellowship of the Ring game has the chapters in it that aren't in the movie if anyone is interested.
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I loved the LOTR trilogy and The Hobbit. I was sad about the movies, and how they were different, but I suppose that was the director's "vision." I loved the books, but sometimes they got so descriptive that I had to skim. I hate skimming, unless it's a textbook ^_^, but it was like, "come on, let someone talk." Not have a 2 page description about the staircase. I did read them when I was much younger though. My tastes prlly changed and I would prlly love all that description now ^_^
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I disliked all the descriptions. >.<; It sometimes got too much for me, so I skipped til someone talked, or something more interesting happened. But I liked the books and the movies. They were both good in their own ways. And both long as well lol
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I actually don't know a whole lot about them, but they're on my "To Read" list.
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I actually have an extreme love/hate relationship to the book series.
I think as a catalyst for fantasy, LOtR was a blessing, and that as far as actual talent goes, Tolkien was incredible. His attention to detail was so out of place for what you typically think when you think fantasy. You think absolutely no talent, and instead pretty words slapped with cheesy characters. For example, Terry Brooks "The Sword of Truth" series. Shitty, recycled cyclical plotlines, all powerful main characters who narrowly escape harm every other chapter, learn there lesson, and although grossly outnumbered and weak, they find a way to win. It's bullshit. Tolkien took a more realistic approach to it. He delves into the actual politics of this world (Politics being used in a vague matter, I don't mean the actual government body, but rather how they reacted with their society I guess) and not everything is happy go lucky, with light bursting through a black cloud at the end of the storm. It's just not. It's a very talented author tearing the world a new one with a completely different kind of book. The hate part of the relationship is Tolkiens attention to detail... It's almost mind numbing, reading certain passages of his books in which he really delves into the landscape of the story. 3 pages describing a rock or 5 pages on a small thicket. (Exaggeration for comedic sake, but you understand what I mean). The hate is only based on personal preference, as I made clear earlier, i have nothing but the utmost respect for Tolkien, but I do not care about how pretty the woods are. Anyway around it, a tree is a tree, and nature is nothing of beauty to me. It is flawed, and not nearly as magical as he tries to play out (Magic as in conversational, not magic as in the Gandalf magic haha). I am much more of a character man, I like to be introduced to a character so well, that I can make predictions on how they will react to a situation, and in that nerdy sense, learn to feel for them as a personal friends. Case in point, Robert Jordans "Wheel of Time" series. Again, just personal preference. If I had to choose a favorite and a least favorite? The Hobbit was my favorite. I was actually interested in the entire novel. But I could not, even as a adult, help but fall asleep throughout The Two Towers. Constantly. Man that was a boring ass read! |
(Massive amount of spoilers to anyone that hasn't read The Hobbit.)
I haven't read the Trilogy yet, though I really want to, but I am reading The Hobbit and I'm not liking it. Tolkien is a great writer but I hate how Bilbo Baggins is so useless. I'm only halfway through the book right now so he probably gets better but it's really annoying me now. Tolkien keeps throwing Bilbo, Gandalf, and all the dwarves into danger and instead of making Bilbo remotely competent so he can help Tolkien just uses Gandalf as a sort of deus ex machina. Like when all the dwarves were capture by the trolls it wasn't Bilbo who made them fight each other until dawn, even though he was perfectly capable of doing so, it was Gandalf. And I know that Gandalf is a great wizard and everything but why can he speak like every language? He understands the wargs, he talks to the great birds or whatever. It's really annoying me. The only time Bilbo has been in anyway competent is when he's with Golem. I was really surprised by that whole section. I knew about the riddle competition and everything but when I actually read it it brought up my hopes that Bilbo isn't hopeless. Especially when he stalked Golem until Golem showed him the way out. I was like, "Wow. You're really not so bad." But my hopes are starting to sink now that he's waking up every night when he's not supposed t go out. I'm afraid he might and then I'm just going to hate him again. EDIT: I've read further and Bilbo has gotten a lot better though I still think he could have been better before. |
I have the utmost respect for the Lord of the Rings Trilogy and Tolkien. The Hobbit and LoTR were the first real books I read as a child, while they were read to me by my mother every night (along with various other novels). Tolkien was one of the catalyst authors who brought fantasy into the mainstream, as well as paving the way and plot for many future authors. If anyone is interested in reading some great works that inspired Tolkien, Tales Before Tolkien: The Roots of ... - Google Books Douglas Anderson put together a compilation of stories of early fantasy works. I was able to meet Douglas Anderson at the University of Vermont's annual Tolkien Conference, put on by one of my favorite Professors at the university, and I heard him lecture on the Sagas and folklore that he drew upon to create his own rich literary masterpiece. If anyone is interested in the Conference, it is held every year in mid March in Burlington, Vermont.
I know a lot of people are put off my some of the lengthy descriptive passages in these books, but those are honestly some of my favorite moments. It is a very rare thing for authors to go into such minute details in this genre. It shows the love of his creation. He took the time and great pains to envision such complex histories, cultures, and landscapes. Every moment that Tolkien decided to pause and elaborate on in detail, tells us of its importance. He was a stickler for the little details. For instance one of my favorite little details he includes is the eye color gray. The only times he mentions this is when a character is either having a moment of far-seeing wisdom, or if that character in general is knowledgeable and posses a certain depth. Even Gollum for a moment appeared to Frodo's eyes as nothing more than a withered old man with sad gray eyes. The prose are just as lovely as the poems that he includes. They are a step above the kind of poetry that appears in the Hobbit. I admit to skipping over reading some of the longer poetry when I was a little kid, only to look at it in greater depth now. I could talk about Tolkien for a long time... In short, every time I get to the ending I cry, even if I skip to that page just to read a few short paragraphs. My favorite book I think is The Fellowship of the Ring. Tolkien was the reason I took Old English classes at my university and my mother was the reason I started loving these novels. |
I tried reading it... i almost got half way done w/ the first one but it was kinda boring for me
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I have yet to read all the novels. I want to, though. I even got the series in one gianormous book a few Christmases ago, which I loaned to my little brother, who got into it faster than I did. I like the overall story and characters if the movie is anything like the books, though. I think I just need a long enough summer to actually get it read.
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I have read all of the Lord of the Rings Novels and The Hobbit. But I have got to say I love all of them! My Favorite part in the books is when Eowyn kills the Black Rider. :) That part made me so happy and sad at the same time. As for something I hated about the books I never really had a problem with any of the books I really really love them. They come from a man of great immagination. It is rare to come across someone who thinks that well that can come up with an entire world and various languages like that. And he has enchanted so many people thru the generations his sheer creativity is indiscriably ingenius.
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I think missy said pretty much all of it... though my favorite part is Tombombadil =3 he's just such a fun part to read, like when h pops on the ring and Frodo thinks it's a fake when he gets it back.
I dislike though that the movie had removed some of the things from the book which I thought was vital to the proper storyline... |
I am actually reading Lord of the Rings right now ^_^ Not for the first time, well, I read The Fellowship and The Two Towers years ago, and the descriptions are what dragged me done a bit I think so I never got round to finishing it. But now that I'm reading it again (I'm currently in The Return of the Ring, on the cusp of the war at Minas Tirith) I found I am really enjoying it all, the descriptions and characters and everything. It's probably because my reading experience has matured a lot in several years plus I have better discipline for reading large books ^^.
I loved the movies but as I am reading the books, I realise how much they did change them. I am not disappointed by this because I believe the movies really did the books justice but on the other hand, it is sad that they left certain things out. I have also read The Hobbit several times, as I really loved that book. Unfortunately, I haven't had the chance to read it recently because I don't have a copy. I think they will do a good job of the movie (well I hope) as I think they are doing it in 2 parts. I am very happy that at least they got a good director to do it, Guillermo del Toro, but I am sad that it won't be Peter Jackson. |
i'm currently trying to read the Lord of the Rings trilogy but my grandmother took it away from me (all 3 books in 1 big book) so now i can't finish them...not til later though....
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I've tried reading the books, but I couldn't get past the first couple chapters. So like the majority of the world, I watch the movie instead-which was pretty good (: |
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