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Post by nucleusofswarm on Jul 16, 2023 0:38:31 GMT
Working my way through the series (done Hobbit, getting through Fellowship) after years of procrastinating and, perhaps, always wary of Tolkein's level of detail (at least, by cultural reputation). With that, I was actually taken aback by how funny Hobbit was, how well it moved, and even Fellowship, while Tolkein does have whole chapters devoted to just worldbuilding, wasn't as slow as I had anticipated.
For those who read them, what do you think? Truly great? Important but bested, or couldn'tg et into them?
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Post by mark687 on Jul 16, 2023 11:22:12 GMT
Working my way through the series (done Hobbit, getting through Fellowship) after years of procrastinating and, perhaps, always wary of Tolkein's level of detail (at least, by cultural reputation). With that, I was actually taken aback by how funny Hobbit was, how well it moved, and even Fellowship, while Tolkein does have whole chapters devoted to just worldbuilding, wasn't as slow as I had anticipated.
For those who read them, what do you think? Truly great? Important but bested, or couldn'tg et into them?
My 1st ever personal choice reading experience from 7-9 years old The Hobbit through to The Unfinished Tales I thoroughly enjoyed them. Regards
mark687 |
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shutupbanks
Castellan
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Post by shutupbanks on Jul 16, 2023 11:53:00 GMT
Still utterly brilliant 80 years after it was published and 40 years after I first read it. Very few come close when it comes to worldbuilding and history while the whole experience is just completely immersive for me as a reader.
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Post by timleschild on Jul 16, 2023 12:00:37 GMT
I tried reading them years ago. Couldn't get into them. Maybe I try again?
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fitzoliverj
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Post by fitzoliverj on Jul 16, 2023 14:17:33 GMT
I tried reading them years ago. Couldn't get into them. Maybe I try again?
Might be worth trying the BBC Radio version. Great adaptation, *fantastic* cast.
Alternatively, make sure you start with "The Hobbit". "The Lord of the Rings" starts with a remarkably clever and dexterous handling of the reader's expectations as regards tone, but if you're not familiar with the original novel and don't have to be carefully shifted from 'children's story' mode into 'serious adult novel' it may hit the wrong note.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 16, 2023 14:59:10 GMT
I'd say they are deffo worth reading... although if you've seen the movies you'll know how the story ends!  |
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Post by anothermanicmondas on Jul 16, 2023 18:42:35 GMT
read and enjoyed them when I was young
I tried to read the Silmarillion but was overwhelmed by it
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Post by grinch on Jul 16, 2023 19:09:22 GMT
Actually read them all this year.
The level of world building is quite simply staggering. One could argue that Middle-Earth is among the most richly detailed fictional settings ever made.
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shutupbanks
Castellan
There’s a horror movie called Alien? That’s really offensive. No wonder everyone keeps invading you.
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Post by shutupbanks on Jul 16, 2023 21:33:22 GMT
I tried reading them years ago. Couldn't get into them. Maybe I try again? Yes. |
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Post by tuigirl on Jul 20, 2023 19:16:27 GMT
Well, I have by now read these books maybe 10 times.
First time with the old German translation, given up on the dreadful and now abolished new German translation (having Sam calling Frodo "Oy boss" all the time was seriously WRONG and I was obviously not the only one thinking this), I read the English version several times also and also made it multiple times through the German audio play, and the English audio book.
Needless to say, I LOVE LOVE LOVE these books.
And I can totally understand if you say you had trouble getting into them.
When I was 12 years old, I tried for the first time, and gave up.
Back then, I thought these books were unreadable.
I just made it to Treebeard and the Fangorn Forest, and gave up.
4 years later I tried again.
And fell in love.
No other book ever came close. I can read it again and again and always discover something new.
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Post by tuigirl on Jul 20, 2023 19:18:10 GMT
read and enjoyed them when I was young I tried to read the Silmarillion but was overwhelmed by it Yeah, same.
That one I could not get into.
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shutupbanks
Castellan
There’s a horror movie called Alien? That’s really offensive. No wonder everyone keeps invading you.
Likes: 5,674
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Post by shutupbanks on Jul 20, 2023 22:27:05 GMT
read and enjoyed them when I was young I tried to read the Silmarillion but was overwhelmed by it Yeah, same.
That one I could not get into.
I’ve always looked on The Silmarillion as “background material” for LOTR. It helps me to enjoy it a bit more believing that it it adds depth to my understanding of the world while not being essential for my enjoyment. |
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Post by Deleted on Jul 20, 2023 22:41:40 GMT
Yeah, same.
That one I could not get into.
I’ve always looked on The Silmarillion as “background material” for LOTR. It helps me to enjoy it a bit more believing that it it adds depth to my understanding of the world while not being essential for my enjoyment. I'm a massive Dune fan and Silmarillion falls into a lot of the latter novels for me. Expands the lore but isn't an intriguing story in and of itself. I love the development of The Hobbit to LOTR. Tolkien went from kids book to older reader-friendly almost in real time. Quite an intriguing notion when the idea would be to double down on a kiddie friendly version. Oh..but Silmarillion did give us Marillion, so I and whiskeybrewer owe that debt! |
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shutupbanks
Castellan
There’s a horror movie called Alien? That’s really offensive. No wonder everyone keeps invading you.
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Post by shutupbanks on Jul 21, 2023 10:26:04 GMT
I’ve always looked on The Silmarillion as “background material” for LOTR. It helps me to enjoy it a bit more believing that it it adds depth to my understanding of the world while not being essential for my enjoyment. I'm a massive Dune fan and Silmarillion falls into a lot of the latter novels for me. Expands the lore but isn't an intriguing story in and of itself. I love the development of The Hobbit to LOTR. Tolkien went from kids book to older reader-friendly almost in real time. Quite an intriguing notion when the idea would be to double down on a kiddie friendly version. Oh..but Silmarillion did give us Marillion, so I and whiskeybrewer owe that debt! It’s the story that grew up with his kids, really: he wrote The Hobbit for his kids then wound up sending his son chapters of it to entertain him during quiet moments while he served in WW2. |
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Post by tuigirl on Jul 27, 2023 19:10:05 GMT
Well, I love LOTR so much, I just bought tickets for a METAL concert just because the band dresses up and acts like the Dwarves from LOTR and they make some songs about the stories.... (it is Wind Rose by the way, but of course I like older bands like Blind Guardian, too)
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Post by Kestrel on Aug 3, 2023 5:25:16 GMT
I really liked 'em when I read 'em as a kid, but haven't really been able to get into them since. The prose can be quite dense, and the pacing pretty iffy (I remember absolutely hating that slog through the Frodo/Sam half of TTT back when I read it in... Christ, I think I was in middle school).
I do love the trilogy, though -- I just tend to reread specific sections, rather than the full novels.
Also I am most definitely a big Silmarillion fan. I've been fascinated by mythology since before I could even read, and that particular SI has never diminished. To the extent where I'd say that now, as an adult(?), I enjoy the Silmarillion much more than the original trilogy.
Oh -- and also -- we need to acknowledge that The Hobbit -- absolutely rocks.
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Post by number13 on Jan 31, 2024 0:35:04 GMT
Late to another thread but here goes...
Long ago, sometime in the Second Age of Middle-Earth (or about 1976) a brilliant English teacher recommended that I should read 'The Lord of the Rings'. I remember her exact words - 'It's very long and quite scary but I'm sure you'll enjoy it!' (Thank you so much Miss, it was the best advice any teacher ever gave me!  )
That Christmas, one present under our Christmas tree contained a boxed set of three volumes... 'three books for he who looks, under the tree...' and I don't remember much else about that Christmas because I spent it in Middle-Earth. And I've read it many times since along with the Unfinished Tales, the Silmarillion (which I love) and the other volumes of the earliest writings.
How big a fan? Well, if you want someone who can ignite wizard's fire in the original High Elvish and speak (in the dreaded Black Speech itself) the incantation with which Sauron first invoked the power of the One Ring, look no further! |
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Post by mrperson on Feb 1, 2024 3:41:13 GMT
Truly great.
Tolkien is a master among masters. They aren't even really about elves and hobbits and orcs, but about truth, honor, duty, and above all the need to do what absolutely must be done...and succeed at it.
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Post by bethhigdon on Feb 1, 2024 15:26:31 GMT
I've read the Hobbit as a kid and remember liking it well enough, but I could never get into the Lord of the Rings trilogy. I've tried several times to read The Fellowship and I always give up around the 5th chapter... it just takes too long for the story to get going.
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Post by Star Platinum on Feb 2, 2024 18:43:51 GMT
I’m currently working my way through Andy Serkis’ reading of the Fellowship of the ring as I drive to work and it’s been an interesting experience.
The pacing definitely has some issues. I certainly didn’t need a treatise on the history of tobacco in middle earth, especially one that lasted almost an hour. Not to mention that the Tom Bombadill part grinds the entire forward progression of the story to a halt. While it raises questions about Tom and his role in the world of Middle Earth, which I’m not sure are expanded on in works like the Similarion. It certainly wasn’t something that needed telling in Fellowship.
The other glaring issue is the language used in the story. There’s a passage in the book where the elves are described as “sad and queer”, while knowing about the context in which the story was written, I have to admit that it did paint the elves in a substantially different light than Tolkien intended in my mental image of the elves at that moment. There’s a similar moment during the snowstorm in the book where a word I won’t repeat is used, only because that word has since become a slur.
While I’m enjoying it, the length and the time since the writing of the story has certainly made it more difficult to casually recommend.
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