Lois & Clark Forums Forums General Discussion Fun with Polls How familiar are you with the Lord of the Rings?

We've been having an interesting discussion on IRC, so I thought I'd broaden it out...

I'll confess up front that I've read these books too many times to count, starting when I was ten or eleven...

Count me in as one of those who's lost count of how many times I've read the books. I'm sure it's been over a dozen times, and well before the current movies were in the works.

I've even suffered through the Rankin-Bass efforts of the Hobbit and Return of the King, just because I loved Tolkien so much. I liked the Ralph Bakshi version of "Lord of the Rings", even though it covers only half the trilogy, ending with the victory at Helm's Deep.

"Where there's a whip, there is a way!" Ack.

Despite a few gripes about the current movies, they are the best I've seen at re-creating Tolkien's vision of the epic. Definitely worth seeing, IMO.

An even more challenging question is, who's read the Silmarillion? <bg>

I read the trilogy once when I found out that Peter Jackson was making the movies. I think I'm going to have to read them again, though, since people keep mentioning things that I don't remember.

Devoured The Hobbit in third grade. Plowed through the first two LoR books almost as fast, although the writing was more difficult. (I remember being quizzed by a colleague of my English teacher's, who didn't believe I was really reading and understanding the first book. Showed her! ) Ran aground about half-way thru book three. So many characters to keep straight! So much stuff happening all at once!

Gave up, read other stuff. In HS, I tried to read book three again. Trouble was, I didn't really remember any of these characters any more. The notion of starting the series from the beginning didn't appeal.

When the first movie came out, I bought the trilogy. It's still on my shelf . . . One of these days, maybe.

I voted for "Heard of it, don't especially care to hear more." Through the years a number of people have tried to convince me to read the books, but I just can't get excited about them. In general, I strongly dislike sci fi/fantasy stories. They just don't appeal to me. Mythical creatures (unicorns, trolls, leprechauns, fairies, etc) never interested me at all, not even as a child. I don't even normally like books/movies where the main character is an animal (dogs, horses, etc).

That said, I'm sure there is the possibility that I would read the books and enjoy them. Every once in awhile I discover a great book/movie that I would expect to hate. (I loved Orson Scott Card's book Ender's Game) However, I have a list a mile long of books I *really* want to read but haven't got around to yet. So when I do get a chance to read, I'm going to choose a book off that list rather than something like LotR which I might like, but probably won't.

Annie

I have happily never read the trillogy. I don't really like to read, and I absolutely despise anything SciFi or fantasy. Therefore, I know I won't like it, so I never read it . When I was in 6th grade, I was in accellerated reading class (I know, if you looked at me now, you'd never guess it) and I was assigned to read 'The Hobbit' and that was the most horrifically boring book imaginable. That is the book that taught me that I don't actually need to read the book to get A's on the tests . I hated that book so much, I never had any urge to read the other books.

I have seen the first movie because my parents dragged me to the theater with them, but I did not like it. I thought the cinamatography was amazing, but I had trouble following the story and I got really bored after the first 20 minutes.

A group of my friends are going to see the last movie on Wednesday and I am happily not. I'll meet them for dinner after the movie, thank you very much .

I never read the books. I saw the first movie when I was in summer camp last year and they rented it, and for the second one my friend dragged me to the movie theatre even though I was sick and really wanted to stay home ("But Julie! I already got the tickets! You promised!" *sigh*). I guess I'm going to have to see the third one because I'm curious to see the end. I did NOT sit in a movie theatre wanting to throw up for nearly 3 hours (or however long it is), for nothing- I want to see the end.

LOL, and what would you call Superman?

Julie

The books were fabulous, but I read them ages ago. After seeing the movies so far, I want to re-read them.

Ahh, I hope this is a recommendation. I almost bought it over the summer, but then chickened out at the last minute just because I hate buying books when I haven't heard anything about them. (As it is, I ended up buying some sci-fi book I never heard anything about and trashed it because it was simply awful. )

Jen

I read the first book after I had seen the movie. I had heard of the book before, but it wasn't like anyone had said, "You *have* to read it!!", so it didn't really catch my interest till after I'd seen the film.

However, the remaining two are a bit...delayed. Haven't had the time yet, but I do plan on reading them after school's finished.

I think the movies are terific - spectacular cinematography, great actors, wonderful story and so on...

And...WOHOOO!!

Jen,

One thing to know about the Silmarillion is that it is not your typical narrative. In the LotR, you have wonderful characters on their quest. In the Silmarillion, you have a true epic that spans millenia. It reads more like a history book describing events and characters from a distance with little to no dialogue.

For instance, you heard a brief tale told by Aragorn on Weathertop (Amon-Sul in the movie) in the Fellowship of the Ring about the story of Beren and Luthien and Beren's quest for the Silmarils, great fiery jewels made by the most powerful elf who ever lived, Feanor, stolen by Melkor. The Silmarillion tells just that tale from that sort of perspective, not from their points of view, but that of a storyteller.

The range of the book covers from the very beginning of time when the One, Eru, created the Valar and their servants, the Maiar. It was those servants of Eru who created Ea (known as Middle Earth) through their music.

It tells the tale of the renegade Valar, Melkor (or Morgoth), who nearly destroyed Middle Earth through the first age by sewing discord in the music of the Valar, and bending many of the Maiar to his cause, such as the mighty balrogs. You see the rise of the Elves, the firstborn, followed by the secondborn, man. And you feel the pain of the ages through the curse of the Noldor and the fall of the great elven kings, including the last of the Noldor kings, Gil-galad, who fell at the foot of Mount Doom alongside his friend, Elendil, fighting in the Last Alliance of Men and Elves to close out the second age. And the one Elf who witnessed it all, the oldest of all elves remaining in Middle Earth, Galadriel.

After the overthrow of Morgoth, you see the tale of Morgoth's chief lieutenant, who also dreams of conquest. How he befriends the great Numenoreans, the ancestors of Aragorn, and how he eventually betrays them, causing the downfall of Numenor. The only ones who escaped the sinking of the great island were Elendil and his sons Isildur and Anarion and their followers. And how Morgoth's lieutenant befriends the Elves, learning their secrets of ringmaking, eventually betraying them and making the one master ring, the ring to rule them all. Can you guess who? And then there's the Istari, five Maiar wizards sent to Middle Earth in the guise of old men, whose purpose is to guide men and Elves against the great evil. Two of the Istari are known as Saruman and Gandalf.

Because of the way the book is written, it is not everyone's cup of tea. But if you like a good epic, the Silmarillion is an excellent book. It is somewhat like reading a history book, but it's a history of make-believe. If you want to know the background of the LotR, the Silmarillion is the best place to look. As I said, it's not an easy read, but the stories within are absolutely amazing. I've read it about five times myself.

If you're like Tank or Saskia and absolutely love angst and WHAMs, this book is for you!

I have read the Silmarillion. It was quite grand in it's scope, but you are correct in that it reads more like a history book then a narrative.

It's been quite a while since I read it, but I do remember it being dry as toast.

Tank (who as a high schooler many many years ago, read the Harvard Lampoon's parody "Bored with the Rings" and found it humorous)

Just the Silmarillion? What about Book of Lost Tales and HOME? I admit I haven't read POME yet...

I read Hobbit when I was nine and devoured LotR when I was ten, although a great many nuances went way over my head. They haven't since then, but when you read something literally dozens of times, you tend to get to know it rather well. :rolleyes:

Still have that crush on Aragorn, too...

For anyone who is interested in reading Silm, I refer you to Roger's excellent post. I will add that the book can be rather depressing -- after all, you're warned up front that the good guys can't possibly win, and then you have to read through all their futile efforts. (Or even wondering who *are* the good guys, after a while!) But the richness and incredible panaroma draw you in inexorably. I would definitely recommend skimming the first few chapters of the Valaquenta, though. (Although it's interesting to see why dwarves aren't quite like men, and how the Ents came into being...) It's one of the few frustrating things re Tolkien: he was more interested in the creation of an entire, complete world then in writing a gripping book, and you might find it hard to get through the background sketching before you hit the actual plot. Mind you, I'm as much in love with Middle-earth itself as I am with the characters by now, so perhaps the good professor was right, after all.

For those who don't really want to read the extras (it's surely not for everyone), I would recommend one extra reading: Book of Lost Tales , part 2, I think, in which Gimli, Frodo, and Gandalf are sitting in Minas Tirith and chatting, and Gandalf tells the story of The Hobbit from *his* point of view. Fascinating stuff. That same volume also includes the first Numenorean feminist, although she got rather carried away at the end and didn't have a very happy ending. (Not that her husband was much help, mind you.)

One of these days, I will write that crossover! Tempus sabotages Herb's time machine, and LnC find themselves several thousand years in the past, trying all 347 of Clark's languages on this 6'6" fellow with dark hair and grey eyes who is eyeing them very suspiciously... I can't decide if Arien will increase Clark's powers tenfold or dampen them, since she's not really the sun as we know it. Ah, well. Someday. Maybe.

Hazel, still obsessed with Elessar Telcontar, and who would've gone with a Tolkien nick if Watership Down wasn't available

As SF fantasy is my favourite genre and has been for a long time, I did try to read the books more than once in my teen years and just couldn't get past the first couple of chapters. (From various irc conversations I know this is sacrilege, but what can you do? <g>)

So I wasn't expecting much from the movies. Then, one evening when my husband was at work, I was really, really, really bored <g>, and finally picked up the second movie and shoved it into the DVD player. And I was entranced throughout.

I have to say that if I'd watched them in the proper order like someone normal I might not have seen movie two at all. Although I really enjoyed the first movie once it got going and was just as enchanted by it in the end, I did find it slow to get started and I might well have given up on it if it had been the first movie I'd watched. As it was, it all worked out quite well and I'm looking forward to seeing part three.

Well...I was looking forward to seeing part three until I discovered it has no happy ending and now I'm not so sure. <G> I love watching my favourite movies again and again, but can't bear to watch those with unhappy endings more than once (witness Dances With Wolves), so that's something of a downer really.

Still not in the camp of being a fanatic and still not sure I'll ever read the books (they're probably in the same camp as Harry Potter - I might give them a try eventually, but in the meantime there are so many other books I'm desperate to buy and read, so they're way down on the list), but I think the movies are a superb achievement and great entertainment. One of those happy collaborations where every aspect comes together perfectly.

LabRat (who has no idea why everyone lusts after Aragon; Legolas is far cuter... <g>)

The third movie has no happy ending? I hadn't heard that, and it doesn't really fit with what I know from the books. Book three has a nice romance sub-thread with Faramir -- though they've changed Faramir already , so who knows... And if they're cutting off before the scouring of the Shire, we can't see Sam's happy ending... Or maybe happy just isn't the right word to describe the ending. Personally, I'm always a little sad reaching the end, because then there's no more to read!

I *will* look up that Book of Lost Tales, though, so thanks for the tip, Hazel!

Can't say as I ever had much of a crush on any of the characters, as such. Except maybe Faramir

PJ

There really isn't a category for me on your poll. I haven't read the books. I've only seen the first movie. But it isn't as if I'm not curious to know what it's all about.

Like, Labrat, I've tried reading the books. But I never could get past the first couple of chapters. I'm not much of a reader. Being dyslexic, you have to capture my attention immediately before I'm willing to put in the work required to read a book.

I watched the first movie. But it didn't do much for me. As a result, I haven't watched the second movie. But after reading this thread, I might give it another a try

ML

So, I'd heard. And now I'm racking my brains to remember where I heard it. On the radio or something. And Stuart had heard that a couple of the prime characters died. So I wasn't a happy camper. <G>

Sounds as though maybe I don't have much to worry about then. Yay!!!

LabRat (much happier)

That's all I have to say about that.

Jen
Tireless Defender of the Shire

*ahem* Just because there is no scouring of the Shire, does not mean Sam doesn't get his happy ending. And that's all I'll say about that, as what I have heard counts as rumors/spoilers, and I won't see the movie until tomorrow.

I'd tried to read The Hobbit as a child and could never get into it. And when Fellowship came out as a movie, we skipped it in the theatres. Then we rented the DVD, and it was all over for me!

I fell in love with Tolkein and Peter Jackson and hobbits and Legolas and Aragorn. After watching TTT, I read all three books of the trilogy within a week, needing to know how the story ended. I devoured anything I could get my hands on that discussed Middle Earth and its history. And if I could, I would be standing in line at 12:01 am to see ROTK.

This weekend I picked up the Silmarillion and may try to slog through it over the holidays - it's amazing what knowing some of the history behind the story does for your appreciation of the films - much more makes sense.

As for the no-happy-ending, as I understand it, Peter Jackson has remained as true to the books as he could, and he has already said that there will be no Scouring of the Shire. However, just because a movie doesn't end with Richard Gere carrying Debra Winger into the sunset doesn't mean that it doesn't have a satisfying ending. I reference the movie Green Card, as its ending wasn't Hollywood happy but still gave you hope for a future for the two main characters. So give the movie a go, then decide if you think the ending was happy or a let-down.

Regardless of what you think of Tolkein and LOTR, you have to appreciate the shere magnitude and amazing way that Peter Jackson and his crew have tackled this story and done it such justice. For any movie trilogy to garner this much praise and attention, there has to be something there.

I feel sorry for those who despise Tolkein's books so much that they can't enjoy the movies for what they are after you strip away the fantasy - a breathtaking story about good vs. evil, the power of friendship and loyalty, and how every person, no matter how small or unimportant, can make a difference.

Lynn

I'd say you had a point if I was at all interested in the Superman aspect of the myth or of the television show. But I'm not and I never have been. I'm interested in the romance between Lois and Clark and the in their jobs as reporters. Actually, Lois has always been my favorite character (in the movies as well as in the show). I fast forward through all the A-plots. And when I write, I often forget to include any superman activity at all and have to add it as an afterthought.

Annie