Yep, that’s the word I should have used. I vacillated between the two and went with the wrong one.
I didn’t care for that section the first time I read it but I’ve come to think of it as a vital part of the book. I’m OK with it being left out of the movie, however, as it’s a different medium with a different purpose.
Fan of Tolkien that I am, I have to admit that he was terrible at the beginnings and endings of stories. He never really wrote an ending in his life, and the only beginning he ever wrote was The Beginning. I believe he even comments somewhere that stories never really begin or end: It’s all just one story, and it’s just that different characters move in and out of it.
And while I understand and agree with Jackson’s reasons for cutting Bombadil and the Scouring, I also think that they both serve essential roles in the book. In the final analysis, Bombadil is there because every world should contain some things that are not explained and not explainable, and the Scouring just underscores that nothing ever truly ends, and the small problems are really the same things as the big problems.
I thought the beginning of the FOTR was delightful, up until the point it took like 5 chapters to actually leave the Shire. Then 5 more to get to Bree. Then 3 more to leave Bree. From then on, it was more or less an awesome road movie all the way to Lothlorian, or perhaps to Parth Galen. Couldn’t put it down.
And then… it split into two novels. On the one hand, Frodo and Sam and their journey, on the other the entire War of the Ring with everyone else. I understand people can split pretty serious between these two story lines. My SO read the books and wanted to know all about F & S, where I found that part tedious and wanted to know all about the rest of the world and what was happening, and SO could care little.
So, there may be various choices ahead of you in terms of what you really want to read, vs all that other stuff you must know but isn’t all the immediately interesting. It’s all worth it, but skim if you must.
What is wrong with the ending of The Hobbit??
Just finished Fellowship. It did get better (or I got more used to the style) and I found myself actually looking forward to getting back to it, which is new for these books. (BTW, I’ve read The Hobbit a couple of times already).
I think one of the issues I had with the style was with all the exclamation points. I have an excitable 7 year-old girl and when I read passages like (kinda made up):
“Come! That is the sound of Gladier’s Gong! We need to proceed to the Council!”
I can’t help but hearing it in the tones of
“Daddy! You won’t believe it! Alyssa at school said she was my best friend!”
I am glad I saw the movies prior to this for I would have EXTREME difficulty sounding out the names.
John T - so cool that you finished Fellowship! If/when you read Two Towers and ROTK keep us informed. Always cool to hear from a LOTR virgin reader.
I kind of liked Bombadil but I can see why you’d find it boring. Read from the moment they meet Strider to maybe right after leaving Rivendell. If you don’t find that interesting, go find another book.
Oh good grief you are my opposite. I believe in Brevity. Also pictures.
You & John Ronald should get along famously. Also Homer.
Skip with impunity the first time through, that’s what I say. If you don’t feel like you need to hear what he’s telling you in a particular section, move on. There are parts of the book that I probably didn’t read a single time until I had read many other sections 8 or 10 times, and I think it worked for me. I’m glad I read those parts eventually, but I’m not sorry I didn’t do it all in order.
You’ve quoted one of my favorite lines from one of the better LOTR parodies I’ve read.
I have read the whole (set?) Hobbit, LOTR and Silmarillion, and agree that the OP will be rewarded for persistence. Although, sometimes I did get the feeling HRT was describing the reader’s experience rather than Froto’s during the march across the wasted lands. The march that seemed to go on and on and on and …
I’m definitely the only one on this board, but - the chapters describing Frodo’s trek through Mordor are the most moving and important of the book to me.
You’re definitely not.
I think that reading the Lord of the Rings for the first time today is much harder than say 40 years ago (when I first read it):
I hope Professor Tolkien won’t mind if I say that he would have made the books even better if he’d had:
I will say I’m surprised at the number of people who claim the books are too long - all told, they’re only 1,400-odd pages (460+500+500) long, and that’s including the appendices at the end of ROTK. (For numbers geeks, each line averages about 10 words and there are 40 lines per page. Assume 37 lines of actual text (removing the spaces at the end of paragraphs) and we’re only talking about slightly more than 500,000 words here).
Anyway, since lunch I’ve made it through 130 pages of The Two Towers and I’m pretty riveted. I skip the songs because they’re not to my liking, but the rest of the book(s) are just flying by. I would’ve read more but Oklahoma came on TCM and I decided to finally catch that one. And my wife called three times, etc. Now I’m watching Snakes on a Plane, so I’ll probably only go through another 70 pages or so before 11pm (CST).
I got impatient with the second major battle (at Gondor) when I first read the books. We had just HAD a huge major battle (Helm’s Deep).
I haven’t read the books in awhile. I started a thread when I was reading them and some of the more dedicated fans “helped” me along.
I find I lack the patience for them now. That may or may not change–I dunno. When I watch the DVDs (EE), I tend to skip the battles all together. I like the character development and storyline; I don’t need the violence.
I love The Hobbit, so make of all this what you will…
I finished The Two Towers last night and I will admit, that was a fast read. I didn’t find a single thing boring about it, and the book just seemed to fly by. I was surprised that the battle of Helms Deep occurred less than halfway through the book, but then that was me expecting to read the movie again. All in all, I like the structure that Tolkein has adapted, where he tells 1/2 of the story (Aragorn, etc) in full, then goes into the other half (Frodo, Sam, etc) in full. It’s easier to keep track of what’s happening.
I really liked Faramir, though I find the movie Faramir to be more believable than the one that we read about in the book, who seems a little too Noble and Good. I enjoyed the tale of Pippen and Merry more in the book - for some reason, that section seems to drag a bit in the movies. I was surprised that the Sam and Frodo story ended where it did… given what I’ve come to expect, you’d think just 2-3 more chapters would pretty much wrap up their tale.
Now I’m into the first chapter of ROTK where the “Fool of a Took” just promised fealty to Boromir’s pop. Good going! Also, if I read right, the mountain top “message-fires” have already been lit and Pippen had nothing to do with it… am I correct?
You are correct about the signal fires (if I recall correctly of course). So glad you enjoyed The Two Towers! Imagine me the first time I read it without ready access to the third book. “Frodo was alive but taken by the enemy”!
Anyway, a number of folks I’ve discussed it with count TTT as their favorite of the three volumes. Maybe it’s the ents…
No signal fires in the book. It’s a messenger on horseback, bearing a red arrow. If I recall correctly, at some point Denethor mentions that the message has been sent, but does not expect Rohan to respond in time. In a later chapter, Theoden and Aragorn are emoting, when the messenger arrives.
Uh, try again.
In the first chapter of RotK, as Pippen rides on Shadowfax with Gandalf, they see the beacons on the hilltops alight. Gandalf even names them in order for Pippen. It is at the same point that the riders bearing the Red Arrow go flying past in the other direction. Then, Gandalf urges Shadowfax to speed on to Gondor. This is near to the end of the chapter, as Pippen slowly fades back into sleep as the great ride continues.
That chapter really sets the tone for Book 5, and I remember reading it, at about 2AM, hunched under the covers so that my parents wouldn’t know I was up and reading, and having my pulse begin to beat hard, as it became clear something magnificent was about to happen.
I’ve read the whole trilogy from cover to cover countless times over the years. I just skim what I find are the “boring parts” (that is, poems and Elvish) - no one says you have to read each and every sentence, and if something doesn’t make sense because you missed something, I daresay that’s what the SD is here for!
Myself, LOVED the Tom Bombadil chapter, even though it has no connection to the main story. My 12 year old fairtytale-loving self could totally get with dressing in a green gown with gold or silver accessories, flitting around in the woods…My 12 year old self was moved to tears at the best description of death I ever read anywhere, to this very day. In Tom Bombadil’s house, Frodo had a dream …“the grey rain-curtain turned all to silver glass and was rolled back, and he beheld white shores and beyond them a far green country under a swift sunrise”. I was inordinately pleased the movie makers worked this lovely phrase into the dialogue.