# Lord of the Rings: Book or Movies First? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 5, 2016, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lord-of-the-rings-book-or-movies-first/761799 "2016-08-05T02:13:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2016, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lord-of-the-rings-book-or-movies-first/761799/21 "2016-08-05T13:19:27Z")
> [@Peremensoe](#): > > If you are a reader, absolutely read _The Hobbit_ first, then _The Lord of the Rings_. Then see the movies, if you like. Do not let your visualization and understanding of the books be controlled and compromised by the movies. I completely agree. Although ‘The Hobbit’ is a children’s book, it introduces some key characters and plot elements. As stated, provided you’re a reader then tackle the books. (I read them in one fell swoop during my school holidays.) Next comes the films (extended edition highly recommended!) Finally have a go at the online roleplaying game ‘Lord of the Rings Online’. This was written by true fans of Tolkien and is a wonderful experience. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2016, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lord-of-the-rings-book-or-movies-first/761799/22 "2016-08-05T14:37:55Z")
It was in reading the Two Towers where I almost gave up. Personally, I would recommend the movies, the first book, and then dipping into the second and third for a deeper experience of the parts that interested you. I’m a fan of the mythos and the world-building. I’ve read the Silmarillion. I can tell apart Celeborn from Celebrimbor, Manwe from Nowe, Beor from Barliman Butterbur, and Nargothrond from Thangorodrim. But I’ve never gone back to read the three books again. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2016, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lord-of-the-rings-book-or-movies-first/761799/23 "2016-08-05T14:55:18Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Book. Then read _Bored of the Rings_. I also recommend _Bored of the Rings_. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2016, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lord-of-the-rings-book-or-movies-first/761799/24 "2016-08-05T14:55:50Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > Watch _Fellowship of the Rings_ first, then read the books, then watch the last two movies. {…} [DEL][COLOR=“Black”]Machete[/DEL][/COLOR] Orcrist Order! 🆒 CMC fnord! ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2016, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lord-of-the-rings-book-or-movies-first/761799/25 "2016-08-05T15:22:31Z")
> [@Tapiotar](#): > > Just realize that the tone and voice of The Hobbit is lighter, for children. The tone of LotR is epic, high fantasy. It is more serious, draws on the great medieval European epics and medieval Scandinavian ballads and lore, the diction becomes more formal as the action progresses from the earthy affairs of the hobbits to the concerns of honor and good vs evil of the nobility. My own preference has always been for LotR, even when I was a kid. I’m aware. _The Hobbit_ was assigned reading for us in 7th grade. I fell in love with it. I think the lighter tone is exactly why I like it more. ---
**Author:** ![bbonden](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecb155/32.png) [@bbonden](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bbonden)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2016, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lord-of-the-rings-book-or-movies-first/761799/26 "2016-08-05T17:22:40Z")
> [@BrotherCadfael](#): > > While I am a books first kind of guy, this is not bad advice for someone who has never seen or read either. Add a third vote to **Miller** ’s suggestion. Though I’d read _The Hobbit_ first. Like so: _The Hobbit_ book _FOTR_ movie _FOTR_ book _Two Towers_ book _Return of the King_ book _Two Towers_ movie _Return of the King_ movie All movies in Extended Edition if possible, especially _The Two Towers_, which I think is especially poorly edited in the cinematic release. Never, ever watch the Peter Jackson _The Hobbit_ movies. ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2016, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lord-of-the-rings-book-or-movies-first/761799/27 "2016-08-05T17:43:21Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > I read a lot of abridged books when I was a kid, before moving on to the unabridged versions. Has anyone done an abridging of LotR? Actually yes. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/vmuT8UeTk4s/hqdefault.jpg "Clerks 2 - LoTR summary") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vmuT8UeTk4s) ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2016, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lord-of-the-rings-book-or-movies-first/761799/28 "2016-08-05T17:45:34Z")
> [@Peremensoe](#): > > If you are a reader, absolutely read _The Hobbit_ first, then _The Lord of the Rings_. Then see the movies, if you like. Do not let your visualization and understanding of the books be controlled and compromised by the movies. Only thing I’d add to this is saying books “first” implies there is any need to EVER watch the movies. 😉 I’m not a huge of a fan of the books as some around here, but did read them at least 5-10 times. Was SO looking forward to the movies, but found them terribly unsatisfying. I’m well aware that mine is a minority opinion. ---
**Author:** ![txjim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f07891/32.png) [@txjim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/txjim)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2016, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lord-of-the-rings-book-or-movies-first/761799/29 "2016-08-05T18:21:07Z")
It’s been many years but I remember enjoying the animated version of The Hobbit from 1977. [The Hobbit on IMDB](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0077687/?ref_=nv_sr_4) Features Brother Theodore as Gollum! ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2016, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lord-of-the-rings-book-or-movies-first/761799/30 "2016-08-05T18:38:17Z")
Boogies don’t like machines more complicated that a garrotte or a Luger. They stay by themselves except when a hundred or more may dry gulch a lone farmer or hunter. ---
**Author:** ![shantih](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f6c823/32.png) [@shantih](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shantih)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2016, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lord-of-the-rings-book-or-movies-first/761799/31 "2016-08-05T21:09:14Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > Watch _Fellowship of the Rings_ first, then read the books, then watch the last two movies. The first movie is one of the best page-to-screen adaptations I’ve ever seen. The first book drags a lot, and a lot of people bounce off of it, particularly if they’re reading it after already being a fantasy lit. fan for their whole lives. The first movie pares down a lot of the meandering and maundering into a tighter, more focused narrative. Having the film in your head already might help push through the drier bits of the book. > > The second and third movies aren’t nearly as strong as the first, although their still pretty good. The second and third books, on the other hand, improve vastly over the first, and should be enjoyed first on their own merits, before consuming their adaptations. Whoa, this is exactly what I came in here to say. I had tried to slog through LOTR and had real difficulties – I just couldn’t picture it somehow, and there are so many similar names that I had trouble differentiating a number of characters. Then I saw The Fellowship of the Ring and it all clicked for me. I went back to the first page and didn’t stop until I had devoured all three books, then finally read The Hobbit, then read The Silmarillion, then went back and reread the trilogy before the second movie came out. Come to think of it, it’s about time to reread the series again. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2016, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lord-of-the-rings-book-or-movies-first/761799/32 "2016-08-05T21:19:36Z")
The books, then [The Very Secret Diaries](http://www.ealasaid.com/misc/vsd/), then _Bored Of The Rings_, then the movies, then the limited edited beers, then the breakfast cereal, then the t-shirts, then the replica swords. ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2016, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lord-of-the-rings-book-or-movies-first/761799/33 "2016-08-05T21:22:31Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Book. Then read _Bored of the Rings_. Don’t read _Bored of the Rings_ unless you like really terrible, witless, massively dated parodies. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2016, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lord-of-the-rings-book-or-movies-first/761799/34 "2016-08-05T21:32:55Z")
Hey! Bored of the Rings is excellent, witless, and massively dated. Someone missed a real bet by not producing a BOTR movie to play between The Two Towers and Return of the King. It would have cost next to nothing to make, and could have been a cult classic for aeons…just like the book. Hash boo Valvoline! ---
**Author:** ![Wakinyan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wakinyan/32/352_2.png) [@Wakinyan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wakinyan)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2016, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lord-of-the-rings-book-or-movies-first/761799/35 "2016-08-05T21:38:06Z")
Read the books, and I would also say that if you’re not reading it for children (or are a ten year old yourself) don’t bother with The Hobbit. I don’t think most adults would enjoy it very much because it _is_ a children’s book. If, however, you have the opportunity to read it to children (which I’ve done several times), you’ll find it’s phenomenal for the audience. But the reason I say “read the book” is that the book has, I would say, an idea, a vision so to speak, which works very well from beginning to end. (I’ve found this while reading it as a middle aged man several times to children, aside of having read it several times as a teenager.) It _works_. It works very well. – The movies are good in many regards but the vision of the book is not captured; I would say that the idea of the story is not transferred from the book to the movies. So read the books first and see if Tolkien’s “vision” captures you, before looking at Peter Jackson’s visualization of it. I think Jackson missed the point(s) and I’m afraid that his movies might get in the way of the story that captured so many for so long, if you read the books after you watched the films. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2016, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lord-of-the-rings-book-or-movies-first/761799/36 "2016-08-05T21:38:56Z")
> [@Peremensoe](#): > > If you are a reader, absolutely read _The Hobbit_ first, then _The Lord of the Rings_. Then see the movies, if you like. Do not let your visualization and understanding of the books be controlled and compromised by the movies. While I would generally agree with that, I have to say the movies matched my visualization almost spot on. PJ did a phenomenal job of bringing the books to life. Do not, I repeat, DO NOT see _The Hobbit_ movie(s) before reading any of the books or seeing an of the _LotR_ movies. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2016, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lord-of-the-rings-book-or-movies-first/761799/37 "2016-08-05T21:52:59Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Do not, I repeat, DO NOT see _The Hobbit_ movie(s) before reading any of the books or seeing an of the _LotR_ movies. The part of that sentence following the close parenthesis could have been omitted. I read the trilogy avidly at the age of 12 after being given a copy of \*Fellowship \*by a schoolmate. I then bought \*The Hobbit \*and was disappointed by the juvenile tone. And that’s despite the fact that even LOTR \*starts out \*as a bit of a children’s book, gradually growing more serious over the first few chapters. This makes me disagree with those who recommend reading \*The Hobbit \*first. I might never have bothered with LOTR if I had done so. ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2016, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lord-of-the-rings-book-or-movies-first/761799/38 "2016-08-05T22:57:05Z")
> [@txjim](#): > > It’s been many years but I remember enjoying the animated version of The Hobbit from 1977. > > [The Hobbit on IMDB](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0077687/?ref_=nv_sr_4) > > Features Brother Theodore as Gollum! I had that on betamax. Love it still! Even if it is HIGHLY abridged version of the book, it is still way better than Peter jackson’s padded for profit phobbit. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2016, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lord-of-the-rings-book-or-movies-first/761799/39 "2016-08-06T02:56:49Z")
> [@Baron\_Greenback](#): > > Don’t read _Bored of the Rings_ unless you like really terrible, witless, massively dated parodies. Calm down. You are going to bust something. One of my favorite parts is Strider taking the broken sword out, it falls apart, and the orcs fall down laughing their asses off, and the hobbits slit their throats. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2016, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lord-of-the-rings-book-or-movies-first/761799/40 "2016-08-06T04:18:21Z")
I’m always a books-first kind of guy. And as an addendum to all of the people saying not to bother with the _Hobbit_ movies: The animated one actually isn’t all that bad. Peter Jackson’s versions, though… yeah, don’t bother. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lord-of-the-rings-book-or-movies-first/761799.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lord-of-the-rings-book-or-movies-first/761799.md?page=3)