# Lord of the Rings: What % of movie-goers have read the books? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 29, 2014, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lord-of-the-rings-what-of-movie-goers-have-read-the-books/687294 "2014-04-29T17:40:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2014, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lord-of-the-rings-what-of-movie-goers-have-read-the-books/687294/21 "2014-04-30T15:44:19Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > I can’t tell you how many times I wished the Orcs had just killed Merry and Pippin, the annoying fuckers. _“Not idly do the leaves of Lórien fall,” said Aragorn. “This did not DRR **OOOOOOOOHMYGOD IS THAT MERRY’S HEAD ON THE GROUND?!?** ”_ ---
**Author:** ![racepug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f1d935/32.png) [@racepug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racepug)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2014, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lord-of-the-rings-what-of-movie-goers-have-read-the-books/687294/22 "2014-04-30T15:46:03Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > The back of my edition says, “The world can be divided into two groups. Those who have read the Lord of the Rings and those who have not.” > > I didn’t properly read it until I was 20. I guess as a 7th grader(my first attempt), I just wasn’t good enough a reader. I’d read the Hobbit and adored it, but had a hard time with Lord of the Rings after Gandalf fell. I’ve still never gotten around to reading “The Silmarillion.” One of these days, maybe. One of these days… ---
**Author:** ![racepug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f1d935/32.png) [@racepug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racepug)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2014, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lord-of-the-rings-what-of-movie-goers-have-read-the-books/687294/23 "2014-04-30T15:49:36Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > With the exception of _The Hobbit_, which I didn’t enjoy very much, I didn’t read the books until long after the extended-play DVD boxset was released. According to the thread I started about my reading the series, I read the three books [from April 14th-April 26th, 2009.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=514149) I would have been 42. > > To be honest, I don’t think I could date anything else I read with that much accuracy. 😉 I got my wife to read them when she was well into her 40s. I think she liked them but she didn’t care for the battle scenes and she wishes that the story had more prominent female characters. ---
**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:** [April 30, 2014, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lord-of-the-rings-what-of-movie-goers-have-read-the-books/687294/24 "2014-04-30T16:11:51Z")
> [@](#): > > I’ve still never gotten around to reading “The Silmarillion.” One of these days, maybe. One of these days… Point of advice: _The Silmarillion_ is actually several different works in one volume. If you find that the first two sections (_Ainulindule_ and _Valaquenta_) drag for you, you can skip them entirely and jump to the main part of the work with almost no consequence. Do give them a try, as they’re wonderful if you like that sort of thing, but they’re not for everyone. ---
**Author:** ![boozilu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4da419/32.png) [@boozilu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boozilu)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2014, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lord-of-the-rings-what-of-movie-goers-have-read-the-books/687294/25 "2014-04-30T16:14:50Z")
The poll of adults in my house – 2 for 2. 100%! ---
**Author:** ![standingwave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@standingwave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/standingwave)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2014, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lord-of-the-rings-what-of-movie-goers-have-read-the-books/687294/26 "2014-04-30T17:43:45Z")
> [@racepug](#): > > I got my wife to read them when she was well into her 40s. I think she liked them but she didn’t care for the battle scenes and she wishes that the story had more prominent female characters. That’s certainly a fair criticism and I do hope that she found the [Tale of Aragorn and Arwen](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Tale_of_Aragorn_and_Arwen) in the appendix. Then there’s the [Tale of Beren and Lúthien](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Tale_of_Beren_and_L%C3%BAthien) in the Silmarillion. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2014, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lord-of-the-rings-what-of-movie-goers-have-read-the-books/687294/27 "2014-04-30T18:01:21Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Well, he certainly got some new readers, at least. One of my classmates saw the first movie, and by two weeks later, had read all three books, _The Hobbit_, and _The Silmarillion_, and was asking me where he could find more. And I was amazed when I learned that our very own **Skald the Rhymer** was introduced to the books through the movie. To be clear, I’d read the Hobbit in, I don’t know, 8th or 9th grade, and liked it well enough. I went to our local library to check out LOTR, but all they had was a single volume of Two Towers which didn’t even have a “What has gone before” at the beginning. I didn’t get past the first chapter, as naturally it was incomprehensible, and didn’t give the story another thought for , I don’t know, fifteen years I guess. ---
**Author:** ![ISiddiqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/97f17d/32.png) [@ISiddiqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISiddiqui)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2014, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lord-of-the-rings-what-of-movie-goers-have-read-the-books/687294/28 "2014-04-30T18:53:39Z")
I read the Lord of The Rings and the Hobbit prior to the movies, but only just. I remember that I was so utterly bored reading Fellowship of the Ring until around page 100 when it ‘clicked’ and I enjoyed the rest of the books. Amusingly, Fellowship was my favorite of the movies. I had a girlfriend who used to talk about how she looooooved Lord of the Rings. And she read the books and watched the movies. As an anniversary present I got a 50th Anniversary Lord of the Rings and Special Edition The Hobbit. When presenting it to her she got all excited, but then showed obvious disappointment as the Lord of the Rings was in book form and not in DVD as she initially thought. We broke up soon thereafter (not for that reason!!). I somehow doubt that she actually did read the LOTR books at all, to be honest. ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2014, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lord-of-the-rings-what-of-movie-goers-have-read-the-books/687294/29 "2014-04-30T19:01:00Z")
I read the books just before the movies came out. I figured if they’re making three of the most epic movies of all time, based on three of the most epic books of all time, I may as well read the books. I’m glad I read the books, but I think the movies were orders of magnitude better. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2014, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lord-of-the-rings-what-of-movie-goers-have-read-the-books/687294/30 "2014-04-30T19:10:18Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Point of advice: _The Silmarillion_ is actually several different works in one volume. If you find that the first two sections (_Ainulindule_ and _Valaquenta_) drag for you, you can skip them entirely and jump to the main part of the work with almost no consequence. Do give them a try, as they’re wonderful if you like that sort of thing, but they’re not for everyone. The Silmarillion is MUCH better than LotR (which I love, don’t misunderstand me). The best way to read the former, I believe, is how the person who lent me my first copy advised. Skip Ainulindaule and Valaquenta on first read, but be ready to refer to them to keep the names of the Valar straight. Be patient as you work through the narrative section; it’s worth it. If you’re enjoying it at all, you’re likely to stop at some point because the first two sections have become worthwhile to you. ---
**Author:** ![cjepson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9adbd/32.png) [@cjepson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cjepson)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2014, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lord-of-the-rings-what-of-movie-goers-have-read-the-books/687294/31 "2014-05-01T01:05:52Z")
I first read LotR in (if I recall correctly) 1969… so I was waiting a _long_ time for those movies. I have the feeling that the percentage of people who read the books before seeing the movies will approach zero as time goes on, which is the one thing I really regret about the movies’ existence. I think my experience of LotR would have been severely degraded if I had had the images of the movies in my mind before reading the books. (After reading this post over, it sounds kind of elitist and snobby, but I really don’t mean it that way.) ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2014, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lord-of-the-rings-what-of-movie-goers-have-read-the-books/687294/32 "2014-05-01T01:12:51Z")
I have never read any of the Lord of the Rings books. ---
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2014, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lord-of-the-rings-what-of-movie-goers-have-read-the-books/687294/33 "2014-05-01T01:30:35Z")
Ike, have you read Dickens or Scott? ---
**Author:** ![Max\_the\_Immortal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6de8d8/32.png) [@Max\_the\_Immortal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_the_Immortal)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2014, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lord-of-the-rings-what-of-movie-goers-have-read-the-books/687294/34 "2014-05-01T05:30:47Z")
I read the books quite a few years ago and had almost entirely forgotten the story by the time I saw the movies. Does that still count? ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2014, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lord-of-the-rings-what-of-movie-goers-have-read-the-books/687294/35 "2014-05-01T12:00:36Z")
Really Not All That Bright writes: \> I don’t think those numbers tell us anything because the books saw a massive \> sales spike after the movies came out. Houghton Mifflin sold two million copies of \> the one-volume paperback in one year after the first film was released. I saw numbers of copies sold before the Jackson movies came out which suggest that _The Lord of the Rings_ was probably already the best-selling novel of all time before the movies were made. It’s hard to say, since there just aren’t any good numbers. The Wikipedia entry on best-selling books suggests that _A Tale of Two Cities_ or _The Little Prince_ may have sold more copies than _The Lord of the Rings_, but I’m dubious about those numbers. Furthermore, the number of copies of _The Lord of the Rings_ that has been sold is probably more like 200 million, not 150 million. In any case, the sales because of the movies didn’t really have that much effect on the total. I’ve been looking through the fantasy and science fiction sections of bookstores for at least forty-five years now, and Tolkien’s books have nearly always there on the shelves. > **[List of best-selling books](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_best-selling_books)** > > This page provides lists of best-selling books and book series to date and in any language. "Best-selling" refers to the estimated number of copies sold of each book, rather than the number of books printed or currently owned. Comics and textbooks are not included in this list. The books are listed according to the highest sales estimate as reported in reliable, independent sources. This list is incomplete because there are many books, such as The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas, Don ---
**Author:** ![Double\_Foolscap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/85e7bf/32.png) [@Double\_Foolscap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Double_Foolscap)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2014, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lord-of-the-rings-what-of-movie-goers-have-read-the-books/687294/36 "2014-05-01T13:10:08Z")
I saw the films first. I read the trilogy on a plane flight about six years later. I doubt any of my friends saw the films first, though, as they’re all the right kind of nerds for Tolkein. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2014, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lord-of-the-rings-what-of-movie-goers-have-read-the-books/687294/37 "2014-05-03T21:28:07Z")
> [@j666](#): > > Ike, have you read Dickens or Scott? Sorry, just saw this. I have read _A Tale of Two Cities_. I have no idea who Scott is. And while I never read any of the LotR books, I am a huge fan of the Dune series. ---
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2014, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lord-of-the-rings-what-of-movie-goers-have-read-the-books/687294/38 "2014-05-04T00:57:02Z")
> [@Ike\_Witt](#): > > Sorry, just saw this. I have read _A Tale of Two Cities_. I have no idea who Scott is. And while I never read any of the LotR books, I am a huge fan of the Dune series. If you liked Dickens, you’ll find Tolkien’s style of writing approachable, I think. If you liked Dune, you won’t have any trouble with the story line. If you’ve never read [Sir Walter Scott](http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/529629/Sir-Walter-Scott-1st-Baronet), you should give him a try. ---
**Author:** ![Rickey\_The\_Rooster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e9c0ed/32.png) [@Rickey\_The\_Rooster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rickey_The_Rooster)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2014, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lord-of-the-rings-what-of-movie-goers-have-read-the-books/687294/39 "2014-05-07T15:09:13Z")
I think the books are much better than the films. The films are very Hollywood not really what Tolkein had in mind when he started them as a series of letters to comfort his son who was unhappy at boarding school. Its always a worry when the giant movie tycoons take on a project everyone loves. Probably less than half of the audience who’ve seen the films have read the books. Maybe this is a good thing and will get people interested? ---
**Author:** ![tonyfop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/85f322/32.png) [@tonyfop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tonyfop)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2014, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lord-of-the-rings-what-of-movie-goers-have-read-the-books/687294/40 "2014-05-07T15:23:59Z")
I had to read the Hobbit as a reading assignment prior to entering 9th grade(Summer of '84). I loved it, and tried to read all of the Tolkein at my local public library. I succeeded, with the exception of the Silmarillion. Started it, read like 20 pages, hated it, returned it. Tried every summer from then on, because it irked me that I couldn’t read the book. Finally finished it when I was 30. I wish it had a pronunciuation guide for all of the umlauts and other stuff in the names. They were too distracting. When I read, it just flows, but in the Silmarillion, I would get stuck on the names. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lord-of-the-rings-what-of-movie-goers-have-read-the-books/687294.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lord-of-the-rings-what-of-movie-goers-have-read-the-books/687294.md?page=3)