No, I don’t think I’ve even heard of it.
Stargirl by Jerry Spinellis is also terrific. Bud, Not Buddy is terrific and the audio from the late, great James Avery is one of the best audios out there.
I will add your suggestion to my reading queue.
I have never read any Tolkien. Reading this thread makes me wonder if I should give it a go.
I don’t consider myself sub-literate. I’m not afraid of its complexity. I’ve made it through a few Pynchons, “The Satanic Verses” and “Ulysses” too. I’m also not intimidated by its length (the book I am currently reading is 992 pages).
It’s the genre itself that might do me in. I have close to zero interest in fantasy, but it’s hard to ignore Tolkien’s popularity.
Anyway, if I do take the plunge, where should I start? I guess “The Hobbit” is related to LoTR, but different somehow?
mmm
The Hobbit was written first. The Lord of the Rings is, or at least started out as, a sequel to The Hobbit that ended up being much longer and larger in scale.
The Hobbit is a children’s book that can also be enjoyed by adults. It’s helpful but not necessary to read The Hobbit first; a few of its characters and settings reappear in LOTR.
Hobbit was the kids book, which is still quite fun, that he wrote first. Lord of the Rings is a sequel, but it is hilarious
- It took two decades almost to write, so the publishing company was not happy.
- It’s 1000 pages, so the publishing company was not happy.
- It has multiple appendices, which the company was not happy about.
- It’s not even written for 10-12 year olds, which means its target audience is now adults.
They made him split it into three books because it was so overlong. It is just one novel, though.
And yet, it is amazing. Ignore genre; it’s terrific book.
I would do the Hobbit first. It’s a fun, easy read and introduces the reader to Hobbiton and Middle Earth and some of the characters in LOTR. The first edition of The Hobbit had to be revamped a little after LOTR to make Bilbo’s finding the ring a bit more cohesive between the two.
LOTR starts out sounding like the Hobbit but quickly becomes more dark and serious. Don’t go into it with any preconceived ideas and just try to enjoy it for the story it is.
I just bought it for $1.99 on Kindle. Let’s give it a go.
Discourse is forcing me to add this stuff because I accidentally posted in the wrong thread.
Honestly, for folks that don’t like fantasy, I’m very leery of recommending Lord of the Rings. Many of the sins we associate with fantasy novels (exposition dumps, obnoxious naming conventions, no women) are at their apotheosis in these books, and I worry that it could confirm people’s disdain for the genre. It’s like, if someone says they don’t like American food, I’m not gonna tell them to try Wendy’s Double Bacon Cheeseburger, no matter how much I like it.
If you’re not a fantasy fan but want to give the genre its best shake, I might recommend:
- The Fifth Season, by NK Jemisin. The world building is not as complex, but it’s still pretty great, and it’s introduced in a much more organic fashion. It’s been awhile since I read it, but if I recall correctly, Gandalf doesn’t show up once to lecture people for an hour on the world’s history. And the characters are complex, and the structure of the novel is interesting (if that’s your jam), and it’s written in a really cool voice.
- The Raven Tower, by Ann Leckie. This is a much chillier book, and much weirder, and mythic in tone. You might not like it, but you won’t think, “What a load of cliches.”
- Perdido Street Station, by China Mieville. If The Raven Tower isn’t weird enough for you, take this one on. It’s got strong horror vibes, but not in a slasher way.
LotR is a flawed masterpiece, and I worry that its flaws are gonna overshadow its genius for a lot of folks who already don’t care for the genre.
I read about half of Kraken by China Mieville. The guy is freaking nuts, in a good way. A lot of it reminds me of South American surrealism. It’s not a knock on the book that I didn’t finish it. I have a hard time finishing even books that are great.
I understand and appreciate the warning about LOTR. My favorite genres are science fiction and romance. I try to read more broadly at times and this seems like a good candidate.
I also have the Bujold fantasy novels to read.
Also I’m reading eight other books right now, so we’ll see.
My favorite books, that is, those I reread regularly, are:
- Dune by Frank Herbert
- Lord of Light by Roger Zelazny
- A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula Leguin
- The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien
These authors have other works which are good, but these particular books are their best, above even those. Other authors which didn’t quite make the list are Lois McMaster Bujold and Gene Wolfe.
As for The Lord of the Rings, it is a great book series. I have reread it multiple times, but I find The Hobbit to overall be better. Of course, it’s hard to separate them, as my knowledge of tLotR enhances my enjoyment of it.
This is a weird and really excellent book. And if you like it, the author has also written some excellent science fiction, which is less weird.
And by “less weird” you mean “the main character is a sentient battleship walking around in human form, and lots of characters have multiple bodies, and since gender is unimportant to the society everyone uses ‘she’ pronouns, no matter their genitalia or lack thereof”. And yes, I agree it’s less weird!
Very good writer. I despise how he ends his books 
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Heh. The Bas-Lag series (Perdido Street Station, The Scar, and The Iron Council) all have tremendously unsatisfying endings, which IMO work beautifully for them. King Rat ends with an absolute stinker of a pun that undermined the entire book for me, as did This Census-Taker. He’s never dull, always experimenting, and sometimes his experiments just crash and burn for me, but other times they succeed like nothing else.
Also, I read Railsea aloud a couple of years ago, and holy crap does that man know how to string a sentence together.
I should give that one another shot. I didn’t get into it the first time I tried. It seemed very clinical. I understand why but it didn’t make for good reading.
I am going to read Lord of the Rings before the Hobbit because I think the odds of me completing both books (as opposed to one) is vanishingly small, and I’d at least like to say I read the trilogy.
Much less weird, imho. After all, the main character walks around in human form.
I can definitely see that: the books are told from the POV of the spaceship, and it’s a deliberately inhuman mindset, and while I think it works, there’s a distinct coldness to the story that might not be to everyone’s taste.
When people watch Dark City for the first time, I tell them that when some creepy white dude comes on the screen, cover your ears and say “LALALALALA” until you see a swinging light bulb. Similarly=ly, with LotR, I’ll say, if you’re tempted to give up because Gandalf won’t put a sock in it, instead consider flipping pages until you see someone else talking. I think the Gandalf TED Talk might put off thousands of readers every year. When I was younger, I tried reading the book three times before I finally made it through the marathon exposition dump–but when I made it through that, I was completely hooked.
Ah, yes - it was The Scar I was thinking of, not Kraken which I don’t think I ever got around to (it’s in a box, somewhere). And oh yes, King Rat 
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I’ve mentioned this a couple of times before but a friend I loaned Perdido Street Station to was really into it. Until they finished it. They then handed it back and said “fuck you for recommending this” 
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Amazing.
I really appreciate messy endings, but you really have to appreciate them to not hate Mieville at the end of that book.
I just downloaded A Wizard of Earthsea. I’ve never read any of her works but I’m going to give this one a try.
It’s “young adult” literature, and an excellent read.