I read the Hobbit and really enjoyed it but just can’t get very far into The Followship of the Ring. I hoped after seeing the movies and really enjoying them I could tackle the books, but for me it proves to be toughter than trekking to Modor.
I have neither read the book or seen the movies.
Never read the books or seen the movies. Which is a little strange since I used to play tabletop RPGS (D&D etc), played Everquest and even played the LoTR MMORPG for a bit.
Just never got around to trying to read the books and the films, to be honest, just seem like a big time investment for watching some movies.
Raises hand
I have NOT read LOTR.
I quite liked the Hobbit when we read it at school, but couldn’t manage the Lord of the Rings. I’m not even sure how much of the first book I managed to read because it was such a slog.
Do you mean the animated movies?
I’ve tried about three times and can’t even get through the introductory chapter.
Me.
Frankly, I really don’t know why it seems like the SDMB is such a hotbed of LOTR fanaticism, especially compared to other message boards.
I should add, I saw the LOTR movies and love them! I’ve read all of HP, and seen all of the movies so far. I love the HP books, and the movies range from love down to merely like a lot.
“Slog” seems a common word in describing the LOTR books by those of us who haven’t finished the books.
Nope on both the novels and the movies. I tried The Hobbit and had no interest. Again, just not into fantasy. I’ve been meaning to try the movies but I’ve been out of the movie habit of late. And, frankly, I’m in no rush and really don’t care if I ever do see them.
I haven’t read them. I did try after seeing Fellowship for the first time, but I just couldn’t get into it. I have seen all the movies, both theatrical and extended director’s cut, and loved them. I’ve filled in a lot of the blanks left by the films by reading this board and also by having a BFF who knows the books inside and out.
Back in the early 1980s I got about halfway through the second volume, but it just got too boring to continue. I haven’t bothered trying again since.
I haven’t seen the films either, although I have sung the Lord of the Rings Symphony.
There was a fad for reading LOTR when I was at school in the mid-70s. Being froward, I refused to jump on the bandwaggon and have avoided it (and anything elseby Tolkein) ever since. For the same reason, I have not ever seen the films.
The Harry Potter books (and probably the films too?) are aimed at children and I am in my late 40s, hence no interest at all.
I couldn’t get through a single one of the LOTR books. Fell asleep during the first LOTR movie and didn’t have any desire to watch the other ones.
Me.
Harry Potter either. No desire, don’t care for the genre.
Was there really a purpose to this other than inviting a bashing of the books?
Exactly! Never made it through any of the movies either. For whatever reason, they just didn’t stick with me.
My mom pushed The Hobbit on me as a kid … I think originally I was too young for it, I tried but didn’t really get anything from the first few chapters other than a vague sense of freakiness about hobbits, and then put it down.
Years later, I tried with the trilogy, and couldn’t make it very far then either. That time, the concept seemed okay, but it was like reading Bon Appetit. I was always putting the book down to wander off and have a snack. This time I made it maybe 1/4 the way through the first one. It still lives on my shelf, looking at me reproachfully.
I have watched the movies and enjoyed them well enough, but wouldn’t describe myself as a particular fan.
Ha, I was also remembering that as a kid, I had a friend who just loved the books, and would tell me all about them, and I don’t know if I’m remembering it this way or if it really was this way, it seemed like 95% of what she talked about was Gollum, and how scary he was and I think this contributed a lot to my hesitation to read the books at the time. Even as an adult watching the movies, I found Gollum a little too disturbing.
We’re not fanatics. We just love LOTR to the point of near-insanity. 
Loved The Hobbit, then was assigned the first LOTR as the summer reading going into 8th grade. Slogged through it as best I could, but fucking hated it and, 40 years later, have forgotten everything about it except how much I hated it. Have no interest in returning to the scene of that particular crime.