In this thread,, Uncle Poo tells us how much he enjoyed the Lord of the Rings movies, and expressed some regret that he had not read the original trilogy. He also expressed interest in reading futher about the world that Tolkien had created. Qadgop the Mercotan broke the news that Tolkien had nothing particularly similar to LOTR (Silmarillion being a bit drier, and The Hobbit being written in the style of a children’s book).
I observed that he (Uncle Poo) still has the LOTR books to get through, and I said:
While I was writing this, it occurred to me that some discussion of the issue might not go amiss.
So here’s the subject: Given a friend who has seen and enjoyed the Lord of the Rings movies, but has not read any Tolkien; and given that this person has asked you to introduce him (or her, it could be a her) to the source material, do you recommend reading The Hobbit before beginning The Fellowship of the Ring?
I’ll begin (I’m positing the friend to be an adult): I would be inclined to recommend beginning with FOTR. I’m not sure I can articulate it, but after the gravitas of the movie trilogy, it seems to me that reverting to the (it must be said) faintly condescending tone of The Hobbit would be jarring enough to turn someone off of the notion of finishing the remaining three volumes. Better fto dive right into A Long-Expected Party, and save An Unexpected Party, et seq. for a prequel-like treat, when you’re done.
This from someone who has only seen the first film but has read the book about eight times as an adolescent. Skip The Hobbit. My parents gave me that to read as a kid and I thought it was boring, boring, boring and didn’t even bother finishing it. It might be worse for an adult, although you could read through it quicker.
Then a few years later they gave me LOFTR and, like I said, I ended up reading it about eight times. This is also why I’m avoiding the films. They’re great, beatiful, well done etc. but people and landscapes just don’t look the way they did in my head. Having seen the film first you won’t have that problem. There’s is more than enough explanation in the book to be able to follow the plot with reading The Hobbit, even if you hadn’t seen all the films first anyway. If that gets you hooked you can read The Hobbit and The Silmarillion with trainspotterish delight.
Ive found it better to read the book first due to the simple fact that ** every time someone makes a movie from a good novel, they ALWAYS screw it up**. I understand that the movie producers have a budget to work with and they can’t afford to include each and every page into the film, but sometimes they will completely destroy the entire story altogether.
Example:
Have anyone here ever read the novel “The Good Mother”? If so, try and rent the movie that was later made from it. They both tell two entirely different stories with two entirely different endings… That really pissed me off too because I really enjoyed the book
In me eyes, novels are always better than movies!
Start with the Fellowship, first chapter. Save prologue for after.
In fact, many adults could skip the Hobbit altogether, I think. After reading Two Towers and ROTK. Silmarillion is a matter of taste.
Disclaimer: LOTR is one of my all time favorite books. Have read a zillion times. Have just skimmed Hobbit (I liked the graphic novel version tho) and couldn’t get thru Sil. Also loved the movies, tho they are very very different than the books, obviously.
I would reccomend that the Hobbit be avoided full stop. LotR has a much more epic fantasy ring to it, and to come across the Hobbit, before or after reading the main 3 books, is bound to disappoint. I felt that my time had been wasted by the Hobbit as it was nothing more than a good jolly flippant childrens tale.
As much as you need to know concerning Hobbits can be found in the prologue to LotR, or in the appendixes if youre really interested. The Hobbit contrbutes nothing of substance to the character of Hobbits, diminishes the Elves and turns all the Dwarves into incompetant buffoons. It also portrays Gandalf as very much the party conjuror which he is not in the main trilogy.
Not sure that I agree with that (Clockwork Orange the film was as good as the book IMO, though a bit different) but even if I did I’m not sure I agree with your conclusion. Why would you read a good book first, only to have your memories of it ruined by the film? If what you say is true the advice should be: read a book, forget about the film altogther. The original poster, however, who I suppose DID like the film in this case and is therefore in for a treat as the book is even better.
I enjoyed Hobbit, LOTR and Silmarillion. But they are all somewhat different. The Hobbit is more of a children’s book than LOTR (though a long way from just being just a children’s book). The Silmarillion delves into the ancient mythology.
Do you know what other books they’ve liked? Or, indeed, what they liked about LOTR films?
I didn’t read any of them until I was in my second year of college and felt obligated to simply because they were in the canon of Things You Must Know for a significant subset of my peer group. I read The Hobbit first and would recommend this course of action. The Hobbit is much more fun to read.
What the movies completely and utterly failed to convey was that this whole affair happened very, very slowly. To have in one’s mind a march to war that happened at the pace of Iraq 2.0 and get a march to war that happened at the pace of, oh let’s say, the Second Punic War might prove to be a bit off-putting. The Hobbit moves much more quickly and is told in a much more whimsical voice, making for a smoother transition, IMO.
I completely agree. I have tried to explain to so many people why I choose not to see the LOTR movies… I was so enthralled with the books that I can not allow my fond and correct memories to be muddled by seeing the theatrical productions. I sat thru most of the first movie, but decided to leave when the story strayed to much. I have always been understanding of productions being incapable of telling and showing the entire story but when important scenes are replaced with things that never even happend in the book I can not be open minded. However, I loved the casting.
I read the Hobbit when I was younger and perused to see if I should reread it but it isnt necessary. Ive tried to get into The Silmarillion but cannot, its like reading a history book. I think I will continue to try and get into it.
Related but also off subject… The book Sphere by Michael Crichton was an incredible book. The movie starring Dustion Hoffman, Sharon Stone and Samuel L Jackson was horribly done and destroyed the book.