Lotr Fans - Books, Movies?

[FishOwner]

Any LOTR fans here? I loved the books but really love the movies!! I have heard rumors that Peter Jackson may be doing The Hobbit!!! I would love to see that too!!

 

[Arfie]

I read the books when I was younger and I enjoyed them, but they are very heavy to read so I can't see me reading them again. I loved the films, probably because it had been so long since I read the books so I didn't spot all the differences between the stories like the geeks do.

As a book I prefered The Hobbit and if Peter Jackson can make it as well as he did with lotr, I'd love to see it.

Has anyone read The Silmarillion? I've tried several times and I can't get past page 10, it's a real chore to read.

Arfie

 

[lljdma06]

Has anyone read The Silmarillion? I've tried several times and I can't get past page 10, it's a real chore to read.

Arfie

I have read the Silmarillion twice. I count it among my favorite books, along side with Homer's Oddessy (sp) and Conrad's Heart of Darkness. But I will agree, I was constantly looking up the names and geneologies in the back of the book. I prefer it to the Hobbit, and I'd love to see Peter Jackson take up a few tales from that book and make them movies. I have also read the LOTR trilogy.

 

[prankster705]

I have read silmarillion, hobbit and lotr. I didn't have that much problem with silmarillion after the page 20 it was easy.

 

[boozybears]

I had never read the LOTR back in highschool so when the movies initially came out had no desire to watch them as I'm normally not into that genre of movie. A friend finally forced me to see the first one once released on DVD and WOW!!! I fell in love with the story, the characters and suddenly became a HUGE fan. Still haven't gotten around to read the books though.. although they're on my ever growing 'things to read before i die' list.

 

[FishOwner]

Arfie, you and I had similar experiences! I read the books as a teen so when the movies came out oh so many years later, I had no problem falling in love with them! And I can't get past the first couple of pages of Silmarillion either! Fall asleep every time!


I sure hope the rumors are true about Jackson doing The Hobbit. That would be great!!

 

[Ami]

I'm embarassed to admit that I hadn't even heard of them until I met someone at uni who was hooked - same person who hooked me on Terry Pratchett actually. And real ale.
)

I've read them all through twice now, except the Simirallion which I have to agree Arfie was pretty hard going. I did make it to the end, although admittedly it was only with excessive use of the handy appendices!

Re: the Hobbit movie - Jackson has owned the rights to this for some time and has always planned on making the movie. It is expected in the next couple of years and will be amazing if the LOTR series was anything to go by.

Can't wait to see more of Gollum and men in tights!

 

[SPLiSH]

We have all the LOTR books and movies, I've read the series twice and watched the movies... too many times.

I saw the first movie in like grade seven, so I went to read the Hobbit. It was too heavy but I still loved the movies. Reading the Hobbit is now on my to-do list.

What's the Silmarillion? I've heard of it but is it part of LOTR or a completely different story?

 

[lljdma06]

What's the Silmarillion? I've heard of it but is it part of LOTR or a completely different story?

It is the story of the beginnings of middle Earth. It is comprised of several stories other than the Silmarillion proper which is kind of in the middle. The first is the Ainulindale or the Myth of Creation of Middle Earth. Then comes the Valaquenta, which describes the nature and powers of the Gods, the Valar in LOTRs, Then begins the Silmarillion proper, which is the tale of the forging of beautiful jewels from special trees, their theft, and a house's pledge, at all costs, to recapture the jewels. This desire to recapture the jewels results in the break down of the great elvin kingdoms in middle earth and the virtual distruction of the house of Finwe. Entertwined are stories of great tragedy and stories of great triumph and love. The book ends with the Allakabeth, which tells the tale of the downfall of Numenor, which is the kingdom of Elros and his descendents, the brother of Elrond in the LOTR, who chose to be among men and remain mortal. There is also like a small appendix which tells of the forging of the rings of Power and the coming of the third age. It's a great book, just throws a lot at you at once, but I enjoyed it a great deal.

It is related to the LOTR, in the sense that it tells the tale of Aerwen and Aragorn's ancestors. You can trace their linneage back to the house of Finwe. A lot of battles and names that are alluded to in LOTRs are explained in greater detail in this book. The book was designed to resemble a complelation of narratives. A gathering of stories from different sources. Some have more detail than others. These are also some of Tolkien's oldest tales, some were written in the trenches of WWI.

This is very over-simplified, but anyone who's read the book will understand that you just can't recount the story in just a small post.

 

[Ami]

No, cos it will take 3 years of your life to read it first!

 

[lljdma06]

No, cos it will take 3 years of your life to read it first!

Actually it only took me a week or two. But I'm an uber nerd. And I was on Vacation.

 

[SirMinion]

The Silmarillion isn't that hard once you get past the 'Genesis' part and into the myths proper.

For any LotR fan it's a must because it contains all the history and backstories to all the people, creatures and places in Middle Earth.
It explains the significance of the White Tree of Gondor, where Balrogs come from and why Greenwood became Mirkwood and got infested with giant spiders.

It explains why the Elves go into the West and who (and what) characters like gandalf, Tom Bombadil, Ents, orcs and Shelob are. (If you think that Shelob if a huge, horrible spider wait until you read about Ungoliant, Shelobs mother!)

The bit in the LotR movie where they Saruman explains to the Uruks that Orcs are ruined Elves isn't in the LotR books, it come from The Silmarilion.

Persevere, it's worth it!

 

[Puffer_freak]

I enjoyed the films, and my friend is obsessed in every way. Nearly everyday ends up with some kind of LotR conversation... *rolls eyes*

I loved the soundtracks to the films too...

Personally, I didn't like the books, as I couldn't get into them. I'll probably try reading them again soon though.

 

[prankster705]

No, cos it will take 3 years of your life to read it first!

Actually it only took me a week or two. But I'm an uber nerd. And I was on Vacation.

Excuse me for saying this but you two are slow, it took me less than 5 days to read it (vacation), it's not that hard.

 

[Ami]

Lol

PK is always the scholar.

I'm not sure how long it took me to read, was a few years ago now, but would say a week is about right. I normally read 2-3 novels a week, so a big one does take me longer.

And that was no vacation time PK