I've finally bought the "Lord of the rings", the book.

[NeoNite]

It's the fiftieth anniversay edition. English. It took me a while to get it. The only copy to be found was the dutch translation. I wasn't overly fond of it. Just... didn't feel right.

So I ordered "a" copy of the English book. After merely 8 days I returned to the store to pick up the book.

That was one month ago. Hmm.. 1200+ pages. I'm taking my time. Every now and then I read a chapter. I've reached the "Helm's deep" chapter.

It's a captivating story, a wonderful read. I shouldn't compare it to the movie, because it's impossible to do so.

The book is, naturally, a better experience... there's so much more to be discovered... finally I understand some parts of the movie which I never quite got.

For example: The battle between Gandalf and the Balrog. How did they get to the mountain peak etc?

The journey through the old forest was a very good read. I could see, feel, almost smell (heh) their surroundings. And when the willow tree got pippin and merry, that was exciting.

Strider, legoglas and jimley chasing the Uruk kai. Really, I couldn't stop reading.

Because of English not being my first language, I have to use a dictionnary. Advanced English, that is. Every once in a while I need to look up a word, but to be completely honest... I do understand most I read.

So that's quite a relief.

I can't wait too read the "shelob" part.

The book is great, you can use your imagination to make the world come alive. AND because of the movies, it is possible to "put a face" on the characters. Although I tend to alter those slightly. It seems that Strider and Frodo are much older in the book...

I didn't quite expect Frodo to be that old... Some parts had me frowning. All those years in between. Sometimes it takes a hell of a long time for an important event to take place.

Nevertheless, already it's one of the best books I've read.

Although I pretty much know how the story will evolve, it still is an exciting read.

P.s.: The Tom bombadill part has stricken me as slightly "odd". Though I enjoyed reading it.

[Renegade Retard]

Thanks for that, Neo!

I've considered getting the book too after watching the films, but didn't know if I should.

You've convinced me.

You had me at "hello."

[NeoNite]

I hope I haven't reveiled anything I shouldn't have, though...

[DaBeatard]

I've read the trilogy a bunch of times. Great story. It reads well the second time around too. The second (and subsequent) time(s) I read it I enjoyed following how Gandalph moved whole armies and individuals around just to buy time for Frodo. Even though Frodo/Gollum actually destroyed the ring, Gandalph is the one who really made it happen.

Once they get past Tom Bombadill it seems like the style of the book changed. Almost like Tolkien was still in 'The Hobbit' style up until that point and then switched to a more serious style.

[NeoNite]

The hobbit. Another book I need to read.

One day I will...

[Enfyrneaux]

I remember The Hobbit having a much lighter tone than LOTR.

From what I remember, I burned through the first two books of LOTR, then I stalled on the first couple of chapters of ANGST in Return of the King until I kicked myself in the pants and finished it. I am very glad I did :)

[Morety]

I was about to say you should read that one as well.

It's an easier read, but entertaining to be sure.

[.altan]

It's a bad book that's not worth the stupid amount of time to get through it

[JaFO]

The hobbit. Another book I need to read.

One day I will...
You need to read it as it reveals how Bilbo meets *gollem* and how he found 'his preciousss' (of course they sort of told that in the movie-version as well)

We hatesss it all Bagginssess we curssesss it.

oh ... and it's Gimli of course ...
The Hobbit also tells you why Gimli is important and why he's so upset when they discover the fate of the dwarves ...

Hobbitsess ... yesss *gollum*

Did you get the hardcover-version with all the illustrations by Alan Lee ?

[Israphel]

The Hobbit is nice...but bear in mind it was written for children and sometimes it shows.

What I would REALLY recommend if you liked LOTR is The Silmarillion and Unifinished Tales.
Lord Of The Rings is just the culmination of 4 ages of history. The Silmarillion is Tolkien's master work, the entire history of middle earth from creation until the beginning of LOTR.

At first it reads almost like Genesis as Tolkien introduces the Valar and the Maiar (The Gods and angels of Middle Earth)..and it is heavy going. But then it gets to the birth of the Elves and the Dwarves and then the birth of man.
It gives so many layers to the story, you get to see all the depth. Why the Elves and Dwarves distrust each other, about the line of Kings from which Aragorn descends, about Melkor/Morgoth and why most of the Elves left Middle Earth. About who Sauron is and where he comes from, the creation of the rings and (if you pay attention) you get to find out exactly who and what Gandalf is.

Some of the stories are fantastic, the myths around Beren and Luthien and Turin Turumbar are WAY more epic than anything in Lord of the Rings. The fall of Numenor and why men are banned from Valinor, the creation of the rings and the story of Galadrial (Elrond's mother) and why she is exiled from Valinor until she refuses the ring and is allowed to go home.

Really, if you enjoyed reading LOTR, then read The Silmarillion, and then Unifinished Tales (which goes into more depth on some of the myths and stories).

[Mr_Rose]

Oh, man! You only just got to Shelob?
The End of the book carries on waaay after the end of the movie. I was so disappointed when they nerfed the final battle and totally cut the Scouring/what happened to Saruman/Sams tale
Oh yeah, Bombadil is weird. Don't worry, he's meant to be - Tolkien added him at the request of one of his children IIRC. He's also the single most speculated upon mystery in all the Books: Is he supposed to be Eru, Illuvatar, The One, manifest in the world He Sang? Or is Tom just Tolkien himself playing with his own creations? Are these last the same question?

And, I agree with Israphel, The Silmarillion is the way forward once you're done with LOTR and Hobbit, though it is a lot deeper, with less detail and more storytelling - i.e. it tells the stories of the events without mindlessly recording who said exactly what to whom and what they were wearing at the time...

P.S. .altan, while you are entitled to your opinion, I suggest that your phraseology could use some work. A little explanation, perhaps? Personally, I use the books as markers in my life; whe I was five and yet a child, I finished The Hobbit. When I turned six, I began the ascent to adolescence with LOTR. I was done before I was eight, at which point I was able to move on to Silmarillion. I don't generally regard that time as wasted, especially as I didn't really have anything else to do at the time.

[purice]

old tom bombadil is a merry fellow;
bright blue his jacket is, and his boots are yellow.

the encyclopedia of arda (http://www.glyphweb.com/ARDA/) is a good reference to all things tolkien for those who are curious ;)

[Enfyrneaux]

P.S. .altan, while you are entitled to your opinion, I suggest that your phraseology could use some work. A little explanation, perhaps?
I think he was yanking your chain...

Personally, I use the books as markers in my life; whe I was five and yet a child, I finished The Hobbit. When I turned six, I began the ascent to adolescence with LOTR. I was done before I was eight, at which point I was able to move on to Silmarillion. I don't generally regard that time as wasted, especially as I didn't really have anything else to do at the time.
Ever since I started reading novels, my dad repeatedly badgered at me to read The Hobbit. I daresay that it's a better read than any of the Harry Potter books, especially for a young mind.

[Morety]

My daughter's 7 years old now, I think I'll start reading her a chapter a night of The Hobbit.

[Trynant]

I remember reading The Hobbit for school. Considering that I never read anything for school, it was a good book. I actually enjoyed schoolwork for once. Maybe I'll go back to it sometime and read it for fun, and perhaps without a deadline over my head.

I read The Lord of the Rings recently. Good book. Sam going to save Frodo was a good chapter. That book reminds me of how much has to be cut for something to be made into a movie. Impressive considering that the film version was approximately 12 hours long.

As of now, I have Gravity's Rainbow, The Sotweed Factor, The Stand, White Noise, The Sound and the Fury, and Middlesex stacked together, waiting to be finished. So Tolkien will have to wait :D

For those of you on this forum who haven't read any Tolkien, find a copy of The Hobbit and start reading it. Nothing more I can say about this guy.

[Manticore]

I read the trilogy again for the first time in years (including reading the Hobbit first) after I had gotten over the movies. I was a bit surpised as to how many liberties Jackson took with the narrative, but the films are still excellent.

Enjoy the books NeoNite they're brilliant.

[Airmoran]

My daughter's 7 years old now, I think I'll start reading her a chapter a night of The Hobbit.
Jump straight to the bit with the giant spiders. That part scared the crap out of me for a month straight.

[sid]

Where have you been Neonite??
and oh btw, wise step on the lotr book.

[NeoNite]

The version of the book:

It is based on the reset edition first published in 2002.
Which is a revised version of the reset edition first published in 1994.

No hardcover. Very, very few illustrations.

Contents:

- Note on the text
- Note on the 50th anniversay edition
- Foreword to the second edition
- Prologue concerning Hobiits, and other matters

- The book

- Appendices:

Annals of kings and rulers
Tale of years (chronology of the westlands)
Family trees (hobbits)
Calendars
Writing and spelling

- Indexes:

Poems and songs
Poems and phrases in languages other than common speech
Persons, places and things

I've made a small error, the books contains a mere 1178 pages ;-)

Dear oh dear, I shall burn in hell...

Where have you been Neonite??

There and back again ;-)

I took a long break.

Oh, man! You only just got to Shelob?

Not yet, I'm reading the Helm's deep chapter. The orcs are about to launch an assault on the fortress...

Enjoy the books NeoNite they're brilliant.

I agree

What I would REALLY recommend if you liked LOTR is The Silmarillion and Unifinished Tales.
Lord Of The Rings is just the culmination of 4 ages of history. The Silmarillion is Tolkien's master work, the entire history of middle earth from creation until the beginning of LOTR.

Those books are mentioned in "Note on the text", iirc.
I have found those books at several bookstores, but alas.. the dutch translations.. again :-( No can do.

But I'll keep looking.

Once they get past Tom Bombadill it seems like the style of the book changed. Almost like Tolkien was still in 'The Hobbit' style up until that point and then switched to a more serious style

The barrow wights part was very intense.

[Renegade Retard]

Just curious....how does his works read? In other words, is it a hard read where you wade through long, poetic ramblings and large outdated vocabulary? Or is it an enjoyable read that's easy to follow?

I'm hoping it's something I can just pick up and read a few pages at a time before going to bed without having to rack my brain trying to decifer what he's actually saying.

[sid]

Read also, Eragon and Eldest.

[DaBeatard]

Ren-

Amazon excerpt (http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/0395193958/ref=sib_dp_bod_ex/103-4526696-4835040?%5Fencoding=UTF8&p=S00G#reader-link)

It's fairly stylized, but that's part of what made me enjoy it so much.

[Enfyrneaux]

Just curious....how does his works read? In other words, is it a hard read where you wade through long, poetic ramblings and large outdated vocabulary? Or is it an enjoyable read that's easy to follow?
Aside from Tolkien using single quotes for dialog, the word "ere" (archaic synonym of "before"), and the drawn-out drivel at the beginning of Return of the King, the books are not hard to follow and are really quite riveting.

[Evil_Cope]

I wouldn't say they're hard to follow, but purely stylistically he is not the best writer in the world, ever, that's for sure. Things can drag at times, and basically, when first starting the Fellowship of the ring, do not expect much to happen any-time soon. :)
That said, it's the great story that will carry you through.

I must say though, i managed about two chapters of the silmarilion. I didn't get any further because I'd stabbed my own eyes out in boredom. With a bomb.

*cough*, I mean, a lot of people think very highly of it and it might be worth looking into, though it wasn't quite for me, personally. Yes. :con:

[Renegade Retard]

Ren-

Amazon excerpt (http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/0395193958/ref=sib_dp_bod_ex/103-4526696-4835040?%5Fencoding=UTF8&p=S00G#reader-link)

It's fairly stylized, but that's part of what made me enjoy it so much.

That's the proof I need. Thanks!

[Gundato]

The Silmarillion is the third worst book I have ever read. The Great Gatsby and The Scarlet Letter tie for first.

Tolkein tells an amazing story. He just couldn't write to save his life. He would spend twelve pages discussing a hill, but then one sentence for the battle that took place on said hill.

Don't get me wrong, I do suggest you try and read the Silmarillion. It is an AMAZING story. It just makes you want to kill yourself (and you will need to re-read every chapter twice).

[Enfyrneaux]

Just so everyone knows, The Silmarillion is a collection of unfinished work that was published after Tolkien's death. He wanted to do at least a complete rewrite, but he did not have the time to do so.

[JaFO]

It's definitely not something you'd want to read if your knowledge of the english language isn't above average to begin with. LoTR can be tough and slow going at times, but the Silmarillion makes it look like a children's book. I seriously doubt that NeoNite will have any fun reading it.

The Hobbit may be a children's story, but it is the Tolkien at his best IMHO. And it definitely is easier to read compared to LotR if you haven't read a lot of english books before.

[FieldMedic]

My daughter's 7 years old now, I think I'll start reading her a chapter a night of The Hobbit.
That's a good age to get started at reading The Hobbit, i was 7 years old when i began to read the book myself, that's a very good book to stimulate the kid imagination at this age as the book is not as hard to read as the Lord of the Ring trilogy.

Now at 34 years old, i finished reading it again and always find this saga interesting with sometime some deep content "between the lines" and some way lighter instants to help the atmosphere never being too heavy for the reader.

[_Zd_Phoenix_]

One of the best things my mum did for me as a kid was read loads of fantasy books to me. I haven't read LOTR for a very long time, but I clearly remember her reading it, and it was amazing...it didn't matter when I didn't understand certain words and concepts as well as I should have, but even as an 8-10 year old I thought it was incredible.

I'll have to dust it off and give it another go soon...

[NeoNite]

It's definitely not something you'd want to read if your knowledge of the english language isn't above average to begin with. LoTR can be tough and slow going at times, but the Silmarillion makes it look like a children's book. I seriously doubt that NeoNite will have any fun reading it.



Well guess again.

Tolkein tells an amazing story. He just couldn't write to save his life. He would spend twelve pages discussing a hill, but then one sentence for the battle that took place on said hill.

Things do seem to drag on for a while, sometimes. But never to the point when it becomes irritating, imho. Besides, I likes extended descriptions. It seems as if he's put a lot of joy into describing middle earth.

But I'll comment again when I've completed the book.
Which might be months from now, because there are more important things which require.. attention...=-)

[<*)_><]

A phonebook is more readable than the Silmarillion.

If you're done with LOTR+the hobbit, try David Eddings' Belgariad
One of the few fantasy series with a good bit of humor in it.