J. R. R. Tolkien

[moonbeam]

I just wanted to make a topic about J. R. R. Tolkien. I have "The Lord of the Rings" and "The Hobbit" and they're really good. Anybody here ever read his books?

[iron_jones]

I've read the lord of the Rings trilogy and The Hobbit. I'm sure everyone here has read at least one of his works.

[Marvellous Chester]

I read The Hobbit after seeing the film at the cinema last December. I thought it was pretty good, though truth be told I have read better fantasy in my life

The Hobbit probably could have done with being twice as long to properly flesh out everything.

[Raiden]

Silver, you do realize that your perception of the book is probably being warped by the movie, right?

The movie is essentially the book with a lot of Tolkien's footnotes and side-stories slipped in where they would make the most sense.

For example, the ghosty thing in Dol Guldur is not discussed (I know what it is, but I'm not going to spoil it), and if I recall, Radagast was only mentioned once in the main trilogy.

I thought the movie was fantastic and did a magnificent job of fleshing out the book and tying things together in meaningful ways, but the book is what it is. It existed long before Peter Jackson was even born, and the movie is just a tidied-up and expanded retelling of it.

[Human No More]

Read The Hobbit, only ever got partway through LOTR

It's on my todo list... somewhere. I know, I'm lazy

[Empty Glass]

^ Do it!

I've read The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings...but have not read The Silmarillion. Has anybody here read that?

[iron_jones]

Originally Posted by Empty Glass

^ Do it!

I've read The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings...but have not read The Silmarillion. Has anybody here read that?

Getting through the Silmarillion, let alone any Tolkien book is a task in itself.

[Empty Glass]

Yeah, I've heard it's a real effort too. Quite a few of my friends have read LOTR but only one of them has successfully attempted The Silmarillion to my knowledge. Still, I'm kinda feeling inspired now to give it a try and see for myself what it's like.

[Marvellous Chester]

Originally Posted by Raiden

Silver, you do realize that your perception of the book is probably being warped by the movie, right?

The movie is essentially the book with a lot of Tolkien's footnotes and side-stories slipped in where they would make the most sense.

For example, the ghosty thing in Dol Guldur is not discussed (I know what it is, but I'm not going to spoil it), and if I recall, Radagast was only mentioned once in the main trilogy.

I thought the movie was fantastic and did a magnificent job of fleshing out the book and tying things together in meaningful ways, but the book is what it is. It existed long before Peter Jackson was even born, and the movie is just a tidied-up and expanded retelling of it.

It's not really that there are scenes in the film that aren't in the book, rather that I thought some of the parts in the book felt rushed and lacked description and depth.

As an example, the Battle of Five Armies starts and finishes in about half a dozen pages. It begins and you think 'Yay' and then it's over and you have to flick back to make sure none of the pages were stuck together

[iron_jones]

Originally Posted by The Silver Stag

As an example, the Battle of Five Armies starts and finishes in about half a dozen pages. It begins and you think 'Yay' and then it's over and you have to flick back to make sure none of the pages were stuck together

Tolkien does that a lot.
I remember the Battle of Helms Deep being very very boring and short in The Two Towers, which is odd because Tolkien doesn't shutup when he's oh, say, describing the leaves on a tree.

[Raiden]

Originally Posted by The Silver Stag

It's not really that there are scenes in the film that aren't in the book, rather that I thought some of the parts in the book felt rushed and lacked description and depth.

As an example, the Battle of Five Armies starts and finishes in about half a dozen pages. It begins and you think 'Yay' and then it's over and you have to flick back to make sure none of the pages were stuck together

Yeah, but describing every little interaction between each soldier is not how to write fantasy.

That part is supposed to be up to you to imagine.

That battle was just a bunch of different factions beating the crap out of each other, there just wasn't much else to it. No big, towering fortresses or miraculous turnarounds, just a good ol' fantasy beat-em'-up.

[CyanRachel]

I have The Hobbit book, all 3 LOTR books and the Silmarillion, but haven't had time to read them all yet. Plan on doing so one of these days.
And I have seen all 4 of PJ's Tolkien films up to this point (the LOTR trilogy and The Hobbit AUJ). Looking forward to seeing the 2nd Hobbit film coming in December.

[iron_jones]

Originally Posted by CyanRachel

I have The Hobbit book, all 3 LOTR books and the Silmarillion, but haven't had time to read them all yet. Plan on doing so one of these days.
And I have seen all 4 of PJ's Tolkien films up to this point (the LOTR trilogy and The Hobbit AUJ). Looking forward to seeing the 2nd Hobbit film coming in December.

Oh man, is it coming out this December??

[CyanRachel]

Kaltxi iron jones!
Yes, the second Hobbit film ("The Desolation of Smaug") is coming out this December.

[iron_jones]

Originally Posted by CyanRachel

Kaltxi iron jones!
Yes, the second Hobbit film ("The Desolation of Smaug") is coming out this December.

Christ, where does the time go?