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So I just watched the 3 part movie series over the course of two days and I loved it! I tried to get into the movies when I was younger, but I could never make past the 2nd one. I think it's the politics/factions portion of the story that originally threw me off.
Anyways, I'm definitely considering buying the books now. I hear they can be a slog to get through, but that there is some top-notch world-building if you can stick with it. I tried reading the Hobbit when I was younger as well, but I'm thinking that even though it serves as a "prequel" of sorts, it'd be better appreciated after finishing the main book.
Anyone else here watched/read LotR?
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Multiple times. Excellent movies, even better books. I took a Tolkien class in college. That turned out to be the best 1 credit course I ever took.
Deceitful, two-faced she-woman. Never trust a female, Delmar, remember that one simple precept and your time with me will not have been ill spent.
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Liked them so much I bought the complete series of books for my grandmother in the mid to late 70's.
She claims to have read and enjoyed them but not sure if she is being truthful or just being nice. lol
The water tastes funny when you're far from your home,
yet it's only the thirsty that hunger to roam.
Roam the Jungle !
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Read all the books about 40 years ago (including the Silmarrilion and Bestiary). Seen all the movies. The books are a slog, even more so in today's world where we have a lesser appreciation for language. But it is a definitely a worthwhile read.
Part of the problem with the read is that there are layers of complexity. You can read it once to just get the base story. And that is definitely worthwhile as it is a great story. But like Shakespeare and the Bible, if you put some time in to study as you read it, you find there is a whole new level of ideas that Tolkien was trying to communicate. Tolkien was a languages expert and a professor at Oxford U. specializing in Anglo-Saxon and Early English. There were a lot of early language terms strewn about the books that Tolkien was trying to revive in addition to creating new languages (such as Elvish). The second level is equally fascinating as the first.
As far as the Hobbit, I'm not a fan of the Peter Jackson movie trilogy. It sort of shows all that is wrong with movie making today ("make it bigger and better and darker, and make more money!). The one-hour Rankin Bass animated movie from the 70's encapsulated the story and captured the original charm far better, IMO. The "Hobbit" was supposed to be a story you could share with kids. My son was horrified with the movie and wanted to leave after a half hour because of the violence and darkness of it. It is a movie for adult-children.