I have personally read all of the Lord of the Rings books. I'm curious to see who else has read them. Is anyone else interested by the actual lore of Middle Earth?
I read all of the books too, I love them. The fantasy aspect of it is wonderful. Tolkien is a great writer
what actually amazes me is that he was actually just writing the books because he was a linguist and wanted a reason to use the languages that he created
I am one of those who fit in the category of absolutely adoring this book. When I was 15 and living in Africa, this book was my (almost) constant companion. I was dreading to finish it, because the epic was so fascinating I wanted to stay in Middle Earth forever. No matter how big the trilogy is, it is not big enough. There are, however, people who completely disagree with me on this and couldn't get into the book at all. On my website I have placed a section down the bottom of the 1st page which lists some books which most people regard as classics and the not so nice comments made by some critics (writers geting kicked). The Lord of the Rings is one of them. It has the most negative comments written about it, however, that also shows another positive trend: that it is a widely read book, otherwise it wouldn't have amassed so many comments. Some may find reading it boring, but for me the language and poetry make it a masterpiece that belongs in every home.
i read most of it 25 yrs ago.. i stopped at battle of pelonner fields and only saw the final chapters on film.. altho i have the bbc adaptation on tape too .. ok, i know, i do that tho, several other books i gotta finish.. somtime.. tried reading the silmarillion and listened to tapes but even then its hard work ! so much detail.. v nice and all that.. but for his linguist skills.. thats fine i spose for him, pointless for us.. unless ya really dedicated... fantastic books great films, tolkien is king.. heres to him.. learned elvish lol congrats, i have a m8 who talks klingon or maybe bollox.. haha
Tolkien was a complete genius. I laughed, I cried, I got worried, basically, the world was so engrossing that I felt what the characters were feeling. And I completely agree, White Scorpian, the worst part was right after reading the last words, and realizing that your journey is over...sure, there's all the history of middle earth books and the sillmarillion to read, but those last words are the last time you'll read something new about the mortal characters... 'twas very sad.
I read the trilogy for the first time several years ago, and absolutely loved it. Fantastic book. Took me a while to get through it, but definitely worth it. The characters are one of the strong points, and the detail is incredible.
My husband bought me the set when the movie came out because I wanted to read the books first. I was enchanted. Lost in an amazing and magical world... Tolkien was a wonderful writer.
my dad introduced us to the books, with a great deal of reverence, when i was quite young. the books filled my childhood. i remember eagerly waiting all year to watch the rankin-bass special on tv, one of my cousins frightening me with his "gollum, gollum", another cousin lifting me onto their shoulders so i could look at the tolkien calendar on the wall. as a child i had a very rich inner world, populated with elves and hobbits and wizards, my backyard was middle earth. as an older child i wrote book reports on the trilogy, as a teen i created my own tolkien-inspired illustrations and sought out the work of other tolkien artists. it was probaly the single most important literary influence on my life. now as an adult i see my son taking the same intense interest in tolkien, and it fills me with joy. we even named the cats "frodo" and "gandalf".
Kitty Fabulous, that's awesome that you're carrying on the tradition with your son. What a magical world to grow up in.
I like that fact that a lot of people are collaborating (sp?) to create a bigger Middle-Earth. They are creating a larger picture of all the creatures, places and events of Middle-Earth. Personally, I love Tolkien. Last night I went back and started re-reading the Two Towers. In the foward of the book, someone wrote that tolkien didn't create the Lord of the Rings. They commented on how he didn't create the characters. He created a place for all of it to happen. And in creating Middle-Earth, the characters, such as elves, goblins, men, and wizards all had a place to reside. Putting all of these beings into one place, created the events that happened in his books. He didn't create the Lord of the Rings, he just built a window through which we could look down on Middle-Earth and view all the happenings of this wonderful world!
The Lord of the Rings is one of the greatest epics ever written. It addresses countless issues and does it in a creative way that will capture the imagination of readers of all ages. The ring=power. Power=Corruption. Corruption=Destruction. What is seductive about Tolkien's world and makes everything worth fighting for, is that although they have their share of leaders who may have varying degrees of weak points and some are even evil, at least that's better than the leaders who we have in our world, who are ALL self-serving hypocrites, liars and deserters. Where are the Aragorns and Gandalfs to run the world for us? Why do we get the Sarumans and Wormtongues?
In my opinion the books are not about the Arragons and Gandalfs running the world for us. They are about the small, inconsequential everyman who raises to the occasion through a sense of duty, willpower, and self sacrifice to accomplish great feats in spite of the odds againest them, as represented by the Hobbits. And then goes home.
I'm a huge fan and have read them all many times as well as the Simillarian (sp?) which is basically the Middle Earth bible. Tells how it all came to be.
Not the exact reason actually. See his son was a soldier in some war (dont know which one theres been so many) but he wanted to write letters to his son and his buddies to entertain them while on there missions. After he wrote the hobbit to his son, he recieved a letter from his son telling him that all his freinds enjoyed reading the book and wished to keep hearing new stories. Well as it goes Tolkien just keep writing away and writing away, finding himself making the second book or the first book of the trilogy. Then after his son returned from the war Tolkien decided to get them published...After that made 2 more wonderful books. Just thought I would give you all a little background.
Right, It was World War I. There are a lot of parallels(sp?) between the war for the ring and WWI. I was under the impression that he sent them to his son, but his inspiration for writing them was as a model of the languages that he was creating. I may be wrong. After all, I'm not a perfect historian
I love these books, so much. My dad read them to me when i was really little, and i've read the whole series like 3-4 times a year for quite awhile now.. I've been teaching myself Elvish too, but i've stopped for awhile, cause i have to focus on other things. I remember when the first movie came out, and i became obsessed with it all over again...good times, good times..
Another important "lesson" of the trilogy is the fellowship. Frodo couldn't have ever accomplished his mission without everyone doing what they were expected to do, and beyond (even the bad guys). I am always astounded when anyone says they didn't like the story. It is amazing. And I had my first "crush" in ages not on Viggo Mortenson but on The King!