BARBELITH underground
 

Subcultural engagement for the 21st Century...
Barbelith is a new kind of community (find out more)...
You can login or register.


Underground > Books, Criticism & Writing >

First Time Reading Lord of the Rings

  
 
Foust is SO authentic
17:58 / 26.09.02
Yes ladies and gentlemen, I am currently one of the few, the proud and the fortunate - I am experiencing the Lord of the Rings for the very first time. It is breathtaking. Everything from Tom Bombadil to Lothlorien to Gandolf's rousing of Theoden to Helm's Deep; pure amazement.

It's achingly beautiful, exciting and powerful. This is sheer joy.

I'm just starting book 4.
 
 
Tuna Ghost: Pratt knot hero
19:56 / 26.09.02
Glad to hear it. The my first bit of Tolkien was my mother reading The Hobbit to me when I was but yea high...
 
 
Trijhaos
21:14 / 26.09.02
The first time I read The Hobbit , I was probably ten or so. I liked it a lot. It had all my favorite fantasy staples. Dwarfs, wizards, and magic swords. Good stuff. Unfortunately, I wasn't as impressed by the rest of the books. They just seemed to go on and on and on. I think they focused too much on that hairy-footed freak Frodo. The books should have been focused on the sexy, sexy ranger Aragorn. I'm thinking about giving the trilogy another shot. When I read them I was 12 and I got bored with all the desciption. I'm older now, so I might appreciate them a bit more.
 
 
grant
21:19 / 26.09.02
You'll be doing yourself a favor, Trijhaos.

There *is*, however, a real draggy bit near the beginning of the third volume - when Frodo reaches the outskirts of Mordor, wandering through the desert. Bleak, bleak.
 
 
Trijhaos
22:47 / 26.09.02
I remember the copies I read had all these nifty bits at the end. Glossaries, a listing of characters, a bit of history about the LotR world and some other stuff. Do any of the newly released versions have these or am I going to have to hunt around some used bookstores to find older copies?
 
 
Suedey! SHOT FOR MEAT!
22:54 / 26.09.02
Ah, like wading through a swamp of words looking for dated gems.

I'm waiting for the films, anything to avoid the sheer mind numbing tedium of scouring through that bastard again.

And I can never get comfortable reading those big fuck off books. You always need to be able to get comfortable.
 
 
The Return Of Rothkoid
23:05 / 26.09.02
I only read it last year. I'd read (and loved) The Hobbit when I was about 12, but couldn't muster the head of steam to charge through the others. So, they sat on the shelf for a while, and it wasn't until the movie came out last year that I thought I should give 'em a whirl. Devoured all three (though the third was some degree boggier than the others, given the "look, I'm writing the bible!" aspects of the prose. Was pleasantly surprised with how much I enjoyed them, because I'm not a big fan of elf-stylee writing.

I was really worried that I would dislike the books, largely because of the derivative stuff that's sloughed off them, you know?

May not feel the need to read them again, but may do when movie hype catches up with me.
 
 
The Strobe
08:09 / 27.09.02
Hmn. I, too, liked the Hobbit. Unfortunately, I've never managed to put up with LOTR - it's very overwritten, and at times I found the cod-translated-Anglo-Saxon almost painful to read. I had to dip into it after I saw the first film, but I saw it without having read it. I think my biggest attempt on it had me almost getting to the end of Fellowship. And then I gave up. I really, really, don't have that much time for it - can never get into it, and find it all a little draggy. Sorry.
 
 
The Natural Way
08:37 / 27.09.02
Dope + LOTR = MMMMM. I just really dig the whole obsessive vibe of the thing: Tolkien, between the Silmarillion and all the rest, must have spent more time in Middle Earth than he did in our world. The freak.
 
 
that
11:15 / 27.09.02
The Hobbit is a fun book, and I too had it read to me when I was a little kiddy. I eventually tried to read LotR before the film came out, and only managed the first two volumes before I got thoroughly sick of slogging through it. It went on at least twice as long as necessary...(though I admit the fact that my copy was the whole thing, in hardback, did not endear it to me, 'cause I do a lot of reading on public transport and it was murder to lug around). I will read the rest of 'Return of the King' one day, but just so that I can say with a clear conscience that I wasn't terribly impressed.

It's very slashy though, but that's not enough to make me like Star Trek, either...
 
 
Tuna Ghost: Pratt knot hero
17:59 / 27.09.02
If you think reading the Lord of the Rings trilogy takes a bit of time and effort, try charging through the Dune books. All of them. You have to plan for the entire summer.
 
 
Foust is SO authentic
00:44 / 28.09.02
I have to psyke myself up to read these massive epics. Maybe I'll try the first Dune book sometime when my school workload isn't so crushing.
 
 
that
05:57 / 28.09.02
[threadrot]I've read all the Dune books... including the Brian Herbert/Kevin J. Anderson Preludes to Dune, apart from the most recent, 'The Butlerian Jihad', which I plan to purchase today [/threadrot]
 
 
The Strobe
11:49 / 28.09.02
No, don't read all the Dune books. Because they get negatively-exponentially more shite from Messiah onwards.

The first one isn't bad, but I like it because I like books with Appendices. It's a bit long, and the religious imagery/overtones/themes get a bit drawn out. But it's not bad, as far as sci-fi epic goes. I gave up on Messiah after about 50 pages, it was cack of the highest order.
 
 
kagemaru
21:00 / 28.09.02
I get the same problem with both LOTR (read twice, once in translation and one in original) and Dune (idem) - they lack in humour.
There's some merrymaking in LOTR, granted, but there's no real, heartfelt, laugh-oud-loud humour in there.
And Paul Atreides is an irritating litle wanker.

But I still think both have to be read - if nothing else as training before getting into something better.
 
 
Foust is SO authentic
02:42 / 29.09.02
kagemaru - actually, I laughed quite a bit during the Tom Bombadil chapter. It was just so happy. And Legolas's and Gimli's contest during Helm's Deep was enormously entertaining.
 
 
nutella23
16:28 / 29.09.02
Read LotR back in 6th grade, re-read it this past year. I hadn't realized how much detail I'd forgotten, or how intense some of the scenes were. Also, the emphasis on different cultures and how they live and interact (how Frodo impresses the elves with his knowledge of elf-lore and language in "Fellowship", for example).

Tolkein really "lived" in his creation. I only wish I could be half as good at worldbuilding.
 
 
w1rebaby
16:58 / 29.09.02
I'm glad I only read LotR when I had the patience, as an adult, and also some of the scholastic attitude that you need to appreciate a lot of it.

If only I'd waited until I was in my 40s to try to watch Citizen Kane, instead of now being convinced that it is a lengthy overrated piece of tedious filmmaking. That's what comes of only ever trying to watch it on C4 at 3 in the morning, falling asleep becomes an integral part of the work itself.
 
 
Tuna Ghost: Pratt knot hero
18:26 / 29.09.02
No, don't read all the Dune books. Because they get negatively-exponentially more shite from Messiah onwards.

The first one isn't bad, but I like it because I like books with Appendices. It's a bit long, and the religious imagery/overtones/themes get a bit drawn out. But it's not bad, as far as sci-fi epic goes. I gave up on Messiah after about 50 pages, it was cack of the highest order.

Bah. They were good enough to beat LOTR for the Hugo award. I realize that may mean nothing to you, but I think you're selling the series a bit short. The universe in Dune may not be as detailed as Tolkien's, but Herbert died before finishing the series. And the books paint a very detailed picture by themselves without any help from some simarillion-esque books.

Paul was a tool, now that I think about it...
 
 
Nessus
03:31 / 06.10.02
After LOTR, read "Leaf by Niggle". In my opinion, it is one of Tolkein's most under read and under appreciated books.
 
 
Our Lady of The Two Towers
11:47 / 07.10.02
I found the Dune books, after the first one, to get slower and slower and say less and less while thinking they say more (having read as far as God-Emperor). Just seem to be on a depressing 'it's impossible to be a good leader' trip.
 
 
The Falcon
01:39 / 17.10.02
Thread continues to rot...

I read my aunt's copies of the first 3 Dune books in Tanzania (parts in Ruaha Game Park, ac-tually) and it was great.

And Chapter House (the 6th book) has REALLY HOT sex, which I liked.

Not read the prequels; are they worth it?
 
 
Tuna Ghost: Pratt knot hero
18:02 / 22.10.02
I didn't think so. But I read only one.

And the "it sucks being the big man behind the scenes" theme runs out after God-emperor. The story shifts to hundreds or thousands of years in the future. Duncan Idaho is still around, though.
 
 
The Falcon
02:28 / 03.11.02
Shagging.
 
  
Add Your Reply