Did you like the LOTR trilogy? (Books)

[Zorral]

On 7/21/2022 at 2:49 PM, Larry of the Lake said:

Patrick O'Brian based Maturin and Aubrey partly in Bones/Spock and Kirk.

Pretty sure not. His influences were the feats Admiral Nelson, and, yes, Jane Austen, among others, such as the Hornblower series.  I heard him read and speak several times and never once did he ever mention Star Trek.

Recall he published the first book in the series in 1969, which means he'd been working on it long before the first ST episode was broadcast, and finished it before then too.   Also ST was a US television series, which didn't begin to be broadcast in the UK until 1969 -- and O'Brian was living in France by then. 

Comparing O'Brian's 'buddy' formula to Spock and Kirk is one thing, but one can't state they influenced his choice, of what is, after all, a very common literary trope, particularly for series, that began long, long, long before even Watson and Holmes, or The Lone Ranger and Tonto.  Not to mention Gilgamesh and Enkidu, or Don Quixote and Sancho Panza.  

[Starkess]

Yes, I love them. I do not even remember the first time I read them, it was so long ago now. The first book I ever have any memory of is my dad reading The Hobbit out loud to me and my brother at night. I re-read the LOTR trilogy every 1-2 years. They're amazing. The Hobbit is also good but as children's fic doesn't have as much re-readability for me.

I tried to read The Silmarillion in high school and gave up. Maybe worth giving it another shot at some point.

[Ser Drewy]

On 7/22/2022 at 7:53 AM, SeanF said:

Tom is very much a marmite character.  People either love him or think his inclusion a waste of space.

I think Tom's interesting, but his characterisation is a bit off. I think Tolkien should have leaned more on the mystery rather than having him skip through the wood hey-dolling. He's genuinely fascinating as a mystery figure. 

Also the Barrow-Downs chapter is awesome. 

[polishgenius]

I feel like, really, the hey-dolling being over the top and overbearing - which seems obvious in hindsight but really Tolkien had no way of knowing pop culture was gonna get so set against that kind of tone as comedy- aside, Bombadil is pretty brilliant. Not just as a character, but structurally his segment within the story marks a key watershed and tonal shift. During their exit from the Shire, while the Nazgul obviously do present themselves, the story is still being told somewhat in Hobbit-mode: goofy, happy-go-lucky, bit of a caper. It's also interspersed with rest stops, from the elves to Farmer Maggot. 

Tom is introduced saving them from the threat of Old Man Willow -  a danger for sure, but still within the goofyness of the Hobbity-adventure style. After one final rest stop, where the tone mixes between Tom's silliness and a more mystical, almost serious discussion of the ring, he sends them off and then rescues them again, this time from a threat much more in line in tone and style with what we'll be seeing from the rest of the book, and outfits them to face those threats. I don't think it's a coincidence he lives on the border of the Shire, he's the means by which Tolkien shifted the tone of the story from the Hobbit into the epic he needed it to be. 

 

He's also the last genuine rest stop the story has before Rivendell- since although you do get Bree and, to some extent, Weathertop, both of those are interrupted - and with that discussion of the ring then equipping them and sending them on, he's almost a prologue to the council of Elrond too.

[Zorral]

3 hours ago, polishgenius said:

he's the means by which Tolkien shifted the tone of the story from the Hobbit into the epic he needed it to be. 

He's the liminal threshold, some might say (not me, probably?  but someone must have!).  He's Middle Earth''s most ancient of days, Tolkien says.

[HexMachina]

On 7/24/2022 at 12:52 AM, Starkess said:

Yes, I love them. I do not even remember the first time I read them, it was so long ago now. The first book I ever have any memory of is my dad reading The Hobbit out loud to me and my brother at night. I re-read the LOTR trilogy every 1-2 years. They're amazing. The Hobbit is also good but as children's fic doesn't have as much re-readability for me.

I tried to read The Silmarillion in high school and gave up. Maybe worth giving it another shot at some point.

Younger me enjoyed the Silmarillion. Moreso the later chapters which are more of a narrative. Going back now I've even more appreciation for the book and especially the beginning covering the creation. 

The Hobbit is very special to me and holds a sort of special place in my heart for many reasons. I've reached for it on several occasions where I'm having a bad day and need the comfort of something simple and cheery to brighten things up.