Why do you like The Lord of the Rings/Hobbit? (books/movies)

[FrodoEyes]

Re: Why do you like Lord of the Rings? (books/movies)

There is so much stuff i could write, mostly covered by others, but i'd need a day off to think and write about it! I like its 'Englishness', i can relate, living where i am in the English countryside, to the Shire, and i can relate to Hobbits with their lifestyle, being comfortable but looking for adventure. And also i do love a good, long adventure story!

 

[Mr Fell Beast]

Re: Why do you like Lord of the Rings? (books/movies)

Never heard of em, so I hate them both...............

 

[Judgepup]

Re: Why do you like Lord of the Rings? (books/movies)

For me it's just the sheer epic nature of the story and world in which it takes place. I couldn't fully realize this until Jackson's masterpiece but everything from the battles to the wardrobe to the characters and the occassional sprawling pan across New Zeal- err...Middle Earth - just epic. And this is perfectly balanced by more tender, intimate moments in the film be it between Aragorn and Elwyn, the Hobbits or a king grieving for his lost son. LOTR is truly art in motion.

 

[Wetanut]

Re: Why do you like Lord of the Rings? (books/movies)

I echo all those who mentioned fellowship, friendship, companionship. But all of those, for me, are encompassed by the central themes of just doing something because it's simply the right thing to do. Also selfless commitment. All of the characters -- at least on the "good guys" side -- are given very hard choices and each of them accept the hard road every time. And once they've chosen their path, they commit themselves fully, even in the face of death -- for the better good of all.

I've been reading LOTR nearly every year since 1967 (and I was not in elementary school). Things really haven't changed much since. We had unbridled greed, loophole seekers, an unpopular war, seeming lawlessness, heinous murders, and crooks in DC back in those days as well. We had just crawled out from the depths of shock of 3 history-making assasinations, we saw WWIII as almost inevitable, my parents' generation saw nearly everything they'd sacrificed during the Depression and WWII become ash. And my generation lost our innocence about the society we were inheriting. Ironically, with that loss of innocence and rejection, was a wide-eyed belief that we could change the world. And, in some ways we kind of did....we were instrumental in the end of Vietnam, we were right in the front ranks with civil rights, we helped end the draft, we agitated to lower the voting age to be at least equal to the same age we could get drafted and die for our country. We naively believed "All you Need is Love." The idea that "even the smallest person can change the course of the future" was something many of us truly believed in. And I still do....even after all these years. In that, Frodo truly does live...in me.

 

[OSCORP]

Re: Why do you like Lord of the Rings? (books/movies)

Bump. Gonna be reading the Hobbit again starting this week since news of the movie getting going.

 

[devilof76]

Re: Why do you like Lord of the Rings? (books/movies)

The magnitude of the conflict is what makes me love this story. By the time you get to Sammath Naur, everything good in the world is on the brink of oblivion, and riding on the ability of the only person in that world who has even the slightest chance of saving it. Then, at the last moment, he fails! All hope is lost, but the nature of the protagonist has ensured that the Ring's own nature will destroy it. Gollum is there, and his mindless ecstacy in the face of finally regaining his Precious is too much for him to handle.

It is the greatest literary climax I have ever read, built up through an epic range of place, people, and events, delivered on the shoulders of the most badass character in world literature.

Frodo Baggins.

 

[DaveMac]

Re: Why do you like Lord of the Rings? (books/movies)

Hadn't noticed this thread before so I'll chip in

Purely based on the LOTR books , Hobbit included. It's fantasy literature at it's finest which the films and the merchandise have added too but can never quite captured the magic of the full tale.
I love the 'escapism' offered by the tale as well as the rich history associated within it's telling. So many characters are developed so that the reader can associate either one or several as representing some part of themself. Robert E Howard built a similar kind of mythical history with his tales of Conan, King Kull etc with his Hyborian tales and the time of Atlantis, but the sheer depth set out within Tolkiens tales of Middle Earth far surpass these (though he did have a few more decades to work on them ).

 

[OSCORP]

Re: Why do you like Lord of the Rings? (books/movies)

Went to get the Hobbit from the library. ALL CHECKED OUT! Must be that time of year again. ( i hear most people read these books in the Fall/Winter)

 

[The Ringer]

Re: Why do you like Lord of the Rings? (books/movies)

everything!

 

[FrodoEyes]

Re: Why do you like Lord of the Rings? (books/movies)

Went to get the Hobbit from the library. ALL CHECKED OUT! Must be that time of year again. ( i hear most people read these books in the Fall/Winter)

Yup, i'm now reading the Silmarillion, then will go on to The Hobbit and LOTR. Maybe i should include The Children of Hurin in that too.......

 

[Anubis]

Re: Why do you like Lord of the Rings? (books/movies)

Went to get the Hobbit from the library. ALL CHECKED OUT! Must be that time of year again. ( i hear most people read these books in the Fall/Winter)

You don't own a copy?!

Yup, i'm now reading the Silmarillion, then will go on to The Hobbit and LOTR. Maybe i should include The Children of Hurin in that too.......

You really should.

 

[OSCORP]

Re: Why do you like Lord of the Rings? (books/movies)

You don't own a copy?!

Maybe Santa will bring me that golden cover copy i keep seeing at borders.

 

[FrodoEyes]

Re: Why do you like Lord of the Rings? (books/movies)

Maybe Santa will bring me that golden cover copy i keep seeing at borders.

Illustrated by Alan Lee of course














Other Tolkien illustrators are available

 

[ProgMatinee]

Re: Why do you like Lord of the Rings? (books/movies)

overarching story, the epicness, and the quality of the writing and characters.

I am not a fan of scifi or fantasy fiction. Typically I just think fiction writers get away with bad stories and bad writing because their fan base can't get enough elves or vampires or whatever.

To me, LOTR transcends that. They're good books whether you like fantasy or not.

 

[FrodoEyes]

Re: Why do you like Lord of the Rings? (books/movies)

overarching story, the epicness, and the quality of the writing and characters.

I am not a fan of scifi or fantasy fiction. Typically I just think fiction writers get away with bad stories and bad writing because their fan base can't get enough elves or vampires or whatever.

To me, LOTR transcends that. They're good books whether you like fantasy or not.

I think you'll also like 'A Game of Thrones' if you like well-written novels. It's like LOTR meets the Sopranos Oh and HBO are doing a TV show of it due out early next year

 

[marker2037]

Re: Why do you like Lord of the Rings? (books/movies)

Cause they're awesome and

 

[The Ween]

Re: Why do you like Lord of the Rings? (books/movies)

In which order should the books be read? I know The Hobbit before Lord of the Rings, but what about before or after?

 

[marker2037]

Re: Why do you like Lord of the Rings? (books/movies)

Read them in order. The Hobbit, then LOTR.

 

[DaveMac]

Re: Why do you like Lord of the Rings? (books/movies)

In which order should the books be read? I know The Hobbit before Lord of the Rings, but what about before or after?

Go for Sil 1st for the sheer history, then Hobbit, then LOTR. Children of Hurin is just the full version of the tragic story in Sil.

 

[bunnah]

Re: Why do you like Lord of the Rings? (books/movies)

This is a great thread! I think I like all of the themes that most of you mentioned, but I think I also like that everyone (no matter what race of creature) was very flawed. Even though there is a pretty clear good/bad dichotomy, even the "good" guys had issues and problems. The difference is that they always tried to do what they thought was right, even in the midst of their flaws and failures.

In specific, I love Frodo. I think his character goes through this amazing--and heartbreaking--transformation through the books. He never asked for what he got, but he did the best with it. It breaks my heart how broken he seems at the end of the books, but I think that is a truth that many don't speak. Many sci-fi/fantasy books have the classic happy ending, but Tolkien doesn't necessarily give us that.