Friday, February 05, 2010

O! Water Hot Is A Noble Thing!


I'm joining in on the Lord of the Rings readalong. And this month's book (hosted by The Literary Omnivore) is The Fellowship of the Ring. Here is the post on getting started for this month's book.

  1. When did you first hear of The Lord of the Rings?
  2. Have you read The Fellowship of the Ring before?
  3. What’s your plan of attack, now that we’re dealing with more “mature” literature?
  4. Have you ever seen the movies? If so, do you think they’ll influence your reading? If not, well, why haven’t you seen them?
I didn't really pay attention to The Lord of The Rings (or The Hobbit for that matter) until I was an adult. I wasn't even all that interested in the movies when they first came out. I saw Fellowship of the Rings because I rented it. I didn't have much hope for it. And in fact, I didn't like it all that much. I thought it was very boring (most of the time). But. I decided to rent the second one when it was released. And. Wow. I just loved The Two Towers. It was exciting. It was fun. It was magical (for me). It was something that I just had to own. So I went out and bought both the first and second movies. And having loved the second, I was then able to appreciate the first more. I guess I understood that it was all about world-building and setting up everything that was to come. I *did* go to see the third movie, Return of the King, in the theatres. I think I went twice even.

I became interested in the books the fall before the third movie came out. I borrowed an all-in-one edition. And I began reading. But. I had trouble. You see, I was reading the book like it was the movie. I was getting frustrated with the differences. I was impatient, I suppose. I was reading the book to find the scenes in the movies. And so I ended up more disappointed and bored than I'd hoped. In fact, I ended up mainly skimming. It was also around this time that I read The Hobbit. And I couldn't quite understand how The Hobbit could be so satisfying, so enjoyable, so rewarding, and The Lord of the Rings be so different, so difficult.

I've been meaning to reread the trilogy for years now. So I was very excited to learn about the readalong. I started last week, and so far so good. I'm a little over two hundred pages in at this point. And I'm finding it so different than what I remember. I'm finding it good.

I'm not planning on watching the movies until I'm finished with the books. I am listening to the soundtracks however. I just *love* the soundtracks.


© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

7 comments:

Megan said...

My dad bugged me and bugged me to read The Lord of the Rings, and I started The Fellowship of the Ring and just couldn't get into it. I guess the world building thing taking time applied for the book, too. When the first movie came out, I finally broke down and read all three books and loved them.

Hope you really enjoy the re-read! I love, love those movie soundtracks, too. I think they just *fit* so well with the story. That reminds me, I should dig mine out and listen to them again sometime...

April (BooksandWine) said...

I love me some LOTR. I attempted to read them in high school, but never really got through them. Later on I read them over the summer in college while working at camp. I really do enjoy the books and am totally craving a re-read.

I have to agree with you on FotR film, I always put the dvd in when I need a lovely nap, as no matter what I literally always fall asleep.

I hope you enjoy the books much more this time around :-)

Jeane said...

I always found LOTR a bit more difficult and not as enjoyable as The Hobbit, too. I like that you showed all the different cover images! That newest one with the artwork (is it John Jude Palencar?) is pretty cool.

Katie Edwards said...

The first film came out when I was sixteen, and I fell in love with it immediately. Before that my fantasy-reading was limited to things like Harry Potter and the Chronicles of Narnia. I couldn't wait a whole year to find out what happened next, so I read the book, but, like you, the first time around I found it frustrating and hard-going, and I skimmed whole chapters at a time to find out what happened to Frodo. I decided to re-read just before the second film and read it more slowly and sedately. I read it about that time of year for maybe three years, while the LotR mania was all around me. Then came uni and the shock of not having a chance to read what I wanted due to all the required reading. After a break of about 4 years I'm re-reading it again, limiting myself to one chapter a night, and discovering different insights into character etc.

Grace said...

The Lord of the Rings is a story from another era, so I think it's understandable that there should be a learning curve, just like with other classic literature. And everybody comes to LotR at a different time: some in their early teens, some in their late teens, some in adulthood, and a very few when they're still children. In a way, it's almost as if each person has their own perfect moment to discover The Lord of the Rings. I always recommend people try again if they didn't like it the first time.

I love the soundtracks too, but I can't listen to them as background noise when I write! I can't help but picture scenes from the movie and it messes me up, lol.

Enjoy the re-read! I wish I had time right now to read along with you! :)

Beth F said...

I often heard people say that they were bored with the books or just couldn't get into them. I'm mystified. I loved them from page 1. Hope you enjoy the journey.

Athira said...

I hope you are enjoying the books this time around. I love this trilogy so much! Also, I love your cover, looks very gloomy and yet inviting to adventure!