lord of the rings book.how many of you have read it all the way through?

Was given the first one when I was about 8. No way was I ever going to read that. So I didn’t until my late 20s when I somehow ploughed through TTT and ROTK. Definitely bogs down in parts. But still so uniquely ahead of its time that IMO it remains timeless. Don’t think I’ll be reading it again though. Give me a mix of techo-fantasy/steampunk/cyber-fi any time.

Read it many, many times.

I appreciate the huge number of characters and the dreaded songs can get a bit wearing, but surprised people find it slow-moving. It’s basically an adventure story and that side of it chugs along pretty quickly. In fact, a lot of people have commented that some areas are even under-written!

If you don’t like fantasy/sword-and-sorcery/whatever-you-want-to-call-it, then you won’t like it and there’ll be no convincing you. A lot of that genre is dire though and Tolkien is head, shoulders, knees and probably toes above much of it!

I’ve read LOTR a couple of times but I must admit I skipped the songs etc. It’s the utter attention to detail that also makes it really hard work and as a book that has a gripping story and drags you into it, for me it fails on those points and there are better better books round for that.
I read the Hobbit once, tried it the first time and thought it was crap but I was away on holiday and read it all the way through and enjoyed it. Mind you it must have been the sun and beer hehe.

Good book for what it is, definitely stimulates the imagination and it is really well written. Read the trilogy at the age of 14-15 I believe and watched the movies but thought the books had more them.

Classic books. Found Silmarillion a little tiresome but LOTR and The Hobbit are two of my fave books.

Though I must admit, after visiting Iceland several years ago (the island, not the shop) you notice how much he stole from the Icelandic sagas. Pilfering on a huge scale.

Hugely influential, especially in black metal and skinhead/ odinist/ heathen circles

http://www.listal.com/list/metal-bands-names-inspired-tolkien

oh and these dodgy geezers named a song after a chapter in LOTR

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mG7MNSskzKo

Read them.

The Silmarillion is one of the most painful experiences I ever failed to finish.

I read them all about age 15 (probably the best time to read them, since as you get older you’ve read/seen more stuff that’s derived from it so it gets less interesting) and actually quite enjoyed it. I seem to remember the 150 page sort of epilogue at the end being a bit much.

Read LOTR and the Hobbit several times although not for some years. Skimmed Silmarillion and decided life might be too short.

Have read the whole LOTR and Silmarillion about 8 or 9 times, and various of The Lost Tales. The Hobbit was too twee/kiddy for me at 10 and only read it the once. The Fellowship of the Ring (vol 1 of LOTR) is heavy going / scene setting and the Tom Bombadil sequence very weak (no surprises Jackson dropped it from the film!). Silmarillion is IMO a lot better – wish it was filmed, it’d be epic.

If you think The Silmarillion is hard going try The Book of Lost Tales and some of the other more obscure works!

14 times, mostly skipping the songs. I decided I ought to stop afer that.

Thought The Hobbit was kinda good, nice and simple. LOTR was good overall, but it does have some pretty slow parts.

Would also advise to skip the poems, I still don’t know what the point of those were…

Read the Hobbit and LOTR when I was a teenager, so forty something years ago. Still got the books, haven’t read them since. Most of what I read is SF/Fantasy, but I tend to prefer my fantasy with a darker, grimier flavour these days, like the Borderland collections, and Kate Griffin’s Urban Magic series.

Read The Hobbit and The Fellowship of the Ring when I was 8 (the books came with the Spectrum text adventures!:P), and read The Two Towers and Return of the King when I was 9. Kept on getting them out from the library until I was 11 and my dad got me my own copy, all in one massive book with tiny, tiny text! It’s kept with extreme reverence as it means a lot to me, as a) it was my favourite book as a kid, and b)my dad wrote a note inside the cover marking my 11th birthday, so it’s got sentimental value on that front too.

As that copy was starting to get a bit fragile, I bought the Kindle version last year. Still love the book, but yes, the songs and poems can outstay their welcome! 😛 My brother finally managed to read LotR when he was in his late 20s after about fifteen years of trying. It took him nine months – apparently the “three f*****g pages describing Treebeard’s eyes” particularly annoyed him, as did Tom Bombadil. Poor Tom, nobody likes him…

Read it first when i was about 7, and read it continuously for many years after. Used to read a lot as a kid, and Lord of the rings and the Hobbit were always being read.
Its something all kids should read, its an amazing story

You do know they’ve been made into films now, right?

I enjoyed it at 11yrs or so, I thought the films were gash though, that kind of story no longer appeals.

TSY & like all films huge swathes of the story are missed but they are great for the masses. Short stores suit films not long books.

ratswithwings – of course it has plus plenty from the Finnish Kalavela and the Celtic; Tolkien’s perspective was to create a cohesive British mythology incorporating all the strands from the various cultures / peoples that form Britain.
Tolkien later regretted writing the Hobbit as a kids book.

Read it lots over the years but my wife couldn’t stand it as the stories seemed like sketches without detailled characterization to her.

Ahhh… still not convinced about giving the books a go though.

I’m going to write a story that appeals to Al instead. It’ll be full of EPIC battles and stuff.

Erm.. dull. Mystical rubbish, bit like those nerdy cartoon comics adults buy in brown paper bags.

Me! and it was far more detailed and enjoyable than the film!

Your post suggests you watch a lot of tele then Kaesae.

The Southern Yeti – Member
Your post suggests you watch a lot of tele then Kaesae.

Be gone Yeti, I have neither the time or the inclination to play silly games with thee!

You cheeky editor! 😀

Hahahaha!

3 times, or is it 4?….will prob be reading them again soon, only read the hobbit once tho. Only really started reading when I got a palm in my mid 20s. loads of books in your pocket + lots of windows progress bars to watch = reading habit formed.
I thought the films were a bit pants tbh.

If I’d read the books, I’d quote a relevant bit at you.

Instead, I’ll save everyone else the time…

By the way those knocking it for being a kids story, have you read any of harry potter? LOTR is mature reading high brow literature compared, can’t beleive how many adults love HP books.

The films are some of the best fantasy films ever made, the books are just a bit tedious.

I managed to get half way through the last book and gave up.

My beard had grown long and grey, my staff had gone all shiny.

I read it years ago…my Dad read the Hobbit to me and my brothers when we were little.

LOTR was a great book, but yes it can be hard going. The last time I read it it took me ages (but after taking it on holiday I plowed through it.

If you like that genre, try Robert Jordans’s Wheel of Time series…I’m reading them at the moment and he has the same attention to detail.

I read it a few times in my teens, don’t think I could stand it now, though. Try the Chronicles of Thomas Covenant by Stephen Donaldson if you fancy an adult version ……

Robert Jordans’s Wheel of Time series

Pah 👿 a pale imitation; he started off palely imitating R.E.Howard with Conan.

Other classic fantasy – Fritz Leiber’s Lankhmar books (Terry Pratchet built his career on the back of them) or more modern Joe Abercrombie’s First Law series.

I’ve heard it said that if LOtR is your favourite book at 14 then that is fine but if it is still your favourite at 40 something is wrong.

couldn’t have put it better myself

Terry Pratchett said that. The same is true about his Discworld novels of course.

I’ve read LoTR multiple times except, like everyone else, all the poems and songs.

Read 1 and 2, got half way through the 3rd book when the 3rd film came out. I think i was a bit fatigued by all the walking in the 2nd book. Awful lot of walking.

probably read it 3 0r 4 times before i was 16 and then 2 or 3 times since

I saw all 3 films at the cinema – went with my OH.

The 3rd one was painful. I nearly stood up twice at the end as i kept thinking ‘this must be the final scene’.

And then all that pointless crap about the bloody boat.

and THEN they go back to tellytubby land again.

Somewhere between the boat bit and tellytubby bit i began to really really hate Tolkien for writing this dross, and Peter Jackson for filming it 🙂

The 3rd one was painful. I nearly stood up twice at the end as i kept thinking ‘this must be the final scene’.

Were you sat behind us – we were sniggering every time they made a grab for their coats.

Robert Jordans’s Wheel of Time series

Pah a pale imitation; he started off palely imitating R.E.Howard with Conan.

I’m quite enjoying the series. It’s still not a scratch on Tolkein I agree, but I’m enjoying it. I particularly like that there’s no goblins, orcs or elves, he’s created a world without relying on ‘lore’ created by others.

Once i’ve finished it I’ll look for another fantasty epic to read I think.

When I went to see the final film, after about 8 pints of ale (not the greatest idea, especially when I bought salted popcorn without a drink, but I digress), the film cut out just as Gollum was about to throw the ring into the fire.

We had to wait for ten minutes till they got the thing working again, grrr. Someone in the projection room must have been having a laugh.

Read the books at least 10 times, I actually like the Silmarillion as well.