The Last Homely House
Middle-Earth => Bag End => Topic started by: Gil-Estel on May 11, 2008, 03:38:43 AM
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Finally, after years and years being a die-hard fan (being a DieHard fan as well ;)), reading all I could find about Tolkien, I have started reading the Fellowship in English. And it is a revelation! It is soo cool to read it in the language it is written in. Dutch is my native language, I am familiar with English, but I never seem to come to it. But now I do, and I love it!
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Wow. English is my native language and I never read the book.
I have several copies of it too...
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Wow. English is my native language and I never read the book.
I have several copies of it too...
:o :o :o :o shame on you! You must be kidding me! It is such a great book............
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I was raised on television and nintendo.
The rankin / bass animated films were my foundation for tolkien appreciation, followed by the recent film trilogy.
I've delved into about 100 pages or so of the book, and never made time to continue.
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Indeed, the first part of the book is somewhat tough, at least for some people it is...but I would advice to give it another try, and maybe another. The book was the best sold book in the 20th century after the bible. In all countries declared best book, in Brittain even with a strong lobby against it by the 'real literature' publishers...that has to count for something?
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the animated films were pathetic mockeries...http://flyingmoose.org/tolksarc/bakshi/bakshi.htm
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those were indeed dreadfull......I was highly dissapointed when I saw those....nothing can compare to the books for those with an imaginative mind....
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The Rankin / Bass animated films include The Hobbit and Return of the King. I enjoyed them.
The Ralph Bakshi semi-animated verison was an atrocity.
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Wow. English is my native language and I never read the book.
I have several copies of it too...
Are you bloody serious?! How can you own multiple copies of a book and never read them?!
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I like to collect stuff?
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... and you never read them? :cpunch:
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I figure when I retire in 30 years I'll need something to read.
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That's a long wait.
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When you work 12 hours a day supporting 2 kids, time flys really fast.
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I guess I wouldn't know with my 3 hour day job. :mrgreen: :mrgreen:
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When you work 12 hours a day supporting 2 kids, time flys really fast.
just grab an hour a day, maybe before going to bed, it is so worth it!
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Whoa, change of perspective! Usually when I think of texts in their native language, mundane English is not the first to come to mind. Even the best translations might not capture certain nuances perfectly, so on top of the great story I hope there's more ah-ha! moments. ;)
Just finished the latest re-read of LotR tonight actually, and for some reason this passage stuck out at me:
"All the children born or begotten in that year, and there were many, were fair to see and strong, and most of them had a rich golden hair that had before been rare among hobbits."
From scattering the soil? :o Whaddya do to the drinking water, Sam!? At least no one grew two heads.
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Steering this back on topic (long stream of innuendos removed):
I must have read FotR at least half a dozen times. It's interesting if you read Tolkien's own descriptions of what he was trying to accomplish writing LotR... it's almost as if he was just "trying his hand" at writing a good story, but in the end it became famous. Also, he originally wanted it all in one volume (six "books"), but was told that he'd have to split it up into three.
[Edited for accuracy]
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You deleted my posts! :'(
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Probably my least favorite part was in TTT, from The Passage of the Marshes to Of Herbs and Stewed Rabbit. That I can partly attribute to Tolkien describing the desolate scenes and despairing journey so well that I almost felt as weary reading as the Hobbits walking. *LOL* But as a reward what followed was the introduction of Faramir--one of my favorite characters, along with Theoden! Some other favorite parts of the book:
- Of exchanges there are too many to list, and not the least this:
"Then she sent me no message?" said Gimli and bent his head.
"Dark are her words," said Legolas,"and little do they mean to those that receive them."
"That is no comfort," said Gimli.
"What then?" said Legolas. "Would you have her speak openly to you of your death?"
"Yes. if she had nought else to say."
"What is that?" said Gandalf, opening his eyes. "Yes, I think I can guess what her words may mean. Your pardon, Gimli! I was pondering the messages once again. But indeed she sent words to you, and neither dark nor sad.
"To Gimli son of Glóin," she said, "give his Lady's greeting. Lock-bearer, wherever thou goest my thought goes with thee. But have a care to lay thine axe to the right tree!" '
"In happy hour you have returned to us, Gandalf," cried the Dwarf, capering as he sang loudly in the strange dwarf-tongue. "Come, come!" he shouted, swinging his axe. "Since Gandalf's head is now sacred, let us find one that it is right to cleave!"
So uplifted was Gimli's spirit that he could've leaped from the plains to Orodruin in one leap and save the Ring-bearer much toil. Haha!
- The Road to Isengard - a merry meeting of friends! And of course:
"For one thing," said Théoden, "I had not heard that they spouted smoke from their mouths."
"That is not surprising," answered Merry;"for it is an art which we have not practised for more than a few generations. It was Tobold Hornblower, of Longbottom in the Southfarthing, who first grew the true pipe-weed in his gardens, about the year 1070 according to our reckoning. How old Toby came by the plant..."
"You do not know your danger, Théoden," interrupted Gandalf. "These hobbits will sit on the edge of ruin and discuss the pleasures of the table, or the small doings of their fathers, grandfathers, and great-grandfathers, and remoter cousins to the ninth degree, if you encourage them with undue patience. Some other time would be more fitting for the history of smoking. Where is Treebeard, Merry?"
Which to jump ahead a bit, made this scene from RotK all the more poignant:
"Well," answered Merry slowly. "He is dead. It has brought it all back to me. He said he was sorry he had never had a chance of talking herb-lore with me. Almost the last thing he ever said. I shan't ever be able to smoke again without thinking of him, and that day, Pippin, when he rode up to Isengard and was so polite."
I was really enjoying the conversations so much that it's partly why the second half of the book dampened my spirits a little, when the writing started to become more descriptive. But besides Faramir to rescue the second half, there was also Sam taking a good poke at Shelob. ;)
I'll add the other books later.
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out of curiosity, what were the 6 parts named?
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out of curiosity, what were the 6 parts named?
Here's something I found browsing around (http://keznews.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=18271) online:
Tolkien conceived of The Lord of the Rings as a single volume comprising six "books" plus extensive appendices. The original publisher split the work into three, publishing the fifth and sixth books with the appendices under the title The Return of the King. Tolkien felt the chosen title revealed too much of the story, and indicated he preferred The War of the Ring as a title.[1]
Tolkien may have hoped to publish the one large volume together with The Silmarillion, and to give names to the individual six books.[citation needed] The discarded title for Book V was The War of the Ring. Book VI was to be The End of the Third Age.[2]
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More details from Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lord_of_the_Rings#Publication)
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So uplifted was Gimli's spirit that he could've leaped from the plains to Orodruin in one leap and save the Ring-bearer much toil. Haha!
That gave me a hearty chuckle. Seeing Gimli jump is like seeing that guy who says "Diabeetus" in cat form.
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I actually like Tolkien's extensive descriptions, although I must agree with Ellessar's Socks... er... Just "socks" now. Frodo and Sam's journey made me feel somewhat wearied myself.
ge: If you enjoy reading LotR in English, try Silmarillion in English for a really... um.... "interesting" experience. I dunno what it's like in Dutch, but in English, it's... well... not exactly light reading.
Actually, it seems sorta weird to me to be thinking of someone reading Tolkien "in the original English." I guess that's what comes of having English as a first language. Lucky me. :mrgreen:
Now, if only I could read Anglo-Saxon, I could go for Beowulf. Now there's reading something it its "original English."
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Too bad Lurtzy wasn't in the books. He would have been a marvelous addition. :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:
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I actually like Tolkien's extensive descriptions, although I must agree with Ellessar's Socks... er... Just "socks" now. Frodo and Sam's journey made me feel somewhat wearied myself.
ge: If you enjoy reading LotR in English, try Silmarillion in English for a really... um.... "interesting" experience. I dunno what it's like in Dutch, but in English, it's... well... not exactly light reading.
Actually, it seems sorta weird to me to be thinking of someone reading Tolkien "in the original English." I guess that's what comes of having English as a first language. Lucky me. :mrgreen:
Now, if only I could read Anglo-Saxon, I could go for Beowulf. Now there's reading something it its "original English."
I know what you mean, cause The Silmarillion in Dutch is very hard to chew as well. I did it though, several times, and it was worth it. I have a copy of the Silmarillion in English and I will read it.
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What exactly is The Silmarillion about? I have never read it but it sounds intriguing.
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It's the chronicles of the First Age of Middle Earth. It's got the Creation story, the fall of Melkor (Morgoth; as in moral fall... AKA he becomes evil), the awakening of the Elves, the creation of the Dwarves, the First Age, et cetera. It's written in a rather archaic form, and often gives the initial impression "It's like reading the Old Testament!"
There's several sub-plots (Beren and Luthien, Children of Hurin, Fall of Gondolin, Feanor and the War of the Jewels, et cetera), but overall the main plot is the combination of all the subplots into the history of Middle Earth.
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Ah, thanks I may have to get that book.
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Ahem, you must get to that book!! It is really fantastic imo. I've read Lotr 4 times and the Silmarillion 3 times. I actually have a harder time reading the Hobbit than Lotr or the Silm. It is more challenging reading I guess... I just become fascinated with all the stories and M.E. history in the Silmarillion. Well worth it! 8)
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Interesting, I found the Hobbit to be the easiest and most fun to read.
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The Hobbit is nice, but obviously it is a childrensbook. Silmarillion brings depth in the story, as does The Unfinished Tales and later the Children of Hurin, which is a beautiful, but tragic story.
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I liked Akallabêth myself. Good stuff with Númenor, Sauron, the Gift of Men, and of course the story of how the world became round and why the Straight Road is named the way it is.
The part that surprised me in The Hobbit was when the good guys acted rashly and greedily and were besieged by other good guys... and there was also that awkward situation with Bilbo stealing the Arkenstone. Not the sort of feel-good developments I was expecting! *LOL* But I'm glad Thorin and Bilbo had the chance to part on good terms.
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As for extensive scenery descriptions, I especially liked the ones in FotR--the Shire, Lothlorien, and Parth Galen in particular. Maybe it should come as no surprise though when comparing the FotR site path to TTT's and RotK's. ;)
I've always enjoyed the initial journey as well when it was just the four Hobbits making their way to Bree. Other parts are the meeting with Strider, Galadriel's kind words to Gimli in Lothlorien, and Frodo sitting on the seat of Amon Hen.
But you know what always cracks me up? The Council of Elrond.
"'Strider' I am to one fat man who lives within a day's march of foes that would freeze his heart or lay his little town in ruin, if he were not guarded ceaselessly..."
So what just happened? Aragorn, before the assembled Wise and Great, just wrote off Butterbur as "fat" as the only quality worth mentioning. And mark my words, every word in this council would have been recorded in the histories and remembered by the Elves until the world is old. But wait, there's more!
"For my hope was founded on a fat man in Bree..."
Gandalf, too! Poor old Butterbur! A thankless repayment for all the excellent beer. :'(
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neither is me deleting your posts from blatant spam ;) LOL
I think people start the fellowship, and get bored but if you battle through those first 200 pages it really is worth it. Though the hobbit is still my favorite book, ROTK a close second. TTT bogged down where Frodo and Sam came in. Of course I was like 8-9 so I wasn't as mature of a reader as I am now...I need to try to read them again.
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I do agree that Sam and Frodo's storyline wasn't especially interesting to me in the books, and also to lots of people: in the movies.
I've still read LOTR annually though. Did you guys know that the Nazgul, including the Witch-King, came to Edoras to coerce Wormtongue, during the time Gandalf was at Edoras? At the time, Wormtongue was still a good counsellor, apparently. Oh, and the Witch-King let him live in part because he perceived he hated Saruman and might wreak vengeance on him sometime. Interesting details like this keep me reading LOTR and its companions (I think I found the above info in the Lost Tales or Unfinished Tales, can't remember which). I've always had trouble reading the Silmarillion though---maybe it's the historic tone. I'll try again someday. :)
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the silmarillion is incredibly easy for me...as is the hobbit....its funny some people have a ton of trouble with those two...once you get past the parts about feanor royal butthead everything is a lot easier.
wait the WK was there at the same time is gandalf the white and they didn't fight? and how long was it from gandi getting shadowfax to the 3 hunters coming to edoras?
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I think the historic tone is part of the reason I love the Silmarillion. Lots of different storylines basically explaining how middle earth came to be and explaining the history up through the war of the rings. The Hobbit is great, I just don't like to read it over again as much as the others.
The Witch King at Edoras? That seems a strange twist. The histories of middle earth volume 264... I just can't get myself to start going through those.
Nothing can be as frustrating as the Unfinished Tales though. There's build up and more build up until you get all excited... and then boom its over. :-\
What do you all think about Children of Hurin? While not J.R.R., I still thought it was great, and I really hope Christopher does the Fall of Gondolin :popcorn: :D
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Wait... Wasn't Children of Hurin JRR, with Christopher Tolkien just slapping all the different manuscript pages together, sorta like with Silmarillion?
Anyway, CoH is probably my favorite out of the whole lot. I need to get back to my CoH DC set....
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Er yeah it basically is J.R.R., edited (probably quite a bit) by Chris. You can basically read the condensed version of CoH in the Silmarillion. It actually has the majority of the storyline in there. Concievably J.R.R. had more notes on it that fleshed out the story a bit, but I don't really know if its really J.R.R. or just Christopher filling in the gaps. I'm fine with it either way, because if it is Christopher filling in gaps, then he did a pretty darn good job following his Dad's lead. Unlike Frank Herbert's (Dune) kid who along with Kevin Anderson completely screwed over his Father's legacy. "Oh we have notes from Frank Herbert telling what's supposed to happen in Dune 7! So we decided to write 3... wait 6 books as prequals to squeeze more money.. I mean set up the story for you first. Then we'll needlessly split Dune 7 into two slow and boring books full of red herrings! Oh and the characters we made up in the prequals come back and save the day as the ultimate heroes of the Duniverse! Wait didn't my Dad purposefully leave it so no superpowerful character could decide the fate of the universe? Ah screw it I like Star Wars better anyway!"
Bitter? maybe a little :twisted:
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A little? Cheeze!
Ah, well. I never liked any of the Dune books besides the first anyway.
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http://fan.theonering.net/writing/stories/files/0301_nemo_filmaril.html
funny mention of the dune movie here
shameless spam here ;)
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And unfortunately, he's the moderator so he's the only one who can delete.
Oh the wallowing depths of indignity to which the mighty CobraCards have fallen.
But wait! Drake is also a moderator! All hope is not yet lost!
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It was rather unfortunate.
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http://fan.theonering.net/writing/stories/files/0301_nemo_filmaril.html
funny mention of the dune movie here
Lol that's great! A good read. ;D
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Alright, alright. Back on topic. :cop:
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this thread has gone on topic twice...its time to consider locking ;)
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One of my pupils started to read Lord of the Rings. She is finished with all her books, so I had to find something for her in Dutch class. What better then to study foreign literature? ;)
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As I live not far from where Tolkien wrote the books, its cool driving past where he used to live in mid-Wales.
And as you do it, you see real places like Moriah and the Devil's Bridge. If you are a hardcore Tolkien fan its the place to go.
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I remember going through western England. The area around Nunney with all those dinky little towns reminded me of the Shire, except with houses instead of holes.... really cool.
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heh...
I've read them all... well, a lot of times over.
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Not surprising. Obviously you have enough time on your hands to go bumping threads over seven months old.
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We have a new necromancer to replace GT lol
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Heh heh.... no, I was just bored.
It's an interesting topic, anyway.
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ofcourse...I started it