The appendices is one of the most amazing parts of that book, IMHO.
He wrote those books (especially the Hobbit) to be read aloud. He was a strong believer in that; in his editing, that was a focus. He wanted to make sure they flowed well when spoken. It makes a big difference, really. Take a few sentences from the book, read them aloud, then find contemporary fantasy that’s well regarded, but probably not as carefully constructed, and read some of that aloud. One works; the other does not.
That’s not to say all prose should be written with that in mind. In the case of Tolkien’s work, however, I’ve always appreciated it.
I didn’t know that! Pretty cool. I have noticed nice meter in the writing and a lot of iambic pentameter (and other meters) that are used in the songs. The only song I skipped reading (not singing haha) to the kids so far was the one entirely in Elvish.
The audiobooks for these are amazing for the same reason.
I’ve never read the books out loud, but this makes total sense given Tolkien was a philologist. The oral tradition piece fits.
The old joke about criticizing a student’s recital in an Old English class: “You can’t pronounce it that way. No one will be able to understand you!”
Yeah all three books plus hobbit were really done well in audio. If you have a lot of laundry to do or are on a long run -this is a good audiobook to start listening. You catch a lot of interesting details.
Alright, we watched the first movie! The girls liked it but were keenly aware of the parts in the book that aren’t in the movie and also commented on how the characters are more interesting in the book. In particular, they felt Sam was boring in the movie; less caring, more of a dolt. They thought it was super lame that he didn’t get as upset about letting Bill go in the movie as in the book. They also thought it was weird that the movie pretty much made Boromir out into a bad guy the entire time while it’s a slow build in the book that’s more easily attributable to the power the ring wields over men.
We watched the extended edition. They appreciated the additional details in Hobbiton, etc., recognizing all of the various Tooks and Sackville-Bagginses, sometimes even guessing who they were before it was stated in the movie! Yay for books!
Anyhow, we’re a few chapters into The Two Towers. Anybody know where the book/film cutoff is for that movie?
They diverge a lot, and the plot changes from the book, In Two Towers, the movie, Saruman is flat out killed. In the books, he lives for the scouring. The scouring doesn’t happen either. Faramir’s character is also different in the movies.
Hmm… So maybe we should finish the entire thing before we watch the other 2 movies?
I would recommend that, yes.
Also, there are a lot of funny parts in the movie between Gimli and Legolas as they count off kills.
Thanks, Mark!
Saruman dies only in the Extended Edition of the third movie, but the “same scene” minus the death occurs in the second “book”, The Two Towers. Book III: Chapter 10. The Voice of Saruman
The encounter with Shelob also occurs in the third movie, but the second “book”, Book IV: Chapter 9. Shelob’s Lair
Essentially The Two Towers movie ends before the book does on both story threads. So you could still watch the movie after finishing the book, you just will have already overshot it by a chapter or two.
It is sort of more difficult to line up the movie with the book chapters perfectly because the two story threads are interlaced in the movie (and diverge a bit) while they are separated in the “book” between “Book III” and “Book IV” respectively.
As a kid, this was one of my favorite parts of the book, and I was absolutely giddy that they included it in the movies.
It was one of the few, maybe only, instances of Gimli being ‘funny’ that didn’t piss me off in the movies. I generally loved the movies, though they don’t hold up all that great today but the one thing I never forgave them for was turning Gimli into a buffoon.
I still love them passionately, but yeah, he was made the butt of the joke a little too often. That bit, though – that was a wonderful moment between Gimli and Legolas and I have always enjoyed it.
Huh? Given the setting (and the great effects), I think the series holds up amazingly well. I can understand someone not liking it originally because tastes differ, but I have a hard time following that they don’t hold up well.
I just rewatched it with my son - we are halfway through the hobbit and I thought it would be fun. My wife and I ended up cringing at more than a few parts, from the CGI to Legolas and oh god, the forced laughter… yeah. The acting, and I blame this on the director, can be very uneven. From nigh sublime to ridiculous.
I mean I think the hobbit movies are universally and rightfully reviled. The proper LotR trilogy has aged very will IMO
Oh gosh yes. Despite how many people worked on both, they’re really not even in the same league.
I rewatch the LotR trilogy every few years, and they’re still fantastic.