Lord of the Rings/The Hobbit

Which other authors do you enjoy? Discuss them here.
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Courtenay
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Re: What other author are you reading at the moment?

Post by Courtenay »

Rosy, I think you're the first person I've ever found who's successfully read it! :lol: I have some idea of the contents from reading "guides to Middle-earth" by other authors, but have just never quite found the time or stamina to get through the real thing. Thanks for your recommendation, though; that's very encouraging.
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Re: What other author are you reading at the moment?

Post by burlingtonbertram »

This is going to be a tricky post - writing about The Lord Of The Rings without getting on my hobby-horse about the 1001 flaws it has. Still, here goes.

I read the Silmarillion and The Book Of Lost Tales as a teenager. There is a lot to admire about them but I think they will appeal to a smaller readership than TLOTR. They must surely appeal to the 'hard-core' Tolkienphiles. It's an epic project though, creating such a complex mythology using existing elements from old English, Germanic - and other - folklore.
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Re: What other author are you reading at the moment?

Post by rosy_posy »

It's true that I'd probably be termed a 'hard-core' Tolkienphile, burlingtonbertram :lol: . Not only have I read The Silmarillion and The Book of Lost Tales 1 and 2, but all 12 volumes of The Histories of Middle-Earth, which are Tolkien's notes and fragments of stories and things, which show how the LOTR and The Silmarillion came into being. Definitely only for the hard-core fan... :oops:

Courtenay, I shouldn't worry too much about getting through it - it's pretty hard going, especially at the beginning. Maybe try skipping the whole first part with the music and going straight onto the stories if you really want to try again? I must admit that I did have to use the index thing at the back sometimes, to check who people were! Some of the names are terribly similar - I mean, why have four people called Turin, Tuor, Hurin and Huor??!! :roll:
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Re: What other author are you reading at the moment?

Post by Deej »

Courtenay wrote:Have you read it before, Ben, or is this the first time? It's always been a favourite of mine as well. (My Precioussssssss! :mrgreen: )
Have I read it before? Yes, of course I have! :P It's one of my all time favourite books and IMO is one of the best ever written :D
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Re: What other author are you reading at the moment?

Post by Courtenay »

I should think so too! 8) (Although I must admit I've always found it quite incredible that there's not a single female character anywhere in the entire book. :shock: I'm sure they've "remedied" that in the films, but probably at the expense of being true to the original storyline.)
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Re: What other author are you reading at the moment?

Post by burlingtonbertram »

A fairy queen and a thwarted-in-love warrior maiden; purely as secondary characters. Having watched that recent BBC4 documentary on Tolkien it was a revelation to me that he had actually had a love-life. I'd previously assumed that he had never even met a woman outside of his family circle.

I've been reading Bleak House for about five days now. Big mistake to start it before Christmas because I've been quite busy and only been reading in bed. Which has meant reading about a dozen pages at midnight then falling asleep. I must dedicate a day to getting through it - to clear the decks before new books arrive at Christmas.
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What other author are you reading at the moment?

Post by Courtenay »

burlingtonbertram wrote:Having watched that recent BBC4 documentary on Tolkien it was a revelation to me that he had actually had a love-life. I'd previously assumed that he had never even met a woman outside of his family circle.
Oh yes - in fact he was happily married for 55 years and he and his wife, Edith, were by all accounts devoted to each other. I found this quote from Humphrey Carpenter's Tolkien: The Authorised Biography:
Those friends who knew Ronald and Edith Tolkien over the years never doubted that there was deep affection between them. It was visible in the small things, the almost absurd degree in which each worried about the other's health, and the care in which they chose and wrapped each other's birthday presents; and in the large matters, the way in which Ronald willingly abandoned such a large part of his life in retirement to give Edith the last years in Bournemouth that he felt she deserved, and the degree in which she showed pride in his fame as an author. A principal source of happiness to them was their shared love of their family. This bound them together until the end of their lives, and it was perhaps the strongest force in the marriage. They delighted to discuss and mull over every detail of the lives of their children, and later their grandchildren.
Significantly, when his wife died in 1971, Tolkien had the name "Luthien" inscribed on her gravestone, and "Beren" under his own name after his death two years later. The story of Beren and Luthien was the greatest romance in all of Tolkien's writings of Middle-earth (it's part of The Silmarillion); Luthien was an Elvish princess who gave up her immortality for love of the mortal man Beren. Tolkien was unabashed about the fact that this part of his fantasy saga was inspired by his own love for Edith - "for she was (and knew she was) my Luthien," as he wrote to his son Christopher after Edith's passing.

I also love this quote from a letter he wrote to another of his sons, Michael, in 1941:
Nearly all marriages, even happy ones, are mistakes: in the sense that almost certainly (in a more perfect world, or even with a little more care in this very imperfect one) both partners might be found more suitable mates. But the real soul-mate is the one you are actually married to.
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Re: What other author are you reading at the moment?

Post by Moonraker »

It might be of interest to note that we do have a dedicated thread to Lord of the Rings here. Maybe it might be more beneficial to carry an in-depth discussion on Tolkien there. Just a thought, I'm not complaining! :D

I've moved the relevant posts. - Anita
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Re: Lord of the Rings/The Hobbit

Post by Lucky Star »

I've just watched the final movie; The Hobbit, The Battle of the Five Armies. It was very good indeed and I thoroughly enjoyed it. As has become usual with the Hobbit films it parted company significantly with Tolkien's story but it's still a must for fans. :D
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Re: What other author are you reading at the moment?

Post by Courtenay »

Moonraker wrote:It might be of interest to note that we do have a dedicated thread to Lord of the Rings here. Maybe it might be more beneficial to carry an in-depth discussion on Tolkien there. Just a thought, I'm not complaining! :D
Oh, I know. I'm surprised the preceding conversation hasn't been transferred there yet! :lol: But yes, I'm happy to go there if the discussion continues.
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Re: What other author are you reading at the moment?

Post by Moonraker »

Yes, so am I! I was trying to pre-empt any potential work for Anita! :wink:
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Re: What other author are you reading at the moment?

Post by Deej »

Courtenay wrote:I should think so too! 8) (Although I must admit I've always found it quite incredible that there's not a single female character anywhere in the entire book. :shock: I'm sure they've "remedied" that in the films, but probably at the expense of being true to the original storyline.)
That's not something I've thought about before, but you're right. Yes, there are two female characters in the film. Cate Blanchett plays Galadriel and Evangeline Lilly stars Tauriel.

I wonder what the reason is for the lack of female characters.
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Re: Lord of the Rings/The Hobbit

Post by Courtenay »

Deej wrote: I wonder what the reason is for the lack of female characters.
Dunno! I've always guessed that Tolkien started out writing The Hobbit with his sons in mind as the audience (he did have a daughter as well, but she was the youngest by some years), and given the style of story and the era he lived in, he may not even have seen any necessity for female characters. The plot itself certainly works well enough even without them. I've never thought he was being deliberately sexist or chauvinist, just a product of a society that wasn't nearly as sensitive to the importance of having strong female characters in children's books.
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Re: Lord of the Rings/The Hobbit

Post by walter raleigh »

Lucky Star wrote:I've just watched the final movie; The Hobbit, The Battle of the Five Armies. It was very good indeed and I thoroughly enjoyed it. As has become usual with the Hobbit films it parted company significantly with Tolkien's story but it's still a must for fans. :D
I saw the new film this evening and completely agree. I enjoyed this one even more than the first two despite the changes and additions. I don't mind admitting I had tears in my eyes at the end, and I'm not one to cry while watching TV or films. In fact I can't remember the last film or TV program that moved me as much as this one.
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Re: Lord of the Rings/The Hobbit

Post by Courtenay »

This isn't exactly on topic, but I received the RSPB's email newsletter just now and had to laugh at their new T-shirt design:

Image

:mrgreen:
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