Re-reading The Lord Of The Rings

[elen_nare]

After re-watching all three movies in three days (the first two on vhs - it made me feel old :P) I felt like re-reading the books. The picture is the cover of my copy - beautiful illustrated hardback. It's a lovely edition, but I have to admit it's a bit awkward for actually reading, since it weighs a ton! (Not quite as bad as my all-in-one Chronicles of Narnia hardback, though...That one is like an encyclopaedia tome).

So far, I've read the foreword, prologue (interesting couple of spoilers there about characters surviving, even though it was written by Tolkien - still not half as bad as others I've read, where they told you the whole story!), and the first three chapters. I'm enjoying it a lot, too.

After the cut, thoughts on the books, films, and differences between them - SPOILERS for both.


The first thing I noticed when I started reading is that I read Gandalf's lines in my head with Ian McKellen's voice. Bilbo, Sam and Pippin also had their actor's voices - Frodo not quite so much at first, oddly enough.

The party doesn't actually have Pippin and Merry stealing fireworks, but that was a really fun scene in the film, so I didn't mind ;)

I hadn't noticed before that Peter Jackson had moved part of Gandalf and Frodo's book conversation in Bag End to Moria in the film (the whole "I wish the Ring had never come to me" bit). I suppose it does make sense, though, to break the exposition up a bit, and the film scene works well.

Something that surprised me was finding the song Pippin sings to Denethor in the film so early in the book, in the third chapter! It's actually part of a walking song... I couldn't read the rest of it in the film's tune, though, it just didn't work - I felt it should be something jauntier. However, I couldn't read that verse in anything but the film's tune! So it just sounded like two different songs in my head.

I've left Sam, Pippin and Frodo asleep after meeting Gildor and his elves - wish they could have been in the films as more than a (extended edition) cameo, Gildor's a great character. Time to rejoin them, I think :)

I'm really enjoying it... I like the films, but the books have all those little details that couldn't be in the films (unless you made each one about nine hours long :P), and Tolkien's writing... I just love them.

Comments

[elen_nare]

It's fine :) They're not everyone's thing (well, nothing is, really!)... My sister only read them after watching the films, and she says she likes the films a bit better. you should try them if you haven't, though I know it's hard to find the time to read something that long! Have you read The Hobbit?

Here's the whole thing: http://tolkien.cro.net/talesong/hearth.html Maybe not necessarily happier, but... more something you could march along to, if yu see what I mean.

[bluealoe]

I've read part of The Hobbit, but not the whole thing. I still plan to read all of LOTR someday. :)

Yeah, I see how the tone of the song is completely different!

[elen_nare]

Good luck with both of them then :)