Tolkien Fans, Enthusiasts, Geeks, and the Antithesis

[fearsclave]

Oh, don't get me wrong; I thought that the LoTR movies deserved a solid A for effort, even if they weren't perfect adaptations, IMHO. But the Hobbit? IMHO, too many new characters and too much new content and the tone is badly off. Parts of them felt like watching my godson play video games. Jackson needs to put down his Xbox controller and pick up a pipe (again IMHO).
But Jackson's movies aside, if the Capstan Navy Flakes we smoke today is anything like what Tolkein smoked, he had good taste in tobacco. Very nice stuff indeed!

 

[anglesey]

I utterly detest Tolkein's fiction, it is saccharine and evokes no sense of mystery, history or wonderment in me and is exemplary of the shallow longing for the past that was prevalent in learned/artistic circles at the time. These pipes and tobacco spawned around the books and films are also as crass and detestable as the eldredge tie knot or people who wear sons of anarchy attire.
Aside from this, I adore his academic works, particularly those on Chaucer and Beowulf, and I find these are often overlooked, along with his contributions to linguistics and the creation and death of language. Tolkein also represents, to me at least, the surviving reminder of the lost generation in the first world war, particularly the group of private school educated junior officers who met their deaths on the somme and passchendaele, and not a day goes by when I think, that could've been me.

 

[grouchydog]

Hobbit, LOTR & Silmarillion freak here too.
Re. the movies, I thought the second Hobbit was WAY overdone in the interest of special effects, etc. The first was OK. A lot of the "not in the book" stuff was based (albeit loosely) on the Book of Lost Tales; that's an interesting read too.
The LOTR movies I actually like because I walked in the door expecting complete butchery; a "victory of low expectations".

 

[necron99]

Well, Anglesey, if I ever wanted to read a negative critique of Tolkien, you did it. While I disagree I respect the perspective and honesty. Cheers mate.

 

[werebear]

@lincolnsbark Then may we stand side by side as we "spit in Sightblinder's Eye on the Last Day."

@conlejm Though I respect your opinion, it causes sorrow to fill my heart. May you always find water and shade.

 

[conlejm]

@werebear, may you always abide by the one rule, above all others, for a man. Whatever comes, [may you] face it on your feet.

-al'Lan Mandragoran

 

[werebear]

@conlejm Any other way of looking at it is tossing the slop bucket into the wind and hoping for the best.

-Siuan Sanche

 

[IslandCobFog]

So its time to pick a new audiobook series to listen to on the hour drive to work. I am slit between LOTR and wheel of time. I've seen all the LOTR movies but never read the book. But the wheel of time series sounds a bit more intresting. From a pipers stand point which would be a better story?

 

[novicemaker]

Some of you older folks may like the fact that in schools(at lest my last two years in online school) we had English class and it had the hobbit and the lord of the rings. While i was in online school i was able to enjoy and even did a report on elvish and how its structure today could be used for a world language. We in the class were able to read the Silmarillion online and enjoyed many weeks on the series.

 

[werebear]

Also Robert Jordan, author of the wheel of time, was a pipe collector. Look him up, honestly, he is an american version of Tolkien. I sincerely regret that implied that Tolkien was the lesser of the two. But, they are, at least in my mind, on equal footing. They really are way to much alike. The main differences that I see are that where Tolkien's languages are amazingly in depth, the peoples of his books are less so, and Jordan's are the opposite. I don't know, maybe they are entirely too different for a positive comparison.

 

[billbearcat]

I enjoy Tolkien's books, The Wheel of Time books, but I recommend The Sword of Truth series.

 

[IslandCobFog]

I'll check out sword of truth, I have never heard of it. Last year I read the inheritance series by Christopher paolini, I thought it was pretty good but more of a high fantasy dragon knock off of star wars.

 

[conlejm]

I think both of these series (Tolkien and Jordan) would be difficult (for me) to listen to while driving, because (in my opinion) they are too philosophically deep and setting descriptive. In some cases there is page after page of descriptions of the landscape, the peoples, the history, the political atmosphere, etc. I am not capable of concentrating on driving and getting the most of what is being read. I need to be able to focus on what I am reading.

 

[necron99]

Another good read is the Dark Tower series by Steven King. Not his typical horror stuff, its actually quite good until the last book that then goes way out and disappoints. But the first few books are great and the first two are the best.

Anyway Werebear, you are a big fan of the Wheel of Time books. They would make a good movie possibly.....if they don't butcher the story like they do with so many book.

The Hobbit movie and I mean both of the live action ones, are based on the Tolkien books as much as the movie Troy is based on Homer's Iliad.

 

[conlejm]

There was a short-lived TV show called "Legend of the Seeker" that was based on the Sword of Truth series. I never read the books.
Two other series I hear about, though have never read, is the Game of Thrones and the Sword of Shannara.

 

[simnettpratt]

The Hobbit movie and I mean both of the live action ones, are based on the Tolkien books as much as the movie Troy is based on Homer's Iliad.

If one can't point out a single scene in the movie that was in, or even close to a scene, that was in the book, I fail to see how this is even debated. JRR Tolkien wrote some of the greatest fantasy fiction ever written, for the love of prose and storytelling, Peter Jackson skimmed the first chapter of The Hobbit, and saw a way to make more money.
Just me, it's subjective, no right or wrong, like what you like, but you can tell I feel deeply about this one! Puff on bros. (Lane Limited HG-2000 Burley-based, toasted Cavendish aro, in a Cristiano quarter bent smooth saucer for me).

 

[bentmike]

I've been a fan of Tolkien for 30 years. First read the Hobbit at 13 years old. Greatest fantasy ever written I think. I don't really have much opinion on the films. The location chosen for the films (NZ) worked well and I think the character Smeagol was spot on.

 

[simnettpratt]

I'll concede that the LoTR movies nailed some things. Gandalf. Nailed. Frodo. Nailed, which was not easy as he was probably the weakest character in the books. Boromir, Eowyn, both nailed, and they at least included one of the books' greatest quotes - "I am no Man!"
But, for me, the movies are just above average movies with a passing semblance to the books (except Hobbit 2), while the books are the greatest fantasy ever written, and will be re-read long after the movies are forgotten.

 

[werebear]

Terry Goodkind's Sword of Truth series was okay up until a certain point, then it got worse, imho. But the Sword of Shannara trilogy by Terry Brooks was fantastic. And personally The Darktower series is the only thing I've read that Stephen King's written that I didn't like.

 

[simnettpratt]

Any love for Frank Herbert's Dune series? I loved the first one, though I lost interest during the second. Here, I'll condense it for you:
Frank Herbert

I'm lots smarter than you are. I challenge you to understand even one of my paragraphs!
Reader

Gee, Frank Herbert is smart. I can't even find the plot.
THE END
There. Saved you a few hours.