Who actually read the books?

Did you read the books?

Of Course!	80.6%	[ 319 ]
I saw the movies, but never read them.	9.8%	[ 39 ]
They were books?	1.3%	[ 5 ]
I know how to read?	1.8%	[ 7 ]
OMG LEGOLAS UR SO HOT<3<3<3	6.6%	[ 26 ]
Total Votes:			[ 396 ]

[General Snicker-Doodle]

I've read The Hobbit and up to The Two Towers in the actual Lord of the Rings trilogy.
I have The Silmarillion on my bookshelf, but I've only read about a page of it.
I'd love to get into the books because I truly do appreciate the story, and the amazing amount of depth there is to it.
But I just cannot get into Tolkien's writing style. It's absolutely dull to me.
=/

[sighfyfan]

I've read the trilogy at least three times. I own The Silmarillion, but have never read it. Just can't seem to get into it. Any advice?

[LilliputianBBBB]

Of course I did, otherwise I wouldn't have been interested in the movies. smile

[marvin the squirrel]

of course i read the books. they're classics= i had to. i read them a while ago; i need to re-read them. they're so dense! and the way tolkein writes you forget what the sentence is about once you get to the conclusion. i struggled through the simmarillon. it's worse about the sentence structure thing. it's good, though. they're so multi-layered! i notice things in the story, themes, motifs, that i hadn't before. the movies portray it well- i mean, not exactly, of course, but pretty well, for a movie. like i said, i really need to re-read them.

[Qyp]

Books give you far better understanding of everything...

[Qyp]

diniwheeler

I've read the trilogy at least three times. I own The Silmarillion, but have never read it. Just can't seem to get into it. Any advice?

Take it slow... Once you get about 1/3 in, it starts getting really good.

[sighfyfan]

Thanks for the advice. Someone gave me the same advice about The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. I kept reading and finally after 150 pages the book grabbed me. Seems to me the first Harry Potter book was the same. The most boring opening ever, but once you get into it, you're hooked.

[Qyp]

diniwheeler

Thanks for the advice. Someone gave me the same advice about The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. I kept reading and finally after 150 pages the book grabbed me. Seems to me the first Harry Potter book was the same. The most boring opening ever, but once you get into it, you're hooked.

Yes, most books are that way. Unless they do what some movies have, and show some epic intro, and then switch to a boring scene, then the movie builds back up to the thrills...

[The Viscount]

I've read each book including The Hobbit about half a dozen times, and the Silmarillion cover-to-cover at least 3 times. This isn't counting picking up the books and reading a few passages in idle interest, or researching specific events, or gathering information for roleplay.

I'm thinking about picking them up again. ninja

[Ametrin]

Of course! When I first read the books it was 5 or 6 years before the first film was introduced. And since them I have read them again and again... they definitely belong to my most loved ones.

[Menegil]

I ate the books up like a ravenous beast.

Does that count?

Oh, and I voted that Legolas is hot. Because I'm having gay thoughts, go figure.

[Velut Luna Ehecatl]

njh117

So i've been jumping around the forums, and some people seem totally ignorant to the fact that LOTR was a book trilogy before a movie trilogy... And those that do seem to have read The Hobbit and the LOTR only, not the Silmarillion, which is so critical in understanding the LOTR its not even funny...

I really hope more of you have read them than have not.

I have read the trilogy twice, The Hobbit and the Silmarillion

[Zefel]

I read the trilogy twice xD I read the Hobit before that and quite liked it too, though I havent read any other Tolkien's books, too lazyyy sweatdrop

[Agorna]

I'm sort of permanently stuck half-way through the main four. I read The Fellowship and The Two Towers (coincidentally) up to where the second movie ends, before I saw the movies, and about half of the Hobbit.
I've been trying to start The Return of the King because I heard there's a lot more in the book than in the movie, but to be honest, I generally like the movies more than what I've read.
Mostly the descriptions and detours into history tend to drag me down. I guess I just prefer it to be streamlined. sweatdrop

[ShadowintheDeep]

I have read the entire Lord of the Rings and I have read The Hobbit three times (once in year 4, then read it to my little sister then again in middle school). I have always loved The Hobbit and though the Lord of the Rings was a bit long for me it was absolutely worth it. I love how Tolkien uses words to paint pictures in the mind and the world he created is detailed and beautiful.
The way that they created the movies did change the feeling of the tale a lot but it was cleverly done and I don't think they could have done a better job. In my opinion, as far as movies go, the Lord of the Rings was brilliant even then.
I am a fan of Tolkien's works but I haven’t read any of the other books. Clearly I’m missing out.