Lord of the Rings: Why It's So Awesome

[Deleted]

This is (also) inspired from a discussion elsewhere about certain book series and why they're awesome. Consider this a thread of love vomit for the Lord of the Rings trilogy, as well as the Hobbit (its prequel).

(ETA: It's totally fine to love on the movies, but try to focus on the books themselves.)

[Deleted]

I love that it's so intricately imagined: Tolkien came up with languages for different sectors of Middle Earth, which added so much authentic feel and richness to the entire story for me. I felt like everything had a very solid background, thus it was far easier to imagine it all unfolding.

[pixy0stix]

Breakfast, second breakfast, elevenses, luncheon, afternoon tea, dinner, supper - nuff said.

[Deleted]

YOU SHALL NOT PASS!!!

[Deleted]

Freaking Aragorn. That dude is bad ASS. 

[pixy0stix]

I've read all the books a thousand times, and each time I find something new to ponder. A side story forgotten, a character that I missed. It's just such a rich world that he was able to create. Plus, it's accessible. It's written in a way that has humor and complexity so that anyone who hasn't read fantasy can pick it up and be sucked in. Example: How the dwarves all arrive at Bilbo's house, and they just keep coming, and he's too polite to say anything but just keeps seething internally.

[aurora]

Nov 11, 2013 9:44:40 GMT -5 pixy0stix said:

Breakfast, second breakfast, elevenses, luncheon, afternoon tea, dinner, supper - nuff said.

The hobbits are truly awesome in their love for good food.

Like @ladydisdain said, I am absolutely blown away by the background Tolkien created for these books.  It's not just the languages, but the entire mythology/history (much of which is presented in other books that are frankly quite a bit more boring than the main ones). 

One of the boards had a thread about book boyfriends a while back.  Aragorn was always mine.  Maybe I aspire to royalty?

Sometimes when I get depressed about injustice, I think about Gandalf's quote "Deserves it [death]! I daresay he does. Many that live deserve death. And some that die deserve life. Can you give it to them? Then do not be too eager to deal out death in judgement."  Those are some wise words.

I have a few quibbles with the movies (most importantly, the fact that Sauruman didn't get to the Shire so the foursome had to fix it up), but overall I think Peter Jackson did a great job staying true to Tolkien's world in the LOTR movies.  I'm really annoyed that he's money-grubbing enough to add enough fluff to make the Hobbit three movies.

[Deleted]

I love-love-love Sam's character arc. How he starts out as this total simpleton caught up into an adventure because he was eavesdropping, and in the end he was almost more important than anyone else and we wouldn't have the ending we do without him.

I'm also a total sucker for Gandalf because he so fully believes that the biggest changes to be affected can be done by the smallest, most insignificant beings that no one knows about. 

[Deleted]

The enmity and then friendship between Legolas and Gimli.

[Velvetshady]

Agree 100% with what pixy0stix and ladydisdain have said. I'll add that it is truly innovative. There are plenty of rich, complex worlds in other fantasy series, all of the borrow from Tolkien.

[Deleted]

My husband reads a ton of CS Lewis, and apparently he has a special place in his heart for Tolkien. He assigned me to read a chapter in one of his Lewis books today at lunch about literary criticism and how Tolkien is involved; I'll report back.

[NitaX]

Nov 11, 2013 9:47:44 GMT -5 @bigtresurrected said:

YOU SHALL NOT PASS!!!

[aurora]

Nov 11, 2013 10:24:24 GMT -5 @ladydisdain said:

My husband reads a ton of CS Lewis, and apparently he has a special place in his heart for Tolkien. He assigned me to read a chapter in one of his Lewis books today at lunch about literary criticism and how Tolkien is involved; I'll report back.

Lewis and Tolkien were very good friends - both part of a small literary society.  There is some interesting info on their friendship on the "Making of..." discs that accompany the LOTR extended edition movies.

But, I look forward to hearing more from you after you read your chapter!

[wawa]

Because years and years after reading it for the first time (and then again and again and again) - just the thought of certain scenes in LOTR gives me goosebumps. NitaX I shaved my legs this morning and now it's all ruined because of that PIP so thankyouverymuch.

[Kattey]

Nov 11, 2013 9:58:05 GMT -5 aurora said:

Nov 11, 2013 9:44:40 GMT -5 pixy0stix said:

Breakfast, second breakfast, elevenses, luncheon, afternoon tea, dinner, supper - nuff said.

The hobbits are truly awesome in their love for good food.

Like @ladydisdain said, I am absolutely blown away by the background Tolkien created for these books.  It's not just the languages, but the entire mythology/history (much of which is presented in other books that are frankly quite a bit more boring than the main ones). 

One of the boards had a thread about book boyfriends a while back.  Aragorn was always mine.  Maybe I aspire to royalty?

Sometimes when I get depressed about injustice, I think about Gandalf's quote "Deserves it [death]! I daresay he does. Many that live deserve death. And some that die deserve life. Can you give it to them? Then do not be too eager to deal out death in judgement."  Those are some wise words.

I have a few quibbles with the movies (most importantly, the fact that Sauruman didn't get to the Shire so the foursome had to fix it up), but overall I think Peter Jackson did a great job staying true to Tolkien's world in the LOTR movies.  I'm really annoyed that he's money-grubbing enough to add enough fluff to make the Hobbit three movies.

I felt this way at first, I mean really, there just isn't enough in the Hobbit to warrant it, but I've changed my mind. Not counting that Legolas shouldn't be anywhere near this movie (despite my love for him), much of what he's adding is back story pulled directly from middle earth lore. The whole "wizard in the south" bit leads into LOTR, so for those who've never read the books but will watch The Hobbit before LOTR, there is more back story as to how Sauron showed up. I like the idea now.

[aurora]

Nov 11, 2013 11:09:11 GMT -5 Kattey said:

Nov 11, 2013 9:58:05 GMT -5 aurora said:

The hobbits are truly awesome in their love for good food.

Like @ladydisdain said, I am absolutely blown away by the background Tolkien created for these books.  It's not just the languages, but the entire mythology/history (much of which is presented in other books that are frankly quite a bit more boring than the main ones). 

One of the boards had a thread about book boyfriends a while back.  Aragorn was always mine.  Maybe I aspire to royalty?

Sometimes when I get depressed about injustice, I think about Gandalf's quote "Deserves it [death]! I daresay he does. Many that live deserve death. And some that die deserve life. Can you give it to them? Then do not be too eager to deal out death in judgement."  Those are some wise words.

I have a few quibbles with the movies (most importantly, the fact that Sauruman didn't get to the Shire so the foursome had to fix it up), but overall I think Peter Jackson did a great job staying true to Tolkien's world in the LOTR movies.  I'm really annoyed that he's money-grubbing enough to add enough fluff to make the Hobbit three movies.

I felt this way at first, I mean really, there just isn't enough in the Hobbit to warrant it, but I've changed my mind. Not counting that Legolas shouldn't be anywhere near this movie (despite my love for him), much of what he's adding is back story pulled directly from middle earth lore. The whole "wizard in the south" bit leads into LOTR, so for those who've never read the books but will watch The Hobbit before LOTR, there is more back story as to how Sauron showed up. I like the idea now.

I do realize that the part with Dol Guldur was part of the history (that you don't learn about in the Hobbit book really, but do a bit more when you read LOTR), but I still think there is a lot of fluff.  For example, I know Radagast comes into LOTR, but do we really need the whole bunny chase scene in the Hobbit?

Maybe I will change my mind further after the extended editions all come out and I have a chance to watch Peter Jackson explain his choices.  But, right now it feels money-grubbing.

[niemand88f]

I like LotR because of the detail and richness of the world he created. I don't think any author since has gone to such lengths to describe so many things about their world. I appreciate it even if I couldn't make it through the Silmarillion

I'll go see all 3 Hobbit movies, but after seeing the first one I don't see why it needs to be 3 movies.

[Deleted]

As an aside, one of my CWs just said she needs to go get a "second breakfast." I immediately called her a hobbit and received blank stares.

[wawa]

Nov 11, 2013 11:28:45 GMT -5 @ladydisdain said:

As an aside, one of my CWs just said she needs to go get a "second breakfast." I immediately called her a hobbit and received blank stares.

SEE!  CULTURAL LITERACY!  

(sorry, that's in the other thread isn't it?)
mominatrix

[Deleted]

Nov 11, 2013 11:32:28 GMT -5 wawa said:

Nov 11, 2013 11:28:45 GMT -5 @ladydisdain said:

As an aside, one of my CWs just said she needs to go get a "second breakfast." I immediately called her a hobbit and received blank stares.

SEE!  CULTURAL LITERACY!  

(sorry, that's in the other thread isn't it?)
mominatrix

I think that's my overall problem with when people don't at least acknowledge LOTR/Tolkien. But I also freely admit my total and utter bias for Tolkien over Rowling. I get that people don't agree - I guess I just wish they all knew about hobbits and Smeagol. 

ETA: I feel the same way about Joss Whedon, though. So there's that. When someone doesn't catch a Firefly or Buffy reference, I weep inside.

[litebright]

I haven't re-read them in awhile, but there's just something about the quality of his writing that encompasses something as small and homey as a hobbit-hole, and the gentle humor that he adds, to conveying very majestic places and people and concepts, and slides so easily between the two. And you get this sense that he is so invested in and aware of the history of everything he writes about, even though it's an entirely created history.

His characters resist simplicity. So you have Sam, who seems simple but becomes the heart of everything; Gollum, who does such evil things while sometimes being tantalizingly close to redemption; Boromir, who shows how the very strong can be made so weak by the temptation of the Ring but is still capable of sacrificing himself for others; and Aragorn, who resists for so long the idea of being a king because he's afraid he has too many flaws and weaknesses. And that's just a few.

[mominatrix]

Nov 11, 2013 11:32:28 GMT -5 wawa said:

Nov 11, 2013 11:28:45 GMT -5 @ladydisdain said:

As an aside, one of my CWs just said she needs to go get a "second breakfast." I immediately called her a hobbit and received blank stares.

SEE!  CULTURAL LITERACY!  

(sorry, that's in the other thread isn't it?)
mominatrix

yep!

...and to be clear, I do think there's a cultural literacy aspect to LOTR... just that HP is more there than LOTR right now.  IMHO, that's because it's still new.

I don't know if HP is going to age as well as LOTR, so it may be that 60 years from now, a muggle reference will receive blank stares.  But it pretty much won't now.

[aurora]

Nov 11, 2013 11:37:58 GMT -5 NewOrleans said:

Nov 11, 2013 11:28:06 GMT -5 niemand88f said:

I like LotR because of the detail and richness of the world he created. I don't think any author since has gone to such lengths to describe so many things about their world. I appreciate it even if I couldn't make it through the Silmarillion

I'll go see all 3 Hobbit movies, but after seeing the first one I don't see why it needs to be 3 movies.

There is a Canadian fantasy author named Guy Gavriel Kay.  He was highly influenced by Tolkien. In fact, Tolkien's estate hired Kay to finish the Silmarillion posthumously. 

Anyway, Kay's trilogy the Fionovar Tapestry (Summer Tree, Wandering Fire, and Darkest Road) have such a world. 

This is good to know.  I have the Fionovar Tapestry on my TBR list but haven't gotten to it yet.  I'll have to bump it up.

[wawa]

Nov 11, 2013 11:43:19 GMT -5 mominatrix said:

Nov 11, 2013 11:32:28 GMT -5 wawa said:

SEE!  CULTURAL LITERACY!  

(sorry, that's in the other thread isn't it?)
mominatrix

yep!

...and to be clear, I do think there's a cultural literacy aspect to LOTR... just that HP is more there than LOTR right now.  IMHO, that's because it's still new.

I don't know if HP is going to age as well as LOTR, so it may be that 60 years from now, a muggle reference will receive blank stares.  But it pretty much won't now

I agree.

[catmt]

Nov 11, 2013 11:40:44 GMT -5 litebright said:

His characters resist simplicity. So you have Sam, who seems simple but becomes the heart of everything; Gollum, who does such evil things while sometimes being tantalizingly close to redemption; Boromir, who shows how the very strong can be made so weak by the temptation of the Ring but is still capable of sacrificing himself for others; and Aragorn, who resists for so long the idea of being a king because he's afraid he has too many flaws and weaknesses. And that's just a few.

I agree with this.

In addition, I love Faramir.  He is one of my favorite characters in the books.  I was so disappointed in the movies because they completely ruined his character.

I admit I also love that Eowyn and Merry are the ones who take down the Lord of the Nazgul.  It's in keeping with LOTR's theme of unlikely heroes.

I was forced to read these books and I loved them in spite of that.

[josieposy]

It's been a long time since I've read the books, but my favorite thing about the films (other than Viggo) is the score. Seriously one of the best scores in film ever IMO.