What parts of Lord of the Rings you do NOT like.

DrGong set the following eddies spiralling through the space-time continuum:

> Being a fan of the books, I reread them each year and always enjoy
> it. However, Chapter 4 - 9 of book 1 (Fellowship of the Ring) I
> dislike greatly. The first parts have charm, and once the hobbits
> reach Bree the story flows and I have a hard time putting the books
> down. However, those few pages I have the hardest time finishing, I
> am not sure if it was written at a different time, or edited by
> someone else at the publishing house, but it has a wholly different
> feel to it and If I am always tempted to skip over that section.
>
>
> Do other readers have the same or other sections that they dislike?

Book V.

One ginormous interruption of the main plot.
--
ξ Proud to be curly

Interchange the alphabetic letter groups to reply
 >> Stay informed about: What parts of Lord of the Rings you do NOT like. 

"Öjevind Lång" skrev i meddelelsen


> Merry and Pippin have been kindapped by orcs, and instead of pursuing them
> at once Aragorn, Gimli and Legolas waste a lot of time singing mournful
> songs for Boromir, combings his hair and generally pissing about.

That's how you were *supposed* to honour a fallen leader in those heroic
times. Like in the Nirnaeth Arnoediad, where Azaghâl is slain by Glaurung
but manages to wound the worm, making it bugger off with the other beasts of
Angband fleeing after him. The Dwarves then mournfully bear the body away
from the battlefield, abandoning the battle --- at least the Rohirrim were
more sensible at the battle on the Pelennor field.

Korpen.
 >> Stay informed about: What parts of Lord of the Rings you do NOT like. 

DrGong writes:
> Being a fan of the books, I reread them each year and always enjoy
> it. However, Chapter 4 - 9 of book 1 (Fellowship of the Ring) I
> dislike greatly.
[snip]
> Do other readers have the same or other sections that they dislike?

The first few times I read it (as a teen, more than 30 years ago),
I felt much the same, but I find now that I have grown fond of
that section. Perhaps it's because in the barrow we see a Frodo
who could never be the doe-eyed sniveler that Jackson directed.
Perhaps it's because as an old fogey I can now appreciate someone
like Farmer Maggot more. Perhaps it's because I'm very fond of
mushrooms.

So now I'll even occasionally pick up the book just to read the
journey from Hobbiton to Bree, an honor I used to reserve for
Sam's demolition of Shelob and the passing of the Witch King.

--
Jeff
 >> Stay informed about: What parts of Lord of the Rings you do NOT like. 

On Dec 18, 11:47 pm, Jeff Urs wrote:
> DrGong writes:
> > Being a fan of the books, I reread them each year and always enjoy
> > it.   However, Chapter 4 - 9 of book 1 (Fellowship of the Ring) I
> > dislike greatly.
> [snip]
> > Do other readers have the same or other sections that they dislike?
>
> The first few times I read it (as a teen, more than 30 years ago),
> I felt much the same, but I find now that I have grown fond of
> that section. Perhaps it's because in the barrow we see a Frodo
> who could never be the doe-eyed sniveler that Jackson directed.
> Perhaps it's because as an old fogey I can now appreciate someone
> like Farmer Maggot more. Perhaps it's because I'm very fond of
> mushrooms.
>
Actually I like Farmer Maggot, know quite a few like them, they are
"just simple farmers" but are wise and can see though many things (The
Farmer Maggot types are the types that never get cought up in the
scams of the likes of Bernard L. Madoff) but I dislike the old forest
and Tom bits. Even the Barrow Downs.

I know, I am a heathen, but even those parts are better then the
golden compass...
 >> Stay informed about: What parts of Lord of the Rings you do NOT like. 

DrGong wrote:

> I know, I am a heathen, but even those parts are better then the
> golden compass...

Ouch! Damned with faint praise...
--
derek
 >> Stay informed about: What parts of Lord of the Rings you do NOT like. 

The songs and poetry are like speed bumps to me. I usually
skip them and come back later when in the mood. For some
reason, prose and poetry don't mix well for me.
 >> Stay informed about: What parts of Lord of the Rings you do NOT like. 

DrGong wrote:
> Being a fan of the books, I reread them each year and always enjoy
> it. However, Chapter 4 - 9 of book 1 (Fellowship of the Ring) I
> dislike greatly. The first parts have charm, and once the hobbits
> reach Bree the story flows and I have a hard time putting the books
> down. However, those few pages I have the hardest time finishing, I
> am not sure if it was written at a different time, or edited by
> someone else at the publishing house, but it has a wholly different
> feel to it and If I am always tempted to skip over that section.

I actually *love* the journey from Hobbiton to the Old Forest, and wish
it were longer, and took a more circuitous route! The Shire is so
vividly imagined and so deliriously bucolic that I want to go there. I
love all those places on the map: the Green Hill country, Woodhall, the
Marish, and the nearby places that aren't even mentioned in the story:
Pincup, Willowbottom, Deephallow.

Parts of the book I can do without: the Paths of the Dead episode
(filler IMO), the rather embarrassing love-that-dare-not-speak-its-name
exchanges between Frodo and Sam in Cirith Ungol ("'I wish we could be
here together forever'", "He kissed his hand", etc), and most especially
the very ill-advised narration-by-medieval-sports-announcer episode in
which (IIRC) Gandalf drives off the Nazgul who is menacing the helpless
Faramir. ("And now comes my lord Faramir..", etc, as though it was a
horse-race.)

If I had to pick my favorite volume of the three, I'd definitely say
FotR: the Shire, the journey through the wilds of Eriador with its
crumbling castles and relics of the past, the flight to the Ford,
Rivendell, Moria, perhaps the most oppressively terrifying episode of
the book, and Lorien, perhaps the most uplifting with the intriguing and
complex character of Galadriel. After that, the fellowship is broken,
and the narrative is split, and I don't think Tolkien handles that too
well novelistically - it certainly is more difficult to write, and more
difficult to follow. A bit of a risky maneuver, rather like a commander
dividing his forces (or as they say in the software biz,
"multi-threading will rot your teeth").

Dave
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 >> Stay informed about: What parts of Lord of the Rings you do NOT like. 

I always find it hard to get through the battle scenes. I have to
force myself to slow down and read them; otherwise I find myself
starting to skim. Helm's Deep especially bores me.

What I love most is the "lore" and conversations where things are
decided: the Council of Elrond and "The Shadow of the Past", of
course, but also "The Last Debate" of the captains of Gondor; Saruman
and Gandalf's confrontation (as told by Gandalf); the initial mutual
feeling-out of Strider and the hobbits, Frodo and Faramir's long
conversation, and so on.

--
Stan Brown, Oak Road Systems, Tompkins County, New York, USA
http://OakRoadSystems.com
Tolkien FAQs: http://Tolkien.slimy.com (Steuard Jensen's site)
Tolkien letters FAQ:
http://mysite.verizon.net/aznirb/mtr/lettersfaq.html
FAQ of the Rings: http://oakroadsystems.com/genl/ringfaq.htm
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more FAQs: http://oakroadsystems.com/genl/faqget.htm
 >> Stay informed about: What parts of Lord of the Rings you do NOT like. 

Sun, 15 Feb 2009 23:51:42 -0500 from Dave Stallard :
> I'll defer on this; it's just that the male-bonding theme (Frodo/Sam,
> Legolas/Gimli, Merry/Pippin) seems so much more pronounced than any of
> the male-female relationships.

Well, it would, wouldn't it? Nearly every character in the book is
male, and even the female characters that there are do very little.
The only exceptions I can think of are Éowyn and Galadriel, and
Éowyn's relationship with Faramir at least seems well drawn.

--
Stan Brown, Oak Road Systems, Tompkins County, New York, USA
http://OakRoadSystems.com
Tolkien FAQs: http://Tolkien.slimy.com (Steuard Jensen's site)
Tolkien letters FAQ:
http://mysite.verizon.net/aznirb/mtr/lettersfaq.html
FAQ of the Rings: http://oakroadsystems.com/genl/ringfaq.htm
Encyclopedia of Arda: http://www.glyphweb.com/arda/default.htm
more FAQs: http://oakroadsystems.com/genl/faqget.htm
 >> Stay informed about: What parts of Lord of the Rings you do NOT like. 

On Thu, 18 Dec 2008 08:14:10 -0800 (PST), DrGong
wrote:

>Being a fan of the books, I reread them each year and always enjoy
>it. However, Chapter 4 - 9 of book 1 (Fellowship of the Ring) I
>dislike greatly. The first parts have charm, and once the hobbits
>reach Bree the story flows and I have a hard time putting the books
>down. However, those few pages I have the hardest time finishing, I
>am not sure if it was written at a different time, or edited by
>someone else at the publishing house, but it has a wholly different
>feel to it and If I am always tempted to skip over that section.
>
>
>Do other readers have the same or other sections that they dislike?

Heretics!

A true Tolkien fan savors every word and passage of The Lord of the
Rings! No excuses and no exceptions!

With that caveat in mind, I must confess that much of the Field of
Cormallen makes my eyes glaze over. I am not sure why. It's a
phenomenon that Tolkien himself wryly notes in The Hobbit:

"Now it is a strange thing, but things that are good to have and days
that are good to spend are soon told about, and not much to listen to;
while things that are uncomfortable, palpitating, and even gruesome,
may make a good tale, and take a deal of telling anyway." ^_^

Or perhaps it is just the anti-climatic nature of the chapter.

Morgoth's Curse
 >> Stay informed about: What parts of Lord of the Rings you do NOT like. 

Morgoth's Curse wrote:
> Or perhaps it is just the anti-climatic nature of the chapter.

Hmm. I never detected any anti-weather prejudices in the chapter.



--
Bill
"Wise fool."
Gandalf _The Two Towers_
(The Wise will remove 'se' to reach me. The Foolish will not!)
 >> Stay informed about: What parts of Lord of the Rings you do NOT like. 

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