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Eluned
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Post RE: Are you a bookie?
on: September 21, 2003 10:52
I came across The Lord of the Rings in a school physics class, where Pauline, who sat next to me, was reading it under the lab bench during most lessons. Being a good girl, I waited until after the exams to get it from the library and read it. I read the whole thing in three days, and my mother had to sneak up and snatch the book away to get me to eat or sleep. I was completely entranced.

I went with my friend and fellow Tolkien fan Glynis to see the animated version in the cinema when it came out. When the radio dramatization was on the BBC, for 26 weeks Glynis and I had to stop whatever we were doing for half an hour each Sunday to listen. My obsession was so well known that when I went to live in France for a year, my friends chose a hardback copy of The Silmarillion as a gift for me to take with me.

I enjoy the films and will end up with the theatrical and the extended version of all of them.

But it's the books I love best. I've always adored reading, and there are plenty of authors whose works I've had a thrill from discovering and which I've enjoyed rereading, often more than once. However, I don't think the experience of first reading any book has ever been as intense for me as with LOTR, whether before or since.

That makes me sound rather weird, doesn't it? I don't think I am. It's just that I do love books, and LOTR had so many elements that appealed to me personally.
I read the books before I saw the movie
61% (9)
I read the books after I saw the movie, and I prefer the books
30% (4)
I read the books after I saw the movie, and I prefer the movie
6% (9)
I never read the books
2% (3)
~wild_shieldmaiden~
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Post RE: Are you a bookie?
on: September 21, 2003 11:10
My story begins sometime when I was about 6 years old. And my Mom started to read The Hobbit aloud to the familly. I loved it... until we came to the part where our heroes are captured by the goblins... I was terrified! :blush: But about one year later I picked it up and just started reading. I was hooked. :love:
Then my older sister got her first copy of LOTR, about the same time as I was finishing The Hobbit, and she just went on and on about how scary it was! And I was like: 'Oooo! Scary? I gotta read it!' Needless to say, being only 7, I didn't get very far, lol! I think I made it to about halfway through the first chapter...
Okiday, now I'm 8. I'm bored. I see LOTR. Pick up, try again. Need I continue?
When I first heard that they were making a MOVIE out of it, I was just delerious with joy.
I am TOLKIENUS FREIKUS!!! :love::love:
gwathrandir
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Post RE: Are you a bookie?
on: September 21, 2003 01:11
I am a bookie! I read the Hobbit when I was little, and then my parents made me read the Fellowship before I could see the movie. I got hooked somewhere around Bree and read all the Lord of the Rings and the Silmarillion before going to see the Fellowship (funny old world, isn't it?)
MissMwer
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Post RE: Are you a bookie?
on: September 22, 2003 02:17
I read the books first and I love them but the are some pretty funny seens in the movie. Their both great. Must Reread books .
flyelven
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Post RE: Are you a bookie?
on: September 22, 2003 02:37
i read all the books before i saw the moives... and i loveeee the books and plan to read them once a year forever and ever haha but i also loveeeee the movies! *yay for orli* and everyone else! the movies are awesome and so are the books!:love:
AlatarielofRivendell
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Post RE: Are you a bookie?
on: September 24, 2003 12:13
I didn't read the books until after the movies came out. (I've read all three now) I love the books. There's more in them, more of the story, the charachters, etc. Its the original, inspired peice. However, I'm also a movie fan and I love the way PJ brought ME to life. Yeah, I like the books better, but in some ways I look at them as almost the same. Their just different ways to experiance the same thing. No their not exactly the same, but the heart of the story is, and the world is. I'm a Middle Earth fan, period. Whether its presented in book form or movie form.
Azaelia_Of_Willowbottom
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Post RE: Are you a bookie?
on: September 24, 2003 01:49
I read the books first... Just about a month before the movie came out. I loved them. I still love them. I used to be a little more puristic (Is that a word?) than I am now, and I'd get bothered by changes in the movie, but now I have come to appreciate the books for the beautiful works of literature they are, and the movies for the beautiful pictures they are! (Gah! Big run-on sentence!) I love the story, and I've read the books 6 or 7 times, mostly because I haven't had time to read them more!
losing_her_head
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Post RE: Are you a bookie?
on: January 11, 2004 09:16
Actually it happened like this: My friends told me about FotR and how great it was, but i didnt want to see it. Finally she made me. I groaned through the whole thing and made fun of it (although you have to admit that the opening scene where Suaron is making the ring looks like something out of Power Rangers). Anyway when she left my house i was kinda bored so i popped it in again willing to give it a second shot. I LOVED it. The next day i went out and bought the books and i liked them even better than the movies. i then went on and read the silmarillion, the book of lost tales, the hobbit...etc. but one thing that really gets on my nerves is when people claim they are a huge tolkien fan but dont even ATTEMPT to read the books. so i guess i am kinda a bookie.
Pippin_the_periannath
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Post RE: Are you a bookie?
on: January 11, 2004 11:40
I read the books before I saw the movie, but that was because I wanted to get into the movie much better...so am I a bookie or a semi-bookie?
elvenlovely
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Post RE: Are you a bookie?
on: January 11, 2004 02:51
I am definitely a bookie, always have been. The movies are undoubtedly a great tribute and a wonderful visualization of Tolkien's works, but it's hard to not love the written word and the true story a little more than Peter Jackson's movies, masterpieces as they are. However, this is just me and I'm more than ecstatic whenever someone loves the movies for just being as terrific as they are!!
Eruantalincë
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Post RE: Are you a bookie?
on: January 11, 2004 03:08
I usually am a bookie and I read the Hobbit long before FotR was in the theatres. But Lotr was too much for me:cry:. Too much names, too much places. So I did not read the books until FotR came out. After that, I read them all three. Visualizing the characters was *the* way for me to understand it better.
And I love them both for what they are: on one side a great movie, on the other side a great book.
drunken_elf
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Post RE: Are you a bookie?
on: January 11, 2004 04:01
I saw FOTR first, and fell in love with the story (and Pippin). Then couldn't decide whether to read the books or wait for the movies...so I held out until about three months before TTT, when I caved in, and read both TTT and ROTK. I fell in love with the books, and started reading Sil, but I didn't get past chapter 9, with other required reading, etc. I'm trying to finish it (finally) at the moment. I don't particularly prefer either the books or the movies - I love them both equally, but in movies vs books debates, I usually tend to side with the movies, probably because they were first for me.
And I love them both for what they are: on one side a great movie, on the other side a great book.

I agree with that, well said Eruantalincë .
Anarane_Taralom
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Post RE: Are you a bookie?
on: January 11, 2004 04:34
I was working in a bookstore prior to FOTR coming out in theaters, and thought it looked good, and decided to read the books before seeing the movie, because I know the books are almost always better. So I read all 3 LOTR books, saw the first movie, then read them all again before TTT came out in the theater, then took a college course on Tolkien and read them again, then read them again before ROTK came out.

I definitely love the books, although there are some parts that i admit to skimming through (please don't turn me into anything.. unnatural!), but I also adore the movies. As much as i miss seeing certain things that had been left out of the books, I think the movies are masterpieces that are visually stunning. I feel that the casting was awesome... there's really no one I would recast, and watching the movies is like seeing Tolkien's world come to life.
minuial_gil_estel
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Post RE: Are you a bookie?
on: January 11, 2004 08:07
Although I saw the first movie the read the books... I think it was better for me to read the books first. A lot more is explained so I could enjoy the movies and not wonder over little things. Also, the small details that me nothing to evryone else make a world of difference to me!
Hope_and_Memory
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Post RE: Are you a bookie?
on: January 11, 2004 10:10
I saw FOTR first, then I read teh complete trilogy, becuase once I start a book, I have no rest until I know the end. Wether the story is good or bad, I always have to finish it. But LOTR really captured me. Thanks to FOTR movie, I discovered Tolkien. The book was even better than the movie for me. Though I must say, certain things I had trouble with visualising like Emuin Muils, when I watched TTT it helped me. I was already prepared fo rhte changes in the film, because I had been reading the reviews, I only saw FOTR and TTT halfway last year on dvd, by that time I was already warned by dozens of threads on the LOTR and Tolkien forums everywhere that there were shocking changes in the movie.
It was a bit disappointing at first, and TTT the first time to me seemed nothing but a war film, adn I couldn't understand the changes and especially Osgiliath, why Faramir was taking Frodo and SAm there, why he was portrayed that way, but after a few times I accepted it and was able to enjoy the film. Now I got the EE edition and once listened to the commentary of PJ and Philippa and Fran about the changes, and I understand them better. They say that certain things work better in a book than on screen. On screen you have to keep the audience interested, keep the story moving, have less time of course, and a lot of movie-goers aren't bookies, so they have to like and understand the movie too. They explained that they felt too less was going on with Frodo and Sam, and they didn't want Shelob there becuase it would ruin the impact of Helms Deep, and they wanted to remind the audience of the impact of the Ring, the power of the Ring, they felt if Faramir would let them just go, knowing about the Ring, on screen it would take away some of the impact of the Rings power.
AFter listening to everything they said about the changes, I understand them better and I can live with them.

Still I prefer the books, And I'm glad I read them before Iwatching the ROTK, or else I would have been more disappointed after the movie, my brothers both were disappinted about Eowyn, they said that brave girl who helped them so much, she get's nothing? They are no bookies, and when I explained them, afterwards one of my brothers went with me to ROTK, he watned to see it again, and this time, when I filled in teh gaps for him, he understood the movie better.

I think it should be a combination of books and movies, if you really want to enjoy and understand the movies. The books fill in the gaps and you get so much more information.

Also I'm glad I only discovered the LOTR movies last year, I saw all three movies now within a little over a half year, that way I didn't have to wait long for the sequals on screen! The waiting would have killed me.
Bookfaramir
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Post RE: Are you a bookie?
on: January 13, 2004 11:52
I am a bookie and I read the book for the first time more than 20 years before the FOTR movie came out. I also read the Hobbit, the Silmarillion, the Unfinished Tales and the Lost Tales.

I think that it was much easier for bookies to understand the movies as they have much more information about Tolkien's complex world which includes a very interesting history, many persons, many places and many peoples. On the other hand, non-bookies may be not so upset at changes from the book.

Also as a die-hard bookie, I really love PJ's LOTR trilogy - these are the greatest movies ever. However, Tolkien's books are still much better than the movies!

[Edited on 13/1/2004 by Bookfaramir]
Lady~Eowyn
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Post RE: Are you a bookie?
on: January 13, 2004 01:17
I read the books after the movies. But I have to admit, the books were still way better than the movies.
Mithrellas
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Post RE: Are you a bookie?
on: January 13, 2004 04:30
I'm totally a die-hard bookie, but I love the movies too. I read the books a few months before seeing the movies, and I'm glad I was able to create my own Middle-Earth before seeing PJ's. The funny thing is, PJ's version of ME is almost exactly the same as how I pictured it wen I read the books. I wasn't really upset at PJ's changes, I mean, at least he gave us such wonderful movies in the first place.
But I think that the books are definately better than the movies.
Morwinyoniel
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Post RE: Are you a bookie?
on: January 14, 2004 01:25
I'm definitely a bookie. I read LOTR for the first time some 15 years before the FOTR movie was released, and had re-read it a couple of times; I had read The Hobbit, the Silmarillion, and Unfinished Tales once as well, but didn't care so much of them at that time. The movies made me re-read all of the books again, and this time, I was really captivated by the Sil and UT, and saw many things in LOTR and The Hobbit in a completely new light.

I loved the FOTR movie from the beginning; despite the changes an omissions, it captured the story and the spirit of the book. At first, I was annoyed by some of the changes in TTT. I could understand Éomer being banished instead of imprisoned, and the changes in Faramir's portrayal - the character from the books wouldn't have worked as such in a movie - and even the elves at Helm's Deep were OK (they just should have been sent by Galadriel to make it more logical); but, the warg attack and Aragorn's false death were unnecessary, as well as Faramir & co taking the hobbits to Osgiliath. Still, I liked it as a movie. ROTK was as great as FOTR, although much was left out, and again, a few of the changes were unnecessary. Thank goodness for the EEs...

But, a movie adaptation of such a long, deep, and multileveled story as the LOTR can't help remaining something like an equivalent of Reader's Digest Abridged Classics. I love the movies, but prefer the books.
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Post RE: Are you a bookie?
on: January 16, 2004 04:30
I saw the animated LOTR when it first came out, with my son when he was about 10 and thought it was quite good, I even have the video - shock, horror! :blush:

I then heard about the new films and decided, reservedly, to go and see the first FOTR. Although my son had read The Hobbit, The Fellowship and The Two Towers during his youth and the books were in the house, I never actually got round to reading them myself.

However, after seeing the FOTR, and being knocked for six, I went and bought the Trilogy and The Hobbit. WOW - I would say that I am certainly a bookie and read them regularly. I do love the films and have watched FOTR over and over again on Sky and on DVD, and, having received TTT DVD for Christmas, I shall be watching that over and over again.

Still Books over Films - mmmmm Books I think.:love::love:

Bye
léfalí
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Post RE: Are you a bookie?
on: January 16, 2004 05:52
No, I'm not a bookie. I've read the books before the films and was fascinated but not yet hooked up - mainly due to the awfull translation... However, when I saw FotR I didn't like it very much, because I thought too many things where missing in the theatrical edition. It was the EE that got me. There I felt the love and respect that PJ and all involved had for the books and the story they tell.

The movies then got me completely hooked up with the books in turn. I read them again and again (and finally in English!) and now the books and the movies are two ways of telling the same story to me.

I think some changes are unnecessary, some are interesting, some are due to the medium movie and some gave us great acting - like Sam's breakdown when Frodo sends him away. I admire what Sean Astin did there! Same with the tumble off the cliff in TTT. Without that change there would not have been this incredible piece of soundtrack the Breath of Life, which is definitely my favourite!

So, I can enjoy both movies and books apart from each other and together at the same time (does that make sense...:dizzy: ) If I want the original, I go and read the books. If I want to see the movie characters acting all out like in the books I can read the books and image them doing it. And I'm thankfull for some incredible movie moments even if they are due to changes made.

I have spoken. (got quite long, huh?)
samandfrodoforever
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Post RE: Are you a bookie?
on: January 16, 2004 07:46
I read The Hobbit in grade school and really loved it, but for some reason I didn't read the LOTR trilogy until after the films came out. In fact I read each book after I saw each movie. I can't stand reading books before I see the films, it ruins a lot for me. If I read a book after I tend to enjoy it to a greater extent, I get more surprises, I'm not biased, and I can discover the differences without geting mad, and actually I gain a better understanding of the literature, and as to why the film makers altered certain things. The only not so good thing about reading novels after the films is the way the characters look become embedded in your mind from the influence of the films. I actually don't mind this when it comes to Tolkien, because he never really paints a clear picture of what the characters look like in the first place... so I guess it's okay to imagine them to look as they did in the films.
I'm actually not a fan of fantasy novels, but Tolkien is an exception. I grew up loving Victorian literature of all things. Oscar Wilde was my hero, I also enjoy Thomas Hardy, William Thackery, Charlotte Bronte, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, E.M. Forster, etc. I had a great interest in Romantic poetry as well, and a special fondness of Shelley's and Byron's work. And I read some contemporary work... Bret Easton Ellis, Douglas Coupland, Jay McInerney, and James Robert Baker to name a few. There has always been this gap between Victorian and current literature in my life, and Tolkien kind of filled that, along with some great American writers that I won't bore you by listing. I've always been sort of an anglophile and very interested in England (I've visited numerous times, I'm nearly 100% Scottish and have many relatives), and I've always loved medieval history and the fantasy and beauty of that time. So Tolkein filled that void that was missing in my life, FANTASY (although for a period I studied a sufficent amount of Greek mythology, but that's rather different). Anyway I love the LOTR books, my favorite being TTT (book 3 and 4), although I think of them as one big book. Oh and I might add that I own the Alan Lee illustrated set, and he is my favorite LOTR illustrator and without him the movies would not be as great as they are. I like the films and the books equally. xx-Amanda

[Edited on 16/1/2004 by samandfrodoforever]

[Edited on 19/1/2004 by samandfrodoforever]
Dimberaidiel
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Post RE: Are you a bookie?
on: January 18, 2004 07:46
I have seen all the movies, but haven't read the book - but I am in a middle of reading fotr right now. This time it actually seems appealing to me.
Orchrist
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Post RE: Are you a bookie?
on: January 19, 2004 07:16
I'm probably older than a lot of site members, when fotr came out I'd been reading and re-reading the book for 29 years.
I wasn't quite sure about seeing the movie at first, didn't want to be disappointed I suppose! Well I wasn't, I loved them, warts and all, and I'll probably be watching them (and reading the book) when I'm 100!
Mara
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Post RE: Are you a bookie?
on: January 19, 2004 11:51
Here comes the blatant honesty once again! I didn't think I liked LOTR *GASP!* until I got knocked out, tied to a chair and forced to watch the extended FOTR in my friend's livingroom about a week before TTT came out. lol. But once I saw it, I couldn't get enough! I took a course on Tolkien in university, read the trilogy, read the Silmarillion...well, okay...I haven't technically finished the Silmarillion, but I'm getting there...sort of...lol...anyway, I went from "I don't like LOTR" to "I LOVE LOTR!!!! and I'm learning Sindarin" in less than a year...actually I think I was at the I LOVE LOTR point the second I saw FOTR...lol. Anyway, that being said, I do prefer the books to the movies, which I absolutely love, but they just aren't as detailed and a few things are left out here and there...the books will always be #1 in my opinion! I have a couple of friends that prefer the movies because they're lazy and hate reading all the songs in the books (they think the songs are pointless...I know, but you try arguing with them! lol) I suppose, though, that it's possible to look at the books and movies separately and to understand that a lot needed to be reworked and left out just because of the time constraints and budget and whatnot...so, I guess that if you were to look at it that way, I would say I like the books and the movies equally...I don't know...maybe I'm just ranting on and on here, lol...oh well! that's what I do best! :love:
Eden_of_the_WoodlandRealm
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Post RE: Are you a bookie?
on: January 20, 2004 09:26
I don't know how to answer this. I read The Fellowship of the Ring and some of the Two Towers ages ago, but I gave up because (shoot me) I did'nt think they were that good. However, after seeing the films, which I LOVED :love::love:, I have picked up the Fellowship and are determined to read the whole Trilogy.
mallow
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Post RE: Are you a bookie?
on: January 20, 2004 11:53
I'm kinda stuck between 2, i started to read the books before i saw the movie but i didnt finish them till after i saw fotr.
i was only 13, so it took me a while to read thems ince i'm not a brainiac type reading aty colledge level.
Now i've read them 3 times and definately prefer books to the films, altho i would like to see the films without the knowledge of the books to get the full effect and not be thinkin, that wasnt in the books, thats just wrong, farmir was nothing like that etc etc that way i could probably enjoy the films more.
glory2glorfindel
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Post RE: Are you a bookie?
on: March 14, 2004 01:54
I said "read the books before seeing the movie" but that's sorta true. I read FotR and TTT when I saw the promos for FotR, so in that case I did read them before the movie, but I still have to read RotK. Thing is, the first time I tried, i never could get past the description of the gates, and how they aren't aligned throughout the seven levels. I tried, but I always got stuck at this image of a wedding cake with gates... *sigh*
Now, I really really really like the books, and I really really really like the movies, but this is somewhat unfair (the not having read rotk might influence this..) so, I chose the first option. *is trying not to get into really big long boring post* bye!
legolasfan27
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Post RE: Are you a bookie?
on: March 15, 2004 04:16
I got interested in the books after seeing the movies. I probably would have read the books first if I could find them but fantasy doesn't have a very large following here in Jamaica. I am an unapologetic bookie, so I read even Shakespeare and Dickens outside of English Lit. classes (which, funnily, enough, I hated! ). So I actually got the books all the way from Curacao, if you can believe that one! I carried on so much about the movies and how much I wanted to read the books, a friend went out and bought them for me. Now I'm looking to find The Silmarillion and the Histories of Middle-Earth so if anyone has spare copies, PM me!

But the books are always better than the movies for me. The movies were great, no problem, but the books take you into Middle-Earth in a way no movie can...
Merry_Pippin_8
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Post RE: Are you a bookie?
on: March 01, 2005 11:51
I love both the books and the movies.
hobbitnamedeliza
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Post RE: Are you a bookie?
on: March 01, 2005 01:32
I read 2/3 of the books before the movies...I evaluate each medium on its own merits and find them both extraordinary.
Dolen_i_vad_a_nin
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Post RE: Are you a bookie?
on: March 01, 2005 04:21
I read each book after each movie came out. Talk about anticipation for what was to come next!
Now I myself am a reader, always have been. And I will ALWAYS stick up for the book and believe that it is better, but I have to admit that I love some parts more in the movie because of the changes PJ made. For instance, more of Aragorn and Arwen. I am a romantic at heart, and the more of a love story I can see and learn about, the better! But, a huge part that was better in the book was the entire Lothlorien part. The hobbits night sleeping in the tree and almost encountering Gollum, all of them being blindfolded, Frodo's lament for Gandalf, just so much more rich in the detail and feelings and discussions.
roxi89
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Post RE: Are you a bookie?
on: March 02, 2005 04:51
I read the books before I saw the movie.. I can't decide what I like more -- the film is in one way super, and the books in other way are also great...
tarcolan
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on: July 23, 2013 03:10
*bump*
Books are best but the movies are great for sheer gawp factor.
Hangman Helper program
LinweSingollo
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on: July 23, 2013 07:10
I was a bookie long before the films came to be, and I agree they're best, but the films helped flesh out my imagination. I was very pleasantly surprised at how much the visuals dovetailed with my own mental picture of Middle-earth. And Frodo was far more beautiful than I imagined...Thank you, P.J.
"To the Hobbits. May they outlast the Sarumans and see spring again in the trees." J.R.R. Tolkien
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