Everybody's Tolkien (Tolkien Reading Day)

asia one ^

[Perdogg]

Now this is precious.

$6.2 billion and counting.

That's how much films based on J. R. R. Tolkien's books have made in all at the box office so far.

And there's still one part of The Hobbit trilogy to come.

The Lord Of The Rings (LOTR) and The Hobbit are also on the list of Top 10 best selling books of all time - LOTR at No. 2 with 150 million copies sold. The Hobbit is No. 6 with 100 million copies sold.

[Perdogg]

ping

[Varda]

I need to read the trilogy again. bttt

[Vaquero]

read the Hobbit and the Trilogy back in College TWICE.

I’m done.

(ps: found The Silmarillion unreadable...)

[SamAdams76]

This J.R.R. Tolkien died back in 1973. I wonder what he would think of his books being so popular today and being made into movies and whatnot.

[ArtDodger]

As an aside, I just read the Token, a short piece by Samual Shellabarger. Known for Prince of Foxes and Captains from Castile that were made into movies featuring Tyrone Powers. The Token was easy (simple) reading but his other stuff is pretty intricate and enjoyable. The Fox’s duel with Bayard is about as exciting as any fight scene ever written..

[null and void]

I think he’d be please that there were movies, but unhappy with the actual movies themselves (What author could be happy when a long carefully crafted book is stripped of most of its richness to fit into a 90 minute flick?)

[SamAdams76]

I'm not too happy with the movies. It seems like the battle scenes take way too much precedence while much of the story itself falls to the cutting room floor. Books are much better.

There are some movie adaptations that are excellent. Case in point is "Shawshank Redemption" which was taken from an obscure Steve King short story.

[Makana]

The Trilogy got me through Army Basic Training. I’ve read them twice. Seems about time to crack that leather-bound copy again.

[Makana]

The Trilogy got me through Army Basic Training. I’ve read them twice. Seems about time to crack that leather-bound copy again.

[ops33]

Tolkien stated that his purpose in writing The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings was just to tell a tale similar to ancient epics. And they are very good stories.

[Makana]

The Trilogy got me through Army Basic Training. I’ve read them twice. Seems about time to crack that leather-bound copy again.

[Resettozero]

I'm not too happy with the movies. It seems like the battle scenes take way too much precedence...

I thought the same thing while reading the hugely-thick trilogy in 1966. Had to be a side effect of WWII going on when he was writing it. Peter Jackson's reasoning for so much war-footage in the movies is not clear to me.

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

I need to read the trilogy again.

I'm currently about halfway through The Silmarillion. Long but a worthwhile endeavor for a real Tolkien fan.

[LibertarianLiz]

I think he’d be please that there were movies, but unhappy with the actual movies themselves (What author could be happy when a long carefully crafted book is stripped of most of its richness to fit into a 90 minute flick?)

90 minutes? Each of these films is close to 3 hours long.

[Hegewisch Dupa]

with extended DVD versions that add on at least another 1/2 hour too!

[Hegewisch Dupa]

The Trilogy got me through Army Basic Training

So your company was adept at sword fighting and taking out enemy siege engines? ;)

[Perdogg]

I was disappointed there was no Tom Bombadil and Goldberry in the movie with the Barrow Wight.

[jimt]

I'm not too happy with the movies. It seems like the battle scenes take way too much precedence while much of the story itself falls to the cutting room floor. Books are much better.

Couldn't agree more, but I love the books. You're right about the battle scenes, but the absolute worst parts were the 180 degree perversions of the characters of Galadriel and Faramir.

It kinda goes along with Heinlein's rule ("nobody likes the soup 'til they pee in it") so I suppose we're supposed to swoon at the marvellous job the director did (blech) as opposed to the way he butchered the story.

[Varda]

I have a first American edition of The Silmarillon still in good shape. It’s a great book.