I really do wonder where I have been. Other than hearing of the Lord of the Ring movies, I had no idea the Lord of the Ring existed. I certainly did not know these books had been around that long.
I am wondering how I could have gotten to be this old with out becoming aquanted with these stories. Especially since there seems to be a cult type following like a "Treky".
I had never heard of Beowolf either. It seems to remind me of parts of the Old Testament in the Bible.
I am a bit dissapointed that our Lord of the Ring books have pictures of the characters on the cover. As I have never watched the movies (and will not until after I have read the books), I would have rather their appearance be left to the readers imagination. After all that is the one of the major advantages to reading a book as opposed to watching the movie. I really think that is one reason the movies are never as good as the books, because the reader has already attatched a profile with the character.
I prefer to picture the hobbits to look more like Dobie from Harry Potter. I know that probably doesn't go along with the book, but I am going to stick with that as it is much more interesting then the pictures on the cover that look like regular people.
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I agree with you- it seems to be more interesting to have your own image attached to the character. I haven't seen the movies yet either, but I do remember seeing comercials and advertisements, so I have also attached a face to the characters.
I think the benefit to this though, is it is easier to keep things in place. Never having read the books before, and with such different types of names, it is hard to keep all the characters and places straight. I guess the benefit to having seen the movie would be that you can put a name to a face.
I made the mistake of watching the first movie after having read a few chapters of the fellowship. It really seemed to take away from the reading experience and now as I continue to read, I am less interested in the book because of relating everything in the book back to the movie. I would avoid watching any of the movies until reading the whole trilogy.
I also agree that it is nice to imagine characters in your own way, rather than being stuck with the characters from movies. However, I did watch the LOTR movies a couple of weeks ago, mainly because people were talking in class about things that haven't happend yet (ggggrrrr!!!!) and I wasn't understanding what or who they were referring to.
After having watched those movies though, I can say that the books are definately better so far, but it is helping me to keep the characters straight. At the same time though, I also agree with mmannin, it is starting to take away from the books. Before I had watched the movies, I had no idea how it ended. That's another reason I was upset to see the South Park ending that was played in class.
Yes, a bit on that note, I've never seen the movies and I'm not going to watch them until I'm done with the book series. Although, people tell me that if I watch the movies it may clear up some confusion. I just miss having the benefit of picturing the characters and their faces as I continue to read on.
I will have to disagree. I haven't read the books, but have seen the movies numerous times. I think that as I read along with the story, it is easier for me to relate where I am in the story to where I was in the movie. It makes it an easier read and easier to keep things in order. To anyone who hasn't watched the movies, I recommend them! They are fantastic!
I agree. What I think the movies provide is a very well done representation of the geography of middle earth. Most of the structures in the movies were modeled directly after Tolkien's descriptions in the books; i.e. Edoras, Rivendell. Each race in the movie was portrayed with their own distinct heraldry, clothing, and architecture. Overall I would say they are good visual companions.
I also have to agree. I saw the movies before I read the book,so as I am reading the book I picture Eliah Wood and hear his fake british accent when reading, which can be kind of distracting. It would have been better to put something not realted to the movies on the cover.
I also feel that it is better to not see the movie before hand. I am able to imagine the characters from and when I am done reading I will be able to watch the movies and see what a director felt like the characters should look like. Seeing the movie beforehand would have ruined it for me.
I think that if you are watching the movies for a reference to the geography that is great but the character dynamic is totally off. The way that they portray the relationship between gimli and leoglas and the whole representation of Lorien is, in my opinion, just horribly off.
I think the movies do a great job of depicting buildings and places, like Mike said. Having scenes in mind from the movies really helps sometimes to help me visualize something I can't really picture too clearly in my head.
And I don't think the characters were poorly done at all. In fact, it's kind of enjoyable sometimes to hear Sean Astin's voice when I'm reading Sam's dialogue.
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