Why did you read LOTR

Hobbette · 05-30-2002, 08:57 PM

Just curious about what prompted people to read The Hobbit and LOTR initially. School? Just interested? Coaxing from a friend?

I read The Hobbit in school (6th grade maybe?). I enjoyed it, but didn't love it. My husband, who is usually not an avid reader, loved all four books. He read them on his own as a child, reread them as an adult, and then reread them again when he heard the movies were being made. Curious, I reread the Hobbit just last summer and enjoyed it for what it is (a children's story). I then made my way through LOTR - making sure to get through Fellowship before seeing the movie. Now I'm hooked. Looking forward to reading LOTR again (and again... and again...).

So what prompted your first time?

Elvet · 05-30-2002, 09:49 PM

My best friend recommended - no, insisted - that I read it. The Hobbit first and LotR next. After the first few pages, I was hooked, and bought my own copies.

LuthienTinuviel · 05-30-2002, 10:28 PM

my mom bought me a set hobbit, FotR, TTT,RotK, and i was really insanly bored on a car trip, i hadn't heard of them before, but had just got done reading 'lord of the flies' which i hated, i thought this one would be the same, but no, i read the hobbit and was hooked. now im hell bent on owning the whole enchilada

***Khamûl*** · 05-30-2002, 10:35 PM

I read The Hobbit and loved it. I saw the little thing in the back about "if you want to read more about hobbits, get the Lord of the Rings." So I liked The Hobbit so much that I went out and bought the whole trilogy at once and read it over a summer.

Eruviel Greenleaf · 05-30-2002, 11:46 PM

My younger brother had read The Hobbit and about half way through The Two Towers a few years ago, but I had never really been interested in LotR then, but around November I heard about the movie and everything, and I decided it would be best to read the books first, so I read them. . .I was near the end to TTT when I saw the movie on opening day.
When I first started FotR I thought it was rather slow, but I really got into it around the part with Tom Bombadil and from there I couldn't put it down; I brought it to school with me and read during Spanish class! From that point I was completely hooked.

Anyway, that's my story. . .

Lizra · 05-30-2002, 11:52 PM

how's your spanish?

Starr Polish · 05-30-2002, 11:58 PM

My spanish is decent-ish, and I read it in Spanish, English, Geometry, Chemistry, Studyhall and Lunch.

I read it yes, because I saw the movie. Shame shame. I had read The Hobbit in 7th grade, and was unable to finish it, because I thought it was boring. I didn't realize it was a children's story. I swore to never read Tolkien again.
I went and saw the movie with my father, because he had read the first one (he's not a patient man, and gave up after the first half of TTT) and I was bored. Holding back tears as the credits rolled, I decided I'd break my 'vow' and go get FOTR immediately. Of course, it was checked out.

When I finally got it, I finished it in four days. Pretty good, I'd say, since I was in school, attending two hour jazz choir practices and preparing for track.

I was immediately sucked into Middle-Earth, and I haven't recovered since.

olsonm · 05-31-2002, 12:16 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Starr Polish
I went and saw the movie with my father, because he had read the first one.........and I was bored.

Um, Starr Polish, if you were bored why did you want to read the book?

Starr Polish · 05-31-2002, 12:31 AM

Let me rephrase that.
I went to see the movie because I was bored, and my father had read FOTR.

I sure wasn't bored after I saw that movie! Wow...nothing compared to the books though. That left me speechless. My friends even more so, because I had made it somewhat public that I was never going to read them

olsonm · 05-31-2002, 12:38 AM

Ah! That makes sense!

Eruviel Greenleaf · 05-31-2002, 12:43 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Lizra
how's your spanish?

Pretty decent, actually.

Arathorn · 05-31-2002, 03:54 AM

I saw an old yellowish copy of FOTR in our basement where all the old books get thrown to the cobwebs. I started reading it to find out what added to my dad's "weirdness".

FrodoFriend · 05-31-2002, 04:04 AM

It's a book, it was there . . . so I read it.

Aragorn_iz_cool · 05-31-2002, 07:48 AM

My aunt got me The Hobbit. It sat in my closet unread for 2 weeks. When I finally read it I decided I wanted to get LOTR. I Loved them. (I've since lost that copy of the hobbit

)

BeardofPants · 05-31-2002, 08:06 AM

I read the Hobbit 11 years ago, when I was 11, because all the so-called "brainy" kids in my class had to for a book report. I don't remember particularly enjoying it that much; I remember calling it monotonous!

Then 3 years later, my boyfriend made me read LOTR & Hobbit, and I was forced to re-evaluate my opinion of Tolkien! I'm now trying to force myself to read the Silmarillion.

Claenoic · 05-31-2002, 09:18 AM

Me? Well, I have always enjoyed fantasy novels. I first read The Hobbit when I was in third grade (*Reader's mouths drop*

) and remembered that I commented it was a good story. At that time I didn't know about the Rings trio. I was introduced to it again when my mom and step dad got married. Brian (my step dad) didn't approve of books that, in his words," Promoted magic," at the time. I was feeling a bit rebellious, so I asked a friend if I could borrow her copy of The Hobbit. This time I DID figure out that there was a sequel, in fact a lot, so I secretly started to save my allowance to buy them. I watched the movie too. But then Nina (my sister) decided to spill. Actually that wasn't too bad. Not only did he let me off the hook, but he got me the other three and we're planning to get the Silmarillion next. Now my whole family is hooked, but none as badly as me! One big happy ending!

afro-elf · 05-31-2002, 09:28 AM

I saw the hobbit an ROTK when they FIRST came out ( yeah i'm old) and I loved it so then i naturally had to read the books

Grey_Wolf · 05-31-2002, 11:52 AM

I read LOTR in Swedish first when I was 12 and in English when I was 13 and naturally got hooked. Have read it 15 times (about once a year since then, the last time being in 2000). It's my absolute number one favourite book. Have also read The Hobbit and The Silmarillion. Have David Day's A Tolkien Bestiary and just recently aquired A Guide To Tolkien. Have Robert Foster's A Complete Guide To Middle-Earth.

Have seen LOTR: FOTR. Thought it a bit too messed with, although a good movie nevertheless. A LOT BETTER than the first LOUSY attempt at making a movie of the trilogi.

And that's about it.

sun-star · 05-31-2002, 01:46 PM

I'm another movie convert, I'm afraid. I was given The Hobbit when I was 11 and I couldn't get past the first sentence, plus my brother liked it so that put me off. I don't (or didn't) trust his taste

Then I saw the film... now I'm here.

Andúril · 05-31-2002, 02:55 PM

Saw a pic in the paper of a scene from FotR, read the line where the amount of money being spent on the prouction was stated, suddenly remembered instances in childhood, when a teacher mentioned the word "hobbit" in class once, as well as seeing Two Towers lying on a desk somewhere. Allofasudden I was excited, so I ran to the library, and took out LotR. Yay!

Hobbit I read immediately afterward. A let down, I must say, after experiencing LotR. Afterward, the Silm. Blown away.

I'm planning on reading the Hobbit again, as soon as I can get Plato, Aristotle and CS Lewis's Mere Christianity out of the way...

05-30-2002, 08:57 PM	#1
Hobbette Sapling Join Date: May 2002 Location: USA Posts: 7	Why did you read LOTR Just curious about what prompted people to read The Hobbit and LOTR initially. School? Just interested? Coaxing from a friend? I read The Hobbit in school (6th grade maybe?). I enjoyed it, but didn't love it. My husband, who is usually not an avid reader, loved all four books. He read them on his own as a child, reread them as an adult, and then reread them again when he heard the movies were being made. Curious, I reread the Hobbit just last summer and enjoyed it for what it is (a children's story). I then made my way through LOTR - making sure to get through Fellowship before seeing the movie. Now I'm hooked. Looking forward to reading LOTR again (and again... and again...). So what prompted your first time?

05-30-2002, 09:49 PM	#2
Elvet Elven Warrior Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: Orillia, Ontario Posts: 221	My best friend recommended - no, insisted - that I read it. The Hobbit first and LotR next. After the first few pages, I was hooked, and bought my own copies. __________________ "But do not despise the lore that has come down from distant years; for oft it may chance that old wives keep in memory word of things that once were needful for the wise to know."

05-30-2002, 10:28 PM	#3
LuthienTinuviel protector of orphaned rabbits Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Kalamazoo... yes, its a real place! Posts: 1,236	my mom bought me a set hobbit, FotR, TTT,RotK, and i was really insanly bored on a car trip, i hadn't heard of them before, but had just got done reading 'lord of the flies' which i hated, i thought this one would be the same, but no, i read the hobbit and was hooked. now im hell bent on owning the whole enchilada __________________

05-30-2002, 10:35 PM	#4
*Khamûl* Slacker Warrior Admin Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Alabama Posts: 2,759	I read The Hobbit and loved it. I saw the little thing in the back about "if you want to read more about hobbits, get the Lord of the Rings." So I liked The Hobbit so much that I went out and bought the whole trilogy at once and read it over a summer. __________________ "If the giving of information is to be the cure of your inquisitiveness, I shall spend all the rest of my days in answering you." Gandalf to Pippin Psalm 107:31

05-30-2002, 11:46 PM	#5
Eruviel Greenleaf Alcoholic Villain-Fancying Elf Pirate Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Lyonesse Posts: 4,547	My younger brother had read The Hobbit and about half way through The Two Towers a few years ago, but I had never really been interested in LotR then, but around November I heard about the movie and everything, and I decided it would be best to read the books first, so I read them. . .I was near the end to TTT when I saw the movie on opening day. When I first started FotR I thought it was rather slow, but I really got into it around the part with Tom Bombadil and from there I couldn't put it down; I brought it to school with me and read during Spanish class! From that point I was completely hooked. Anyway, that's my story. . . __________________ Eruviel Greenleaf in a past life. "Whoever has come to understand the world has found only a corpse, and whoever has found a corpse is superior to the world." -The Gospel of Thomas SQUAWK!

05-30-2002, 11:52 PM	#6
Lizra Domesticated Swing Babe Join Date: May 2002 Location: Reality Posts: 5,340	how's your spanish? __________________ Happy Atheist Go Democrats!

05-30-2002, 11:58 PM	#7
Starr Polish Elf Lord Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Slow down and I sail on the river, slow down and I walk to the hill Posts: 2,389	My spanish is decent-ish, and I read it in Spanish, English, Geometry, Chemistry, Studyhall and Lunch. I read it yes, because I saw the movie. Shame shame. I had read The Hobbit in 7th grade, and was unable to finish it, because I thought it was boring. I didn't realize it was a children's story. I swore to never read Tolkien again. I went and saw the movie with my father, because he had read the first one (he's not a patient man, and gave up after the first half of TTT) and I was bored. Holding back tears as the credits rolled, I decided I'd break my 'vow' and go get FOTR immediately. Of course, it was checked out. When I finally got it, I finished it in four days. Pretty good, I'd say, since I was in school, attending two hour jazz choir practices and preparing for track. I was immediately sucked into Middle-Earth, and I haven't recovered since. __________________ “The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, but wiser people so full of doubts.” –Bertrand Russell Last edited by Starr Polish : 05-30-2002 at 11:59 PM.

05-31-2002, 12:31 AM	#9
Starr Polish Elf Lord Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Slow down and I sail on the river, slow down and I walk to the hill Posts: 2,389	Let me rephrase that. I went to see the movie because I was bored, and my father had read FOTR. I sure wasn't bored after I saw that movie! Wow...nothing compared to the books though. That left me speechless. My friends even more so, because I had made it somewhat public that I was never going to read them __________________ “The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, but wiser people so full of doubts.” –Bertrand Russell

05-31-2002, 12:38 AM	#10
olsonm Elf Lord Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: minneapolis MN Posts: 920	Ah! That makes sense! __________________ Gandalf lives...oh and Frodo too. Haldir Lives!!!

05-31-2002, 03:54 AM	#12
Arathorn Bard of Mangled Songs Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: West of Middle Earth...oh alright...Manila Posts: 2,679	I saw an old yellowish copy of FOTR in our basement where all the old books get thrown to the cobwebs. I started reading it to find out what added to my dad's "weirdness". __________________ Power attracts the corruptible. Absolute power attracts the absolutely corruptible. -Missionaria Protectiva, Frank Herbert *Accio, Ash Nazg!* Elennuru s?la lúmenn' omentielvo* (The Death Star shines on the hour of our meeting) - Darth Arathorn Put aside the ranger... Start looking for Mumakil action figures...

05-31-2002, 04:04 AM	#13
FrodoFriend Halfwitted Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Eryn Vorn Posts: 1,659	It's a book, it was there . . . so I read it. __________________ Fingolfin lives! ... in my finger! The Crossroads of Arda - Warning. Halfwit content. Not appropriate for people with IQ of over 18. The Fellowship of the Message Board Nyáréonié - The Tale of Tears

05-31-2002, 07:48 AM	#14
Aragorn_iz_cool Elven Warrior Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: New Jersey Posts: 119	My aunt got me The Hobbit. It sat in my closet unread for 2 weeks. When I finally read it I decided I wanted to get LOTR. I Loved them. (I've since lost that copy of the hobbit )

05-31-2002, 08:06 AM	#15
BeardofPants the Shrike Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: San Francisco, CA <3 Posts: 10,647	I read the Hobbit 11 years ago, when I was 11, because all the so-called "brainy" kids in my class had to for a book report. I don't remember particularly enjoying it that much; I remember calling it monotonous! Then 3 years later, my boyfriend made me read LOTR & Hobbit, and I was forced to re-evaluate my opinion of Tolkien! I'm now trying to force myself to read the Silmarillion. __________________ "Binary solo! 0000001! 00000011! 0000001! 00000011!" ~ The Humans are Dead, Flight of the Conchords

05-31-2002, 09:18 AM	#16
Claenoic Queen of Prolonged, Unexplained Absences Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Texas. 'Nuff said. Posts: 556	Me? Well, I have always enjoyed fantasy novels. I first read The Hobbit when I was in third grade (Reader's mouths drop ) and remembered that I commented it was a good story. At that time I didn't know about the Rings trio. I was introduced to it again when my mom and step dad got married. Brian (my step dad) didn't approve of books that, in his words," Promoted magic," at the time. I was feeling a bit rebellious, so I asked a friend if I could borrow her copy of The Hobbit. This time I DID figure out that there was a sequel, in fact a lot, so I secretly started to save my allowance to buy them. I watched the movie too. But then Nina (my sister) decided to spill. Actually that wasn't too bad. Not only did he let me off the hook, but he got me the other three and we're planning to get the Silmarillion next. Now my whole family is hooked, but none as badly as me! One big happy ending! __________________ Very Biased Alternate Script (but it's funny!):Click here! FREAK RAIN!!!!!!!! O.o Queen of prolonged unexplained absences and long, loooong car rides. Well, hullo everyone. As you can see, I don't hang out here muchly anymore. There's a good reason for this. Y'see, I've been hanging out at a different chatboard called Cardboardia. So far, I've been havin' a blast. Not that I don't love the TLA, but the magic of Entmoot is lost on me. So, as soon as TLA ends, so will my existance here, probably. Who knows though? I might stay. Highly unlikely however. This is a good bye in advance, then. Unless you want to join me and my group of friends at Cardboardia. Cheers!

05-31-2002, 09:28 AM	#17
afro-elf Hoplite Nomad Join Date: Sep 2001 Posts: 3,931	I saw the hobbit an ROTK when they FIRST came out ( yeah i'm old) and I loved it so then i naturally had to read the books __________________ About Eowyn, Does anyone know what her alias Dernhelm means? She was kown as dernhelm because of her exclaimation when she realized that the rider's headgear was heavy and obscured her sight. 'Dern Helm" Culled from Entmoot From Kirinski 57 and Wayfarer.

05-31-2002, 11:52 AM	#18
Grey_Wolf Elf Lord Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Mirkwood, well actually I live in North-west Scania, Sweden Posts: 9,481	I read LOTR in Swedish first when I was 12 and in English when I was 13 and naturally got hooked. Have read it 15 times (about once a year since then, the last time being in 2000). It's my absolute number one favourite book. Have also read The Hobbit and The Silmarillion. Have David Day's A Tolkien Bestiary and just recently aquired A Guide To Tolkien. Have Robert Foster's A Complete Guide To Middle-Earth. Have seen LOTR: FOTR. Thought it a bit too messed with, although a good movie nevertheless. A LOT BETTER than the first LOUSY attempt at making a movie of the trilogi. And that's about it.

05-31-2002, 01:46 PM	#19
sun-star Lady of Letters Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Either Oxford or Kent, England Posts: 2,476	I'm another movie convert, I'm afraid. I was given The Hobbit when I was 11 and I couldn't get past the first sentence, plus my brother liked it so that put me off. I don't (or didn't) trust his taste Then I saw the film... now I'm here. __________________ And all the time the waves, the waves, the waves Chase, intersect and flatten on the sand As they have done for centuries, as they will For centuries to come, when not a soul Is left to picnic on the blazing rocks, When England is not England, when mankind Has blown himself to pieces. Still the sea, Consolingly disastrous, will return While the strange starfish, hugely magnified, Waits in the jewelled basin of a pool.

05-31-2002, 02:55 PM	#20
Andúril The Original Corruptor Join Date: Feb 2002 Posts: 2,881	Saw a pic in the paper of a scene from FotR, read the line where the amount of money being spent on the prouction was stated, suddenly remembered instances in childhood, when a teacher mentioned the word "hobbit" in class once, as well as seeing Two Towers lying on a desk somewhere. Allofasudden I was excited, so I ran to the library, and took out LotR. Yay! Hobbit I read immediately afterward. A let down, I must say, after experiencing LotR. Afterward, the Silm. Blown away. I'm planning on reading the Hobbit again, as soon as I can get Plato, Aristotle and CS Lewis's Mere Christianity out of the way...

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
HP Vs. LoTR	Pytt	Harry Potter	53	01-17-2011 01:33 AM
Blatant LoTR Copy-Cats	ItalianLegolas	Middle Earth	81	08-13-2010 12:17 AM
In what order to read the writings of Tolkien	jtoney08	Lord of the Rings Books	17	02-07-2008 06:18 PM
LOTR Discussion: Appendix A, parts 2 and 3	Forkbeard	LOTR Discussion Project	12	12-28-2007 07:10 AM
LOTR Discussion: Appendix A, Part 1	Valandil	LOTR Discussion Project	26	12-28-2007 06:36 AM