My love of LOTR started with the movies. I saw the first movie and fell in love with it. It was most of my personality in high school. I read the books in high school too but I didn't really appreciate them. I have been rereading the series because of the new audiobooks narrated by Andy Serkis and his work has definitely made the whole reading experience better. That being said, the books are still kinda boring. But that is my thought about everything that was published more than 60 years ago because ,as most people, you bring your own modern sensibilities to classics and sometimes that negatively effects your reading. (m)
I think judging Lord of the Rings based on Fellowship alone is like Reading the Farseer Trilogy and then trying to judge the Realm of the Elderlings as a whole. Like, you have quite a lot to go off of, but also.... Liveship Traders. Tawny Man. The best is yet to come!! Ya know?
I think your issues stem from having a very mathematical mind trying to read a book that is so right-brained its not even funny. So it's okay for you to find it a bit of a slog. I love LOTR because I am Catholic and I love the Catholic themes in the book. I also love the fact that the Hobbits are weak. Tolkien wants to remind us that the smallest and weakest are also heroic, in there own way. He tosses out all of the expected notions of what a hero is.
I think it might have been published in three books because paper was still rationed. Tolkien intended it to published as one with the Silmarinan as well.
I understand not loving these books, but it hurts me a little bit that you don't like the movies 😅 There are definitely things in the book that I struggle with, like the songs and Tom Bombidil. I usually skip those 🙈 Tolkien is great at writing horror and creeping doom. He really likes exploring characters who choose hope in hopeless situations. I feel like Lord of the Rings is a plot and themes story, not really a character story. I definitely like character driven books more now, but I have nostalgia for LOTR
The fellowship of the ring, as you said, is not 1 book; but its the first part of the book "Lord of the rings". So you cant criticize lord of the rings as a whole without reading.... Lord of the rings. In general, yeah it has its flaws and its weak chapters, but as a whole its pretty well paced and Tolkiens prose is unlike anything you find in modern fantasy (his nature descriptions are amazing). Also, there were some huge dramtic sequences done really well (the scary moments you mentioned, along eith lazad dhum and the flight to the ford); along with internal struggles from Frodo and Sams show of devotion at rhe end. There also is that moral greyness from Boromir, and the reconciliation between the elves and dwarfes, through Gimli and galadriel. We also have the introduction of a previously good character, Saruman, who we learn switched to bad side and teams up with Sauron, and then in turn betrayes Sauron. We also have the amazingly written chapter The Council of Elrond, which is just a masterclass in exposition and how to make it fun. It would be cool if tou could put one those literature professor more often, and if you did, maybe you wouldn't miss obviously well this book is written. It would be interesting to hear why its a bad book though, because a lot of the things you mentioned are either just subjective opinion on what you want and what you think is boring; also the fact that these things you want to happen, actually happen later on in the book (Lord of the rings).
Alright, so I've heard your opinions at the many points all throughout the video (which I found really fun and interesting). You're not qualified yet to "still be a hater". It may not be your thing, and that's totally fine, but you cannot hate what you haven't understood. You cannot be a 'hater' of Lord of the Rings trilogy anymore than you can be a 'hater' of the Copenhagen Interpretation of the wave-particle superposition of general quantum mechanics applications. You're getting closer, but as is true for all great literature, it either calls to you viscerally (very rare) or it's actually a bit of a pain to finish chapter after chapter. I'll let you off the hook with grace if instead of to finish Two Towers and Return of the King you instead commit to finish either Uncle Tom's Cabin (Harriet Beecher Stowe to1852) or Grapes Of Wrath (Steinbeck 1939). [both these books are very good and very well worth reading. They aren't exactly very thrilling, but 🤷 All good fiction books seem to be very often way more boring than they really are. If you loved Harry Potter years ago you'd also find it pretty dull today too. So it goes.
Oooh I have read all of Grapes of Wrath and absolutely despised it. Even wrote an essay on it that my literature teacher said was one of the best he's ever seen. Honestly, I think at the point that your boring Jesus figure has the initials J.C., it's so on the nose that it's not deep or good anymore
@@ChloeFrizzle I don't wholly disagree. Grapes of Wrath is important, but it's certainly boring. But since you've read it before already, I implore you to read either the Two Towers, or Uncle Tom's Cabin.
So I'm a huge fan of the Lord of the Rings and the broader Tolkien Legendarium, though I have my own nitpicks with it (such as his unending hatred of and dismission of industry of any sort), and I found this video by happenstance. I wholeheartedly agree with your takes so far. The first book or so covers the Hobbits' flight from the Shire until Rivendell and maybe farther, I can't remember exactly where it ends. All of the lore means *so much* once you've invested enough to understand it thoroughly, but if it's your first time reading I'd recommend you to just trudge and make it through. Don't skip, but don't work too hard either. By the time they're headed "across" the Misty Mountains the action will pick up again and you'll follow along easily. I'd highly recommend you to look at maps while reading, specifically the ones on glyphweb_com, aka "the encyclopedia of Arda" (they look a lot like Google Maps). The particular potential paths and destinations are important to understand at least generally, and I find Tolkien's own maps to be...not very good. Without a framework for the world or the time periods, it's hard to find a foothold. You should also figure out the time period, this you can look up but you should know: 1. What month is it currently? 2. What year is it? 3. What era are we in? Tolkien's world is separated into ___ Ages, and at a pivotal moment where the world drastically changes, the era moves from ~3400 λA to 1 (λ+1)A. For reference, the One Ring was forged in approximately 1600 SA. Figure out what that means and how the current time (in the book) generally relates to this description.
As someone who also doesn't like Lord of the Rings, this was very satisfying to watch :) helps me justify not trying again even though it's probably been 15+ years since I originally read the series.
Why do I love the Lord of the Rings? I read this as a kid multiple times and it has ignited my love affair for books and especially fantasy books decades later. I love everything about it....... I do skip all the songs though.
I think it’s a mistake to read any book for the first time with the attitude that you’re either going to love it or hate it. There are few books that I hate and few that I love; and I don’t normally love any book on first reading. I’ve reread _The Lord of the Rings_ repeatedly over the years, but I don’t love it; I like it, on the whole, although it has its faults and there are some parts that drag. It was written a long time ago in a style that was old-fashioned even then, aiming to emulate old legends. I think because it was aiming to emulate old legends, there are few women in it. I agree that the songs and poems are superfluous, but I can easily skim over them; this is more difficult if you’re listening to an audiobook, I suppose. _The Fellowship of the Ring_ is really only the beginning of the story, and it’s a very slow-starting story, as you observed. The hobbits in particular go through much more character development in the next two volumes. However, if you dislike the first volume enough that you don’t want to continue, you’re probably not going to love the whole story. You might like volumes two and three better than volume one, but who knows? I like the books better than the films. The films make a fun visual supplement to the books, but they change the story in many ways, mostly for the worse. Sometimes I set out to rewatch the films, but after a while I give up and go back to the books. I don’t mind Tom Bombadil, but he’s not essential to the story, and I can tolerate that he was cut from the film. It’s much worse that they cut the Scouring of the Shire from the third film-a chapter that Tolkien regarded as essential. Without it, the third film reaches a climax and then tails off weakly. I first read the books in 1968, at the age of 14. I read _The Hobbit_ earlier, at the age of 9, and I think I liked it then. I don’t like it so much now; I rarely reread it. It was written for children, and Tolkien had a slight tendency to talk down to children, which I don’t like.
Fellowship is a hard book to love. The pace remains slow in the next books, but there are also more at stakes and the new characters really help... With that said, I don't think I'll reread the series anytime soon. I read through it in 2018 and didn't enjoy it at all (although maybe an audiobook would have helped? I know the story pretty well thanks to the movies so I would not be afraid of loosing my place in the story). The extended movies I'll rewatch endlessly, to the point where I have to hide my boxset or it's the only thing I watch over and over again for months. How could your friends not recommend the extended version? I hope you continue, Two Towers is my favourite (book and movie) of the trilogy and I would love to see you try more Rohan recipes :-p
Oh, I absolutely have seen this coming from a mile away. Even though I do like the books and movies, I still don't think it's the best that fantasy has to offer, even with its extensive world-building, lore and depth. What makes so many people love the story is the breadth of the world, the richness of the language and how iconic everything it did is. Much of what we see today in fantasy began there, that it's hard to appreciate the foundational aspect of it. From what it set out to do, it achieves it masterfully, even if it doesn't really conforms with modern trends in the genre.
I tried reading LotR quite a few years ago, and I could only barely finish the first novel. Since then I thought I might need to give them another try, but seeing you suffer through it was enough. I'll appreciate what they've done for the genre from afar :D
🦩You mentioned that you like the vibes of the book more than anything else. The vibes in this video are also one of the funnest things: You have different settings for different portions of the video, including: a spooky corner, a sunny mansion, an inviting adventurous trailhead, and a kitchen making Hobbit food. 🍄🥔🫖
I'm in the exact same book where I've had false starts about 10x in my life, but I finally powered through the whole trilogy this last year. Where we disagree is the Lord of the rings movies which I think are insanely good! That said, the first book was by far the most boring and I think book 2 was the best. I really enjoyed the Andy serkis narration and there was a graphic audio type narration I used for the third book I found on internet archive.
I love how diligently you tried to like the book, and the rants were fun too! 😂 I am glad you gave it one last try ❤❤❤ You are right about everything, it is slow, the songs are too much, and yet I love the books and movies with all of my heart.
I read When Among Crows based on your glowing review, and I also really liked it. I agree the synopsis is very spoilery, I am glad you pointed that out!
Brandon is actually going to release a collection of the non-Cosmere short stories somewhere in the nearish future and is currently writing a new one to be the "selling point" of that. Was that what inspired you to do this video? And yeah, I'd say Dark One Forgotten (as well as The Original) is meant to be consumed as an audiobook, given that there is no text version available :D
Your rant on "The Phone Company" is funny. When I was younger, for most of the US there was only the one (a managed monopoly) and everybody just called it "The Phone Company". So it's not impossible; rather it's a throwback or callback. If you would like more background on how that ended (in 1982), there's a Wikipedia article on "Breakup of the Bell System" that goes into a decent level of detail.
I actually agree with your ranking. I read Snapshot on release and my mind was blown away haha. Love that novella. Legion is also sooo good. The only Sanderson books I've never read and dont intend to is the Alcatraz series.
Man I read a lot of these a few years back and had pretty similar thoughts. They made me take a bit of a break on the non-cosmere Sanderson stuff. Dark Ones was particularly disappointing given how spectacular a premise it was, but the humor, dialogue, characters, and direction the actors were given just failed entirely for me. Not to mention you’d have someone say “hey have you seen this person” and the immediate response from everyone was a crazy hostility like they were going to beat the main characters to death with their fists. Originals I liked but was boring like you said and ironically not that original I don’t think. Also Sandersons first f-bomb, but I have to imagine that was the coauthor who I’m not as familiar with. Perfect State I thought was a little boring Snapshot had an awesome premise and world and I actually enjoyed it mostly, but the twist at the end was soooooo stupid and non-sensical it mostly killed the story for me. I’ve decided just to stay within the cosmere for the near future, though I did like Skyward as well.
Try Robert Gainey's Department of Intangible Assets series. Lesbian FBI agent fighting magic monsters. Elliott James Charming series. Reluctant werewolf and ex-knight trying to escape his past. Great alternate take on werewolf and vampire tropes.
I love how you have this whole formula worked out. I just go on vibes, though I like to read more than one book by an author before I'll declare them a favorite
Just finished reading Jill Bearup’s book: Just Stab Me Now. She’s another RU-vidr and actor combatant that analyzes Hollywood swordfights and such. Wondering if you’ve heard of that one?
I haven’t had a chance to read The Masquerades of Spring yet, but it’s been clear to me for some time that (a) the protagonist is Aaronovitch’s take on Bertie Wooster, (b) Nightingale may be present but won’t be all over it, and (c) while it may be somewhat entertaining, it probably won’t be a high point of the series. So I think my expectations before reading are relatively realistic. I don’t know whether you’re familiar with Wodehouse’s Bertie Wooster, but if you don’t know him or don’t like him then it’s no surprise that you don’t like the Aaronovitch version. Wooster isn’t one of my favourite characters, but I’ve quite enjoyed some of the stories about him, and I imagine I can tolerate the Aaronovitch version without pain. I’ll find out after the novella is released for Kindle on the 5th of September. I rate authors mostly on their books that I like best. I usually ignore their dud books, because either I don’t read the duds, in which case they don’t matter to me, or I read them only once, in which case they don’t matter much to me. Whereas I may read the books that I really like 20 times or more, so they matter that much more.
Have you heard of T.A. Baron? The Heroic Adventures of Kate series is really good, I'm reading Heartlight to my daughter right now. He also did The Lost Years of Merlin. Both very good!
Great tag, and loved your picks. Like someone else mentioned, Blood Over Bright Haven is not that dense, magic system has analogy for programming language so it is easy to grasp the rules. Hope you give it a chance soon and that you end up enjoying it, despite infuriating main character. I loved it when I read it last year. I answered the questions too: 1. Skulduggery Pleasant by Derek Landy 2. The Fifth Season by N. K. Jemisin (didn't love The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms) 3. Service Model by Adrian Tchaikovsky 4. The Faerie Guardian by Rachel Morgan 5. Dracula by Bram Stoker 6. Fire and Blood by George R. R. Martin 7. The Green Angel Tower by Tad Williams 8. Soulmate Equation by Christina Lauren 9. Black Magician trilogy by Trudi Canavan (its been a while since I read book 1) 10. Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo 11. Digital minimalism by Cal Newport 12. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon 13. Splintered by A. G. Howard 14. Bone Shard War by Andrea Stewart 15. An Academy for Liars by Alexis Henderson
