Comments on: There Once Was A Man From Kirkjuvágr

By: zenlemming

zenlemming — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 17:20:21 +0000

Big fan of the books here, I think they're an order of magnitude better than anything else in the genre. They weren't written for the ADD generation, that's for sure.

By: Legendaryratboy

Legendaryratboy — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 21:58:32 +0000

I have to step in and add another factoid; Tolkien's absolute dedication to complete and utter mastery of (admitedly excessive at times) detail is exactly what gave birth to such a specifically constructed Fantasy universe; if he had been more relaxed with his methods it would have been much more dificult for others (authors, game designers, etc.) to draw inspiration from his work and begin to craft their own worlds by using the incredibly fine-tuned mold that is Middle Earth. As a writer myself, I have to say that it is settings that are well defined both in breadth and depth that really catch my attention and pull me into the story; the greatest settings are remembered because of how they are different and unique in comparison to others, there are thousands of Fantasy settings, but JRR's has always been remembered for a reason.

On the other hand, DAMN ARE THOSE BOOKS LONG!! I freaking grew up reading Don Quijote de La Mancha and Cien Anos de Soledad, and I still almost gave up on ROTK.

By: Sean

Sean — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 05:14:12 +0000

What is this crap? Someone who loves Tolkien's work, and can intelligently express their reasoning while respecting other people's views? I'm sorry, Mr. Caliche, but we simply can't have this type of thing on the internet. Refer to the previous poster to see the proper way to express your opinions.

OK, seriously, good point. I never looked at it from the other direction before – that the very thing that makes the books so painful to read also makes the movies equally brilliant.

By: Mrcaliche

Mrcaliche — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 05:04:31 +0000

I thought the books were INCREDIBLE, and no disrespect Joel, you rock, but if you read the books and watch the "making of" documentaries of each movie you'll see just how much the level of detail that Tolkien put in the books was translated into the movies by Jackson and company. The only difference is that while in the book you had to read through 20 pages describing Minas Tirith, in the movie you simply SAW Minas Tirith, but it was so faithfully reproduced BASED on what Tolkien wrote, that I don't think the movies would've been so rich had the book not been so excessively detailed.

By: Hannah R.

Hannah R. — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 06:28:46 +0000

This may be 8 weeks late…
I've read everything LOTR/middle earth related, including the silmarillion (and I really liked it). SilMil isn't a good read for everyone, though.
JRRT may not have been a writer by profession, but he is one of my favorite authors. I could just like him because I'm the type of person who loves details, but for me the books are pure magic.

By: Anon

Anon — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 04:01:31 +0000

Good god, I know this is 8 weeks ago, but I just recently read Dracula for the first time, and I had to chime in. This is so absolutely frakking true. The worst part? Dracula, the book that made vampires famous, the book that made DRACULA famous, has about 20/200 pages that have Dracula, the titular character, "on screen". Dracula was the best character in the book, and he has about 10 lines, and 8 of those are in the beginning when he's hiding his true character.

The only thing that made the book readable was the constant hope that it would get better, that I would finally understand why this book of all books took the world by storm. I finished it and I still don't understand.

By: Shakey

Shakey — Thu, 14 May 2009 21:03:33 +0000

Dude, it's got nothing do with not "having the chops for them". I have plenty of chops to go round – Arthur C. Clarke and Frank Herbert can be quite challenging at times, but the difference is Clarke and Herbert are capable of delivering their complex and layered messages with creative flair enough to keep you hanging on.

Simply put, they are authors, Tolkien never was and that is the simple truth. I'm happy that you had no problems reading his work but you are in the minority.

By: prufrock

prufrock — Thu, 14 May 2009 20:08:36 +0000

Ah. Sorry. I thought this might be the sort of place where scathing critique wouldn't raise eyebrows. Please consider paragraphs 1, 2, 3 and 8 retracted and apologies all around.

By: hijinksensue

hijinksensue — Thu, 14 May 2009 20:00:22 +0000

"Just, wow.

I hate to say it, folks, but literacy might not be your thing. High language well spoken seems to bore you. I get that. It's kind of sad to see an anti-intellectual congregation patting itself on the back, though."

"You're not a bad person if you don't have the chops for them. It's OK. Don't celebrate the fact as a badge of pride, though — makes you look silly."

Be respectful or do not comment. If you want to insult me, feel free to do it via email, but don't make yourself look like a jerk in front of the rest of the community. This kind of behavior isn't tolerated here and one more like this will get you banned.

By: prufrock

prufrock — Thu, 14 May 2009 19:45:58 +0000

Man.

Just, wow.

My dad read us Tolkien when I was a kid. I've read it tens of times. I've read it out loud to my wife. I know that the pacing is not Dan Brown — in fact, I really appreciate it.

The movies are painful to me — not because I think they're bad, or childish, or that Jackson did us a disservice — but because they fail the books so tremendously. There's no way it could have happened otherwise, really. I have re-watched them recently, and can barely even handle the extended versions. So much time to say so little. I can be through Fellowship and Towers in the same 10-11 hours.

I'm not a fanboi — I know no Elvish or Dwarvish, I don't memorize sections of the books, I don't play RPGs or hang out with fans. I just love the language and characters, and come back to visit when I miss them.

I tried reading Silmarillion as a kid as well. Gave up. Came back as a late teen — and realized that it was compelling and gem-like. Challenging, of course, but immensely rewarding. The story of Beren and Luthien … marvelous.

You're not a bad person if you don't have the chops for them. It's OK. Don't celebrate the fact as a badge of pride, though — makes you look silly.