How often do you read Lord of the Rings?

*distant cackling*

* mumble of incoherent spell binding...…..*

*uneasy croaking of frogs*

* snapping of twigs & sinister foot fall *

*urges to read.... been awhile... witches still...overpowering my memories...*

I am reading it right now (again, don't know how many times I've read it now), and felt the urge to say to someone (and since it's 0530 that someone is you lot) that The Council of Elrond must be my favourite chapter of any book I've ever read. Guess which chapter I'm at And by the way, it's been a while since I popped in - hi, all!

{{ Hi Ringo- we miss you, pop by more often. And Council is a fav of mine too, love all the variedtales you get to hear at the Council. }}}

Hi Ringo!  

I understand that everyone has their own taste, but it amazes me that people who share many of my own entertainment interests can find chapters like that one dull! Just last night I was talking to one of my TTRPG friends, and he was talking about how he stopped reading LotR part-way through TTT. The travel was too boring, he said. But the traveling bits are some of the best parts of the trilogy! Sure, it's not quite as good after the Fellowship breaks--the journey from Rivendell to Moria being an especial favourite of mine--but still.

Anyway, it does my heart good to hear that you're enjoying the re-read.    

If I weren't so swamped in other fiction I would have a go myself. It's been far too long since I last read the trilogy all the way through (on the scale of several years). But I have to finish The Dark Tower (just a couple hundred pages left of book 7), and I'm in the middle of a Conan collection, and I wanted to read Dune before the show or movie or whatever comes out, and I have two more Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser anthologies left (which I've been saving as a treat), etc. etc.

It's funny, if you go from LotR to Dune, the writing in Dune seems amateurish. But if you go from Dune to most other science fiction....the writing seems amateurish.

{{ well I think in both cases the author was essentially a non-professional writer- different versions of non-professional writing, but both unique because of it.


The Council scene is one of those adaptations seem to struggle with, or shy form, I hate PJ's- got a couple good moments, well, ok, one, and thats mainly down to Sean Beans portrayal. Like most Pj scenes involving more than three people he resorts to reducing it to a shouting match for drama.

Heres how the BBC radio version handled it (2 and a half bloody hours to upload 15 mins- I hate Youtube!!) not sure but I think it cant be far off the length of PJ's version of the Council, which somehow still misses most of the content out!}}

It's funny the amateur writers seem to do a better job of writing than professional writers.

But I think my main point of comparison to Dune I was thinking of was Isaac Asimov - who has great ideas but really isn't a writer's writer.

Looking forward to listening to that radio version when I'm not in the office. (yes, I most definitely post to Forumshire while in the office).

Forest Shepherd wrote:But I have to finish The Dark Tower (just a couple hundred pages left of book 7),

Post your thoughts on the ending when you're done

Argh, I can't stand the Elrond actor in that radio show. Doesn't sound right at all. Neither does Legolas or Bilbo. Only Gandalf and Frodo sounds about right.

{{ Elrond I'm not to keen on, but Bilbo yes, John Le Mesuirer is excellent as Bilbo I think. Gimli, Boromir too are excellent actors. }}

That radio adaptation is excellent. It's been a few years since I listened to it, but I seem to remember hating the nazguls - otherwise it's mostly very good

{{ yeah the Nazgiuls are ropey- well, the effect they put on them more so really. I think the Black Riders are one of the things thats actually harder to do on radio as you rely purely on their dialogue, which is a not what tends to be most memorable about them. }}

Good point. Not sure Jackson's screamers would be any better in a radio play either

{{{ Bilbo's birthday party speech from the radio play, to give you a bit more Bilbo to judge Halfy! (Not that I dont like Holm's version, he's excellent, he makes a great Frodo and Bilbo! }}

Haha, now I'm imagining a super-cut of Holm-as-Frodo in conversation with Holm-as-Bilbo.

Ringdrotten wrote:Post your thoughts on the ending when you're done :Smile:

Fair warning, they may contain some crabbit! Ever since a certain author self-inserted my opinion of the series has been decreasing rapidly.

I dunno, to my ear this Bilbo comes across as something as a shyster, there's a bit of a politician about him. You don't get that from Ian Holme.

{{ I dont get that vibe at all, perhaps because Ive seen the actor in so many classic British productions over the years. But then on the otherhand there is an element of the shyster to Bilbo, the manner in which he lied about acquiring the Ring has a hint of the politician to it, he is after all putting on an expensive and elaborate party the main point of which from his point of view is to stick two fingers up to almost everyone he knows, have a laugh at their dumbfounded expense, and high tail it out of there.So perhaps it is there and I am missing it, and the actor has done it deliberately. }}

You can get a very different impression when you separate voice from in-person. This is why the phone interview is an incomplete technique.

I never liked that radio version of Bilbo: his voice sounds tired and breathy, like a rotund person who can't enunciate. And then after Holm's performance in Jackson's super-dramatic movie, the lines just sound so flat and un-charismatic.

{{{ If it sounds like a rotund person then that must be acting lol- as Le Mesurier certainly wasnt.As to breathy, he always sounds like that to a degree, his voice does have a soft, breathy quality to it. }}



{{'Jackson's super-dramatic movie '- surely you mean super melodramatic. For me that's like complaining the book isn't dramatic. }}

I think Forest has a good point: after hearing (and seeing) Holme's performance, anything else will suffer in comparison.  You may fault many other things about the films (though I thought the lines Holme were given were on point) but his performance is not one of them. It is definitive of the character of Bilbo.