Is the Lord of the Rings just a tiny bit bollocks?

[upsidedownwalrus]

It was only really the scouring emission that was disappointing. It was a relief that we didn't have to visit Tom Bombadil, though.

That said, IMO the EE versions are much better than the cinema versions.

 

[Reno]

I liked the Lord of the Rings, but didn't really like the Hobbit. As a result, I put it down, didn't finish it. At that age, [around 17] I couldn't be bothered doing something I didn't like doing.

Why did you read a trilogy, if you realized in the first book that you hated it?

I didn't read it all, just enough to know that it was crud. I remember picking up a short story collection by Kafka, which put Tolkiens ponderous drivel into sharp relief and I never went back to LOTR.

 

[Johnny Canuck3]

I didn't read it all, just enough to know that it was crud. I remember picking up a short story collection by Kafka, which put Tolkiens ponderous drivel into sharp relief and I never went back to LOTR.

I don't think it's fair to compare Tolkien to Kafka. LOTR is a great work of popular fiction, but it isn't one of the masterpieces of literature.

 

[Demosthenes]

Monarchist primitivist anti-orc propaganda.

that'll be why dubversion can't stand them.

 

[Demosthenes]

Tolkien is a big target and easy as pie to take a swipe at. LOTR was an amazing acheivement. Creating a genre and a world whilst telling a long yarn.

Anyone who prefers modernist literature isn't going to like it. And anyone who doesn't like fantasy isn't going to like it. And yeah it's overblown - but it's about magic monsters and wizards ffs, you can't do a story like that in an understated first person.

Disliking it is fair enough. Finding it dull is fair enough, but denying it as an important bit of literature or claiming it is cliched is just silly.

The films, however, are pretty crap.

Spot on.

 

[Johnny Canuck3]

Has anyone seen this movie?

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51BNFMJ1EDL._SS500_.jpg

 

[upsidedownwalrus]

I didn't read it all, just enough to know that it was crud. I remember picking up a short story collection by Kafka, which put Tolkiens ponderous drivel into sharp relief and I never went back to LOTR.

See, I tried reading some kafka once and found it so grey that it made a croydon car park look like the amazon. But each to his own.

 

[upsidedownwalrus]

Spot on.

He wasn't really. The films are actually even better than the book. They are amongst the finest cinematic works ever recorded (IMVHO) and are wholly remarkable.

 

[El Jefe]

They are amongst the finest cinematic works ever recorded (IMVHO) and are wholly remarkable.

<splutter>

 

[Reno]

I don't think it's fair to compare Tolkien to Kafka. LOTR is a great work of popular fiction, but it isn't one of the masterpieces of literature.

I wasn't comparing them, I was telling you why I never finished reading LOTR as you asked.

 

[mrs quoad]

I hate Lionel Shriver FWIW.

 

[Crispy]

Has anyone seen this movie?

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51BNFMJ1EDL._SS500_.jpg

Yes. I liked it, but then I haven't read the book

 

[Johnny Canuck3]

I wasn't comparing them, I was telling you why I never finished reading LOTR as you asked.

You did compare them.

Originally Posted by Reno
I didn't read it all, just enough to know that it was crud. I remember picking up a short story collection by Kafka, which put Tolkiens ponderous drivel into sharp relief and I never went back to LOTR.

 

[mrs quoad]

You did compare them.

My life is enriched by your pedantry

Now.

About planes and treadmills...

 

[Johnny Canuck3]

My life is enriched by your pedantry

..

I only go pedantic when people say shit that ain't true.

 

[chainsaw cat]

Whereas I say shit that ain't true when people go pedantic.

 

[Johnny Canuck3]

It's the everpresent yin and yang of life.

 

[scifisam]

This is what I have in my head now. Apologies. It must be got out, never to be spoken of again, or it will haunt my brain until ooh, at least 3pm tomorrow.

(To the tune of She's Electric, Oasis. I know. Hence the apologies.)

He's pedantic
He's on a thread that is full of semantics
They think that this book is romantic
And the ring is mine.

There's one thought, and another
They don't get on with one another
I don't think it's worth all this bother
And I don't think it merits me.

The Silmarillion
Was written for JRR's minions
It made the said writer a million
But it's nothing to do with me.

And I'm reading this thread
Don't know what I'm doing
But I feel so --

And I'll be Frodo, you'll be Sam,
Lots of fun, and lots of spam,
Lots of things we can argue,
I'll be pedantic, if you'll be semantic too!




That is all.


Sorry. I kept clicking on this thread, seeing that title, and hearing that terrible, terrible song!

 

[Johnny Canuck3]

This is what I have in my head now. Apologies. It must be got out, never to be spoken of again, or it will haunt my brain until ooh, at least 3pm tomorrow.

(To the tune of She's Electric, Oasis. I know. Hence the apologies.)

He's pedantic
He's on a thread that is full of semantics
They think that this book is romantic
And the ring is mine.

There's one thought, and another
They don't get on with one another
I don't think it's worth all this bother
And I don't think it merits me.

The Silmarillion
Was written for JRR's minions
It made the said writer a million
But it's nothing to do with me.

And I'm reading this thread
Don't know what I'm doing
But I feel so --

And I'll be Frodo, you'll be Sam,
Lots of fun, and lots of spam,
Lots of things we can argue,
I'll be pedantic, if you'll be semantic too!




That is all.


Sorry. I kept clicking on this thread, seeing that title, and hearing that terrible, terrible song!

Did you make that up? It's pretty good. You should try your hand at fantasy.

 

[Johnny Canuck3]

Just think, if you'd joined the air force, all that creative intelligence would have been chained into thinking about isobars, turn vectors, and kill ratios.

 

[scifisam]

Just think, if you'd joined the air force, all that creative intelligence would have been chained into thinking about isobars, turn vectors, and kill ratios.

You are stalking me!

And yes, I did. But I didn't want to admit it, because it's crap - it just had to get out of my head!

 

[Johnny Canuck3]

You are stalking me!

Yeah, two threads a stalker makes.

 

[Johnny Canuck3]

And yes, I did.

I'm impressed.

 

[Demosthenes]

He wasn't really. The films are actually even better than the book. They are amongst the finest cinematic works ever recorded (IMVHO) and are wholly remarkable.

Well, I kind of like the films. But I shouldn't. They get a lot right, but they also get too much wrong.

 

[scifisam]

Yeah, two threads a stalker makes.

I wasn't being serious - silly Johnny. Glad you liked the daft poem, though.

 

[Johnny Canuck3]

I wasn't being serious - silly Johnny. Glad you liked the daft poem, though.

I wasn't either. Neither of us are the possessor of tightly wound knickers, I'd hazard to guess.