Young Writers Society

I have to go with Harry Potter AND Artemis Fowl (only the first one, thanks), AND Lord of the Rings. Though I've only read Hobbit and 3/4 of the way through FOTR, they're good. I just get distracted easily. I am making it my new years goal to read the rest of the books.

...Anyway, I owe it to the man. He died on my birthday.

...I hate HP...

Wow. I've never met anyone who's read all the books and hated them. Have you?

I have read every Harry Potter but 2 and 4. I simply detest those books, well, not DETEST you know but, I do not like them.

I love LotR though, that is why I created this thread...

I'll admit it, I read LotR, but it didn't... strike anything with me.

The story was interesting, it was wonderfully crafted, it was a MATSERPIECE. I loved it. But... it was... really cold. I can't connect with the characters, I don't feel anything for them. It felt like I was reading a history book, although it was a really interesting one.

Tolkien's style of writing is beautiful. Very flourish and descriptive, but I also find it cold and factual. I don't remember any actual delving under the characters' skin, because there was simply too many of them.


Different story for The Hobbit though. I LOVED LOVED LOVED that book. Who wouldn't, with such a cute little thing as hobbitses? ^^;

That's the only thing that stops me from saying LotR was perfect... but you do get a sense of whats going on inside the characters all the same.

EBM, just interested, but why did you put each LotR book separate on the poll? They're all part of the same story arn't they? So wouldn't they come under the same heading?

I think he did it because they're separate books. Kinda....

I have a favorite LotR movie- Return of the King. But I only got halfway through FotR. All those songs and poems got tiring, and those things the others said also made me stop. Of course, reading it for a book report didn't help it any.

I think I heard that Tolkien wrote LotR to be a myth for England, and made it like a history for that purpose.

Why do you hate Harry Potter, EBM?
HP is great! I've never read Artemis Fowl, though.

Yes, they are different books, and because there wasnt really anything else to put. Except maybe the Adventures of Tom Bombadil or something.

I did read it (partially) but is The Unfinished Tales the Silmarillion?

I read the Lord of the Rings before the Hobbit, and found the Hobbit snug and neat and perfect for rainy days and hot milo. I guess you read them for different pleasures. I read Lord of the Rings for its epic quality, and the Hobbit because it was a beautifully constructed fantasy novel that did not requre two other books pro.

I liked the LOTR stories, but I found the description very boring, I kept falling asleep, especially in the Helm's Deep ch. (two towers) the Siege of Gondor ch. (ROTK) and the Mount Doom ch. (ROTK), which should be the most exciting! I actually liked the ROTK movie the best, so I voted for that, even though I found the book kinda boring. Now that I think about it, Two Towers was better. Shelob was cool. Also, ROTK is the only one I ended up seeing in theaters since I wanted to read the books first. It took me a while.

I'd have to agree that he's describing it like a realistic war story, which is incredibly boring. Too many words+too small print=AH!

I am sorry, JRR Tolkien just never caught my attention. I tried so hard to get into him, and I just couldn't. Even I don't understand it. I loved the first movie, and I read all of LOTR, but I can't stand the books, and the 2nd and 3rd movies were boring for me as well. Grah.

hawk wrote:I did read it (partially) but is The Unfinished Tales the Silmarillion?

No, the Unfinished Tales is a book about Tolkien's writings of the history of Middle-Earth, later published by his son Christopher Tolkien. Yes, they both are about the history of Middle-Earth, but the UT has stories about the Second Age too and the Land of the Orcs.

I love all Tolkein (though I voted for the Return of the King because that was my all-time fave), the first Artemis Fowl (though the second and third are readable), and all HP (they're getting worse as they go on though...the third was the absolute best). LOTR didn't strike me as "cold" as someone said, rather Unfinished Tales and the Silmarillion did. It was all just kind of...random...
But that's just my opinion.

*blinks* did someone say... TOLKIEN?! *grin widens on face*

I love LOTR. I have to admit, that the movies are alot more bearable then the books for me, but I have read all the books several times. And Return of the King was my favorite of the three. I just loved the Scouring of the Shire and Sam has some really really awesome lines ("Don't go where I can't follow", "Tell Capt. Shagrat that the Elf Warrior has come, and with his elf sword too", etc.).

Was anyone else completely astounded when Jackson 1) didn't put the Scouring of the Shire in the movies and 2) said that he didn't even LIKE that section of the book?

Dusk, you sound like you should join the Middangeard usergroup. Once Zzap allows you in, you can chat about LOTR to your heart's content. Though I haven't seen him around recently!

The Scouring of the Shire is one of my favourite bits too. I have no idea why Peter Jackson doesn't like it. Strange man.