What do you remember about your first reading of the LOTR?

Zusthratuk said:

Back in 2002, I was 5 years old and I already became a LOTR fan (yet, I weren't aware of Tolkien at all); despite my age, I began to read the 70's Spanish edition of the Return of the King, they were my mother's book, she had read the books in her teenages.

Whatever, I remember that I didn't watch The Return of the King since it was 2002. I just couldn't read too much since it was quite difficult to me indeed. Shamelessly, I admit it since I was a child and I believe that no one has ever read Tolkien when they were that young despite what some people could say.

What I want to tell is that I remember reading some part when Pippin and Gandalf met Faramir, and for me, I imagined Faramir as a truly old man and the whole fellowship was there at the moment. As you may imagine, I just couldn't continue reading since I hadn't understand anything at all.

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Yes, Welcome to TTF! - Should have said so sooner but apparently I was just too engaged in responding to you. 😅
Glad indeed that you have joined!

Wait... I just hit 250 posts! Yay! I shall finally receive the Silmarils badge.

Congratulations! 😀

Keep 'em coming!

Squint-eyed Southerner said:

Congratulations! 😀

Keep 'em coming!

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I will! Next up to achieve is Heir of Numenor!

The year was 1971. I was sitting in barracks during my 1st year in the Navy.
Following boot camp, sister had insured she'd sent me back packed with Hobbit and LOTR. (She'd been trying to get me to read them for years.) She was insistent - I was resistant - being, well, a bothersome brother..!

But at last I started H on a Sunday when the excitements and available amusements of life on base had declined to such a state I had, literally, nothing else to do.
H was finished that day, and LOTR immediately begun Monday afternoon right after the day's training. (Electronics). No sleep of consequence occurred for the next four nights - just enough minutes to allow arrival at the classroom looking relatively alive. (Awake was a different matter.)

This was NOT good for my training - but it was great for my soul.

Great story, Ray -- sneaky, but smart, sister, huh?

BTW, my Dad was a Chief Electrician's Mate. WWII, though, so no LOTR to read. But one of his grandsons, now in the Navy, read Tolkien as a boy.

L Ray Hedberg said:

The year was 1971. I was sitting in barracks during my 1st year in the Navy.
Following boot camp, sister had insured she'd sent me back packed with Hobbit and LOTR. (She'd been trying to get me to read them for years.) She was insistent - I was resistant - being, well, a bothersome brother..!

But at last I started H on a Sunday when the excitements and available amusements of life on base had declined to such a state I had, literally, nothing else to do.
H was finished that day, and LOTR immediately begun Monday afternoon right after the day's training. (Electronics). No sleep of consequence occurred for the next four nights - just enough minutes to allow arrival at the classroom looking relatively alive. (Awake was a different matter.)

This was NOT good for my training - but it was great for my soul.

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A great story indeed. I love how each one of our members has come to find Tolkien in different ways, and been led to this Forum through still others, but we are all united under the affection for the works and writings of one extraordinary and incredible man, author, and father: J.R.R. Tolkien.

Thank you for sharing this story.

Squint-eyed Southerner said:

Great story, Ray -- sneaky, but smart, sister, huh?

BTW, my Dad was a Chief Electrician's Mate. WWII, though, so no LOTR to read. But one of his grandsons, now in the Navy, read Tolkien as a boy.

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My father too served in WWII - bosun's mate 1st class. I as an Electronics Technician, Vietnam era... also trained in Nuclear Power, ultimately handling calibration and repair of the radiation detection instrumentation used aboard the submarines of those days.

I was fortunate enough to raise my children on the reading of the Hobbit. They remember the time fondly. (And oddly, one of their memories is the way that particular hardback book smelled..! Very unusual - very wonderful. We've never found its match.)

Elbereth Vala Varda said:

A great story indeed. I love how each one of our members has come to find Tolkien in different ways, and been led to this Forum through still others, but we are all united under the affection for the works and writings of one extraordinary and incredible man, author, and father: J.R.R. Tolkien.

Thank you for sharing this story.

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The pleasure of meeting is mine. My purpose here is entirely to learn, as I spend my waning years exhausting the deeper lore and work of Tolkien. I've much to absorb. In this lies a danger, though... the Forum is likely to be beset by my questions, and likely my works as I proceed, progress, and put the Lore's Events to both essay and verse (accurately). I find first writing out studies in essay form, then putting them to verse, increases my retention greatly.

L Ray Hedberg said:

The pleasure of meeting is mine. My purpose here is entirely to learn, as I spend my waning years exhausting the deeper lore and work of Tolkien. I've much to absorb. In this lies a danger, though... the Forum is likely to be beset by my questions, and likely my works as I proceed, progress, and put the Lore's Events to both essay and verse (accurately). I find first writing out studies in essay form, then putting them to verse, increases my retention greatly.

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I shall be glad indeed to learn from you also, for I am certain that you know more of Tolkien than I do, and yet never has it been for me some competition, a race to know the most, only to gain what knowledge I can, and enjoy each day evermore through his works. I look forward to seeing both your questions and contributions through verse and inquiry. Lore truly is a priceless gift.

L Ray Hedberg said:

the Forum is likely to be beset by my questions

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One thing you can do here is search for keywords or phrases. Or, you can just dig through old threads in the various forums-- I'd bet a lot of your questions have been discussed! It's one of my favorite things to do, to be honest. 😄

But questions are always welcome! 🙂

Elbereth Vala Varda said:

I love the maps. Mere days after I started reading I made a huge detailed map of Middle-Earth I remember. Had all the names of places and everything, and roads. It was very nice to have all the places at my fingertips, particularly because I read it from a library first. Later on, I bought the books myself and have read them MANY times since.

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Yeah, I actually took out crayons while reading Lord of the Rings for the first time, took a notebook (A4) I was using to take notes on things that interested me in the books, and drew a full-color map of Middle Earth on two pages (copied the one within the book - this one).

Unfortunately, I do not have the notebook anymore... I would have really liked to post a photo of it here.

Aldarion said:

Yeah, I actually took out crayons while reading Lord of the Rings for the first time, took a notebook (A4) I was using to take notes on things that interested me in the books, and drew a full-color map of Middle Earth on two pages (copied the one within the book - this one).

Unfortunately, I do not have the notebook anymore... I would have really liked to post a photo of it here.

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That sounds very detailed. For me, I took a huge piece of paper, since I was reading a library version with a massive map, and copied every single thing down to the smallest detail. I still do have that map, I may post it some day.

So sorry to hear that you lost the notebook, never too late to draw another!

The LOTR books had been sitting on my shelf since 1987, unread.
Sometime in 2000 or thereabouts I heard that all three books were being made into a movie (or movies) , and I thought, "ooooo...,better read that thang before the movies come out."
I was not really into Tolkien at the time... I had read The Hobbit in 1993...and that was it for my Tolkien exposure.
So beginning in October 2001 I started reading LOTR, a chapter a night.
And I was utterly lost to this world... it had ceased to exist whenever I picked up the books whatever volume I was in.
I was completely immersed in ME.
And sometime in late November I finished it (all 3 books) ... And I remember thinking "I know there were things I missed on a first reading...always happens whenever I read a novel. Missed things the first time I read Dune, missed things the first time I read the [original 3] Foundation Books. I know I missed some important things. "
So I picked up FOTR and began again, and got lost in ME all over again 🙂, and finished ROTK maybe a week before the first movie came out in late December.

Awesome story. I know what you mean about getting lost in it. It changes you, and how you view the world, everything. It has shaped me into the person I am today, and for that I am always grateful.

First I saw some parts of the first movie when I was about 8 years old. Of course I had nightmares about Black Riders (aka Nazguls) and Galadriel freaking out at Frodo. After five years later I saw every movie then I started to look for books from library. I borrowed the whole trilogy in one book and oh boy the whole summer holiday went reading that and after that I knew LOTR is my thing and the one and only fantasy for me.

Nowdays I have every movie in my shelf and I bought the book and I'm really proud of it.

If I feel down I know I always could go to Middle-Earth

I remember being a Junior in high school. I had heard, earlier that year, they were making films of the books. Previously, Star Wars had been my dominant interest and I was more inclined toward Sci-Fi than fantasy (if only marginally). Also, previously, I had seen the Rankin-Bass The Hobbit a couple of times in my childhood and the Ralph Bakshi The Lord of the Rings and the Rankin-Bass The Return of the King animated films only once (I don't remember at what age) and only remembered a handful of images and "Frodo of the Nine-Fingers".

This new film would be a brand new introduction to Middle-Earth. My mom had always spoken highly of the books so I was excited. The Fellowship was such an engaging film I saw it nine times in the theatres and voraciously read the books the remainder of my Junior year. I was going through a marked shift in my disposition and this certainly helped with my maturity levels. By the next fall (2002) I was reading The Silmarillion which my mom had previously bought but never finished (to this day it has an indent from where her bookmark sat for decades). The Silmarillion quickly became my favourite book and I've read it 11 times. With the films coming out in the winter, and my initial reading of the books in fall and winter, Tolkien is forever associated with that time of year.

I'm doing my first read through right now and have been for the past year or so. (Only read like 20 mins a day).
I don't remember particularly much, the books are great though. Really glad I bought them.
I have a hard time remembering stuff because I've seen the movies a lot (and still watch them often).
Gets a bit irritating differentiating between what's canon and what's not.

I do think it's better to know as little as possible. I've often seen complaints on what PJ changed in the lotr trilogy but mainly about the same things. So most months when I read I find something new which is always pretty nice.
Also, after watching Wheel of Time's first season I wasn't too fond of the first book, because for however much the show differs from the book it was still too much of the same. The 2nd, 3rd and fourth books I enjoyed way more 😎

HALETH✒🗡 said:

My father read me "The Lord of the Rings" when I was a child. He used to read me several pages before going to bed. Dad told me that one of the characters would die and then resurrect but didn't specify. So, when Gendalf dyed, I didn't loose hope, although I was not sure if it was him who would survive. This spoiler didn't spoil the book for me as I was a kid and really needed to hope that the wizard would be okay. Tolkien wrote in his letter that the stories were not aimed to be read to children before bedtime. I beg to disagree. I slept sweetly after listening to the book. LOTR made my childhood magical and full of wonders.

I really like "Swan Lake", by the way. There's no doubt that Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky had a great talent. I always feel fascinated while watching this short video. How can I express my admiration for the whole ballet then?

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You've got to watch this... the control and discipline to do this just boggles the mind.
On a lighter note one comment made was: "Oooo they'd better hope not one of them stumbles or they will all go down."
And also: "That's me at about 1:21-1:26 trying to get the water out of my ears after I shower."

CheriptheRipper said:

I'm doing my first read through right now and have been for the past year or so. (Only read like 20 mins a day).
I don't remember particularly much, the books are great though. Really glad I bought them.
I have a hard time remembering stuff because I've seen the movies a lot (and still watch them often).
Gets a bit irritating differentiating between what's canon and what's not.

I do think it's better to know as little as possible. I've often seen complaints on what PJ changed in the lotr trilogy but mainly about the same things. So most months when I read I find something new which is always pretty nice.
Also, after watching Wheel of Time's first season I wasn't too fond of the first book, because for however much the show differs from the book it was still too much of the same. The 2nd, 3rd and fourth books I enjoyed way more 😎

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In my opinion it's always best to see films first and then read the books as then you'll appreciate both. If you read the books first you'll pick apart the films until you can't stand them.

ZehnWaters said:

In my opinion it's always best to see films first and then read the books as then you'll appreciate both. If you read the books first you'll pick apart the films until you can't stand them.

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Pax Z-W, but I must vehemently, oh yes! and most strenuously disagree! 😱
Depth of character development in the written story almost always exceeds character development (CD) in a movie (unless the movie was directed by Ingmar Bergman or Martin Scorsese 🙄) which for that reason alone (there are others) it is preferable to read the book first.
The few times I watched a movie before reading the book (and that only occurred because I didn't know the book existed) I was always struck, upon reading the book, how much depth of character was lost in the dramatization. And quite often it is not possible to develop a character to the extent that the author did in the book.

Now, the assumption I'm making is that the writer and director (and studio) are making a good faith attempt to be true to the author's story and characters in the first place... (casting malevolent looks and the Evil Eye toward the entire Rings of Power trainwreck.)

The movies I watched before reading the books:
The Lord of the Flies ( 1963) ...novel of the same name by William Golding
Movie was true to the book, very good character development but the CD in the book was better still.

To Kill a Mockingbird (w/ Gregory Peck) ...novel by Harper Lee...my opinion is same as it was for Lord of the Flies

Pride and Prejudice (BBC 6 part series with Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle) .... novel by Jane Austen.
Movie exceptionally well done, character development comes close to the book. I still watch the movie, but more for the stunning depth of acting than for the story per se, but I prefer the book.

The Godfather .... novel by Mario Puzo.... Ahhh, here we have an exception.... to put it bluntly Mario Puzo can't do character development. Period. Full stop.
Coppola performed miracles in making Puzo's characters fully and deeply 3 dimensional.

This next one is a similar situation to the aforementioned RoP trainwwreck in that the movie has the name (and characters' names), and basic story outline (really minimal) but otherwise bears little resemblance to the book and so, in retrospect, I'd have to say CD suffered exceedingly.
Memento Mori.... novel of the same name by Muriel Spark.
I enjoyed the movie, so I read the book. All I can say is that I never watched the movie again, but have re-read the book at least a dozen times.

Now to use PJ's LOTR movies as an example.....
I can't tell you how many times I've heard/read people saying that Boromir was evil, or just a power hungry jerk, or that Denethor was another jerk and thoroughly unlikable, or that Faramir was weak.
Then you read the books and learn how wrong, oh how so very wrong, those assessments are.

Yet those first impressions still stick in your mind, because that is the way our minds work. . (You've heard it said: "You only get one chance to make a first impression.")
It is why it easier to get people to embrace a new idea even if they think it is wrong , than it is to get them to change their mind about an idea or belief that they already hold, even when that idea or "fact" is proven to them to be objectively false.

So, I would only encourage someone to watch PJ's LOTR or even the abominable RoP first, if they never intend to read the books later.
I would say that concerning any movie based on a book.
Book first (if you know the book exists) then movie. If movie first, don't bother with the book.

(And I do know there are going to be strident cries of disagreement about this 😉)

Deimos said:

...
The Godfather .... novel by Mario Puzo.... Ahhh, here we have an exception.... to put it bluntly Mario Puzo can't do character development. Period. Full stop.
Coppola performed miracles in making Puzo's characters fully and deeply 3 dimensional.
...

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I managed to get a hold of the 4-DVD box "The Godfather - The Coppola Restoration", apparently from 2009, with all three films plus a bonus DVD (everyone does appendices by now, don't they? 😁), in a German version (so at least original and German synchronization). Seems it was a last-ditch rescue mission, as especially the celluloid copies of the first two films were disintegrating.
I also know that my parents had Mario Puzo's book in their big living room bookshelf, and that I read it - before the first film came out, I'd guess, as I recalled the "horse's head" scene to have been different in the book.

But then, besides Coppola directing all three films, just look at the actors who were involved:

Brando, Pacino, Caan, Duvall, Keaton, Hayden, Shire in part 1
Pacino, Duvall, Keaton, De Niro, Shire, Strasberg in part 2
Pacino, Keaton, Shire, Garcia, Wallach, Hamilton, Berger in part 3

And dozens I didn't mention above. These were different from the Agathe Christie-derived "Hercule Poirot" films of about the same time, starring Ustinov or Finney, or the disaster films also so popular, which had a huge cast of recognizable names in their credits - some of which were a bit past their screen prime.