O! Water Hot Is A Noble Thing!

I'm joining in on the Lord of the Rings readalong. And this month's book (hosted by The Literary Omnivore) is The Fellowship of the Ring. Here is the post on getting started for this month's book.

1. When did you first hear of The Lord of the Rings?
2. Have you read The Fellowship of the Ring before?
3. What’s your plan of attack, now that we’re dealing with more “mature” literature?
4. Have you ever seen the movies? If so, do you think they’ll influence your reading? If not, well, why haven’t you seen them?

I didn't really pay attention to The Lord of The Rings (or The Hobbit for that matter) until I was an adult. I wasn't even all that interested in the movies when they first came out. I saw Fellowship of the Rings because I rented it. I didn't have much hope for it. And in fact, I didn't like it all that much. I thought it was very boring (most of the time). But. I decided to rent the second one when it was released. And. Wow. I just loved The Two Towers. It was exciting. It was fun. It was magical (for me). It was something that I just had to own. So I went out and bought both the first and second movies. And having loved the second, I was then able to appreciate the first more. I guess I understood that it was all about world-building and setting up everything that was to come. I *did* go to see the third movie, Return of the King, in the theatres. I think I went twice even.

I became interested in the books the fall before the third movie came out. I borrowed an all-in-one edition. And I began reading. But. I had trouble. You see, I was reading the book like it was the movie. I was getting frustrated with the differences. I was impatient, I suppose. I was reading the book to find the scenes in the movies. And so I ended up more disappointed and bored than I'd hoped. In fact, I ended up mainly skimming. It was also around this time that I read The Hobbit. And I couldn't quite understand how The Hobbit could be so satisfying, so enjoyable, so rewarding, and The Lord of the Rings be so different, so difficult.

I've been meaning to reread the trilogy for years now. So I was very excited to learn about the readalong. I started last week, and so far so good. I'm a little over two hundred pages in at this point. And I'm finding it so different than what I remember. I'm finding it good.

I'm not planning on watching the movies until I'm finished with the books. I am listening to the soundtracks however. I just *love* the soundtracks.


© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews