Should you read The Lord of the Rings & the ENTIRE Middle-earth Canon?

Comments · 279

• BR

  @brewster_4 · 2 years ago

  I don't think the Fall of Numenor is as bad as you described. It's nice to have all the second age stories laid out in one book, so you can read it as one great tale without having to flip back and forth between books.

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• SP

  @spyroskamilalis2515 · 2 years ago

  The first movie came out when I was 14. A friend of mine suggested that I read at least the first book before we went and watched the movie. I was absolutely astonished by the book and even more surprise to find that the movie depicted the pictures in my head quite accurately. I then went on to read the rest of the series and Silmarillion before the second movie came out. Needless to say I was infatuated with the world and storycraft. This became the basis of everything I have read since then. Thank you for the video, it's always a good reminder to reread these great works of literature.

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• RO

  @robertpearson8798 · 2 years ago

  “Quicker to read the book than watch the movie”. LOL, I never thought of it that way but you're quite right. The Hobbit is a wonderful older children’s book that is very enjoyable to read as an adult and the best way to enter Middle Earth while the movie is an overdone and overly ambitious attempt to make an epic.

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• SC

  @scrooge1374 · 2 years ago

  Stop watching at min 1, go read everything, period 😂

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• AN

  @AngelofDethMetal · 1 year ago

  Silmarillion was intended to be published by JRR Tolkien but his publishers turned him down every time.

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• TI

  @Timmorrisjr · 2 years ago

  One of the reasons I love The Silmarillion, and why I think it’s in the top 5 books ever, is because it leaves so much to the imagination. My mind is able to conjure up so many grand images of the stories that are told. It makes you wonder well after you’ve finished reading.

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• PH

  @PhoenixSuki · 2 years ago

  My son has nearly finished the hobbit and has really enjoyed it. He’s asked for the lord of the rings trilogy for his birthday so he’s getting that soon :) he’s never seen the films though so won’t be comparing the action scenes. I really should give the series a read at some point, I’ve only ever seen the films.

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• ID

  @Idüngrid · 2 years ago

  my favorite part in the books "And Eowyn looked at Faramir long and steadily; and Faramir said: 'Do not scorn pity that is the gift of a gentle heart, Eowyn! But I do not offer you my pity. For you are a lady high and valiant and have yourself won renown that shall not be forgotten; and you are a lady beautiful, I deem, beyond even the words of the Elven-tongue to tell. And I love you. Once I pitied your sorrow. But now, were you sorrowless, without fear or any lack, were you the blissful Queen of Gondor, still I would love you. Eowyn, do you not love me?" and this is beautiful

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• CH

  @Chuppaciuk · 2 years ago

  It's funny that you mention oral tradition in regards to The Silmarillion, because earlier this year i wrote my bachelor's thesis on the poetry in The Lord of the Rings, contextualising the poems. A big part of that was how Tolkien filled his world with a rich oral tradition, how stories are passed down via songs and poems. Chief examples of this in the Lord of the Rings are poems like Eärendil was a Mariner and The Lay of Lúthien.

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• AC

  @ac1dnet · 1 year ago

  its interesting to hear that people are disappointed by the book after watching the movies, because my experience is very different. i have never seen the movies so i decided to read the books first and then compare them to the movies. i just finished reading fellowship and then watched the movie last week, and i thought the book was much better. the movie was obviously incredible and i dont have any real nitpicks to make, i just feel like any time a comparison can be drawn between the book and the movie, i find the book to have done it better. like the council of elrond and the mirror of galadriel scenes were much better to me in the book. and obviously the man himself tom bombadil

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• TW

  @tweegerm · 2 years ago

  Serkis narrates the Silmarilion too??! This is the kick in the arse I needed.

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• ER

  @Erinn_Nicole · 2 years ago

  you did great at explaining why The Silmarillion is the best of them! I read it every winter. I try to read the others as well, but I do manage to do The Silmarillion.

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