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BlackFox
Half-elven
Jun 19 2014, 12:09pm
Post #1 of 34
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Which book did you read first: TH or LOTR?
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First vote goes to The Hobbit.
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Magpie
Immortal
Jun 19 2014, 1:41pm
Post #2 of 34
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'can't remember'.
It was, after all, almost 50 years ago that I read them.
I don't remember much about The Hobbit although I know I read it. I remember lots about the LOTR. But I don't remember in which order I read them.
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Darkstone
Immortal
Jun 19 2014, 1:45pm
Post #3 of 34
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After all, it's the first book in the series. I'm picky that way.
(I had already bought the three volumes of LOTR and then I found I had to track down yet another book before I could start reading. I was not happy.)
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DaughterofLaketown
Gondor
Jun 19 2014, 2:53pm
Post #4 of 34
(378 views)
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I read the Hobbit first, then Lotr, then Silmarillion. I like to read in order.
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Otaku-sempai
Immortal
Jun 19 2014, 3:52pm
Post #5 of 34
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I discovered The Lord of the Rings within a few years of reading The Hobbit, when I discovered the trilogy in our middle-school library.
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Elanor of Rohan
Lorien
Jun 19 2014, 4:52pm
Post #6 of 34
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but in my country the Hobbit wasn't (and it still isn't, I must admit) a children's classic.
So my inspiration was PJ and since he shot LOTR first...
but I filled the gap a couple of years later and I kept my fingers crossed for the following... 7 years...to get back to ME.
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Arwen's daughter
Half-elven
Jun 19 2014, 5:00pm
Post #7 of 34
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I read The Hobbit for a book report in high school, but I only barely remembered it when I picked it back up after LOTR. I'm not even sure that I was aware that I'd read it when I read LOTR the first time. To me it was just one of many books I read throughout my high school years. They were all sort of a blur back then. Heinlein and Adams were having a much bigger impact on my brain at the time.
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The Grey Elf
Grey Havens
Jun 19 2014, 6:09pm
Post #8 of 34
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Though technically, I didn't read it but had it read to me by my mom when I was 5 or 7. I think I grew to re-reading it multiple times before I ever attempted LOTR. I do think you have to be a certain age before you can really get into its denser text. (The long descriptive passages, the songs and poems, I routinely jumped over on my first pass at it  ).
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Rembrethil
Tol Eressea
Jun 19 2014, 6:32pm
Post #9 of 34
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I was told it was 'The first of the series; a sort of prequel', so I wanted to get it right! Considering I was only 12-13, perhaps my parents didn't want to frighten me with the page count. However, I was always a well-read child-- case-in-point: I read A Tale of Two Cities, The Illiad, Odyssey, Aenid, The Count of Monte Cristo, and the Three Musketeers books, before TH or LoTR-- so I don't think page count was a scare factor....
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SaulComposer
Rohan
Jun 20 2014, 4:22am
Post #10 of 34
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Then the Hobbit, then the Silmarillion, after that The Children of Hurin, and then the Unfinished Tales...
Then The Lord of the Rings twice more, and then a couple of times The Hobbit as well, Hurin also, maybe 3 or 4 times
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Arannir
Valinor
Jun 20 2014, 7:45am
Post #11 of 34
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Not a fan of TH, simply came to it at the "wrong" stage of my life and thirst for Middle-earth.
I will make sure though my own kids will get to know TH first :)
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Magpie
Immortal
Jun 20 2014, 3:12pm
Post #12 of 34
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For me, I wouldn't 'make sure' my kids read anything
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It's kind of the way I handled their suggested reading, though. I'd hand them a book and say, "I've read this and liked it." or... "I've heard good things about it. You might like to read it some day."
Then I let them put it on their shelves and choose when to read it if at all.
I think the right books come to us when they are meant to and I am so grateful to have experienced many books at just the right time in my life. I can't say there is any book that someone 'made sure' I read ever that meant anything to me.
I will add, though, that both my husband and I read books out loud to the kids for many years and we often picked those books.
Also, although I know I read both TH and LOTR back in the 60s, when I attempted to revisit them before the first LOTR movie came out, I figured I had to start with the Hobbit. I tried three times and just could not make myself read it. I didn't dislike it .. it just never engaged me. So finally I thought, forget it.. I'm jumping to LOTR. It was the start of the most marvelous summer where my reintroduction to LOTR came to me at exactly the right time.
If I was convinced I had to read TH first, I never would have gone to LOTR. I would have given up. I see people online recommend that one MUST start with TH. Dang, some even say you MUST start with the Sil. That, imo, is the worst advice ever to suggest a newbie to Tolkien start with the Sil.
But I try to give a counter opinion to saying one must start with TH by sharing my story. I think it's okay to start with whatever book one wants. I would say give TH a try but if it doesn't click, don't feel bad about putting it down and picking up LOTR. And then I get even more outrageous. I say, if one has seen the movies, then if LOTR doesn't click, jump ahead to the end of Council of Elrond and give the book another try. It's possible that some might be put off by those first chapters and they aren't all that representative of the rest of the book. If one has seen the movie then, for the most part, one will be okay.
And *then* if one were to fall in love with LOTR, there is real incentive to go back and give those first chapters are retry. And incentive to give TH another try. And even incentive to give the Sil and CoH a try.
I completely acknowledge that some love TH more than LOTR and some read them in the proper order and loved doing so. I'm just speaking to those that might not feel the same and giving them permission - so to speak - to give TH a pass if need be.
And I liked letting my kids choose their books such that they followed their own interest and passion. I just made sure they had a large, diverse stock to choose from (either from books in the house or by regular trips to the library and book store). :-)
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Arannir
Valinor
Jun 20 2014, 5:29pm
Post #14 of 34
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Well yes, I didn't mean forcing them exactly ;)
I meant the "make sure" in the sense of picking it as one of the books I would read to them if they like it. ;)
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Magpie
Immortal
Jun 20 2014, 5:32pm
Post #15 of 34
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yes, I think reading to children...
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..is the sly way of making sure. :-)
My choice of words... sly. It may not be yours. lol.
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Arannir
Valinor
Jun 20 2014, 5:38pm
Post #16 of 34
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I just realized that my post indeed sounded a bit forceful.
I will certainly keep the tradition of my parents to provide us with both ideas and books on the shelve but staying out of any of the choosing or picking.
Through a mixture of having my parents read to me and finding a lot of books on my shelves I got more into literature than most of my friends who sometimes even had to complete books in a certain time :/
And I totally agree on your comments on when to start with Tolkien or which book to read first. As I said, I never warmed to TH although loving most of his other works. Your openness here is very commendable, I got called quite some words by some devotees who apparantly saw this view as heresy and as a proof for my poor taste in literature (ironically something Tolkien got called as well by his critics). ;)
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DaughterofLaketown
Gondor
Jun 20 2014, 5:47pm
Post #17 of 34
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I enjoyed the Hobbit when I first read it
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But I agree its definitely not his best work. I reread it shortly after seeing the first movie and was a little saddened to say I did not enjoy it as much this time. Oh well. Maybe it just wasnt the right time again. Maybe I'll revisit it again in a few years.
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Arannir
Valinor
Jun 20 2014, 5:50pm
Post #18 of 34
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I am happy for everyone who can enjoy it or who did enjoy it.
Just never quite wanted to bow to the believe of some that Tolkien is practically uncriticizable.
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DaughterofLaketown
Gondor
Jun 20 2014, 6:00pm
Post #19 of 34
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I see him like any other author
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I don't think he is above criticism. He was a person just like everyone else.
(This post was edited by DaughterofLaketown on Jun 20 2014, 6:00pm)
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malickfan
Gondor
Jun 20 2014, 7:19pm
Post #20 of 34
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LOTR aged 15, the Hobbit aged 17 or 18
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I even know the exact date I bought LOTR, July 26th 2007-the same day The Simpsons Movie was released in the UK (found the receipts a while ago). I have extremely vague memories of being read The Hobbit in school aged 10 or 11, though I 'properly' read The Hobbit several years later after reading (and seeing) LOTR and UFT multiple times-so I got the backstory and sequel first! I remember being a little confused/surprised by the tone of the book, though It's actually become something I cherish.
I short I Enjoyed both immensely, LOTR is a masterpeice, but personally, The Hobbit is a more enjoyable read, and generally the Tolkien tome I turn to for a re read.
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Darkstone
Immortal
Jun 20 2014, 7:41pm
Post #21 of 34
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Mom encouraged me to read mostly anything I liked, but for bedtime reading she always read to me out of the Bible. Similarly, most of my elementary school teachers read passages from the Bible at lunch. The Deep South in the 60s were a whole 'nother world than today.
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Starling
Half-elven
Jun 20 2014, 8:08pm
Post #22 of 34
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I wish to thank your mother and your elementary school teachers
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They have indirectly provided me with hours of entertainment.
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grammaboodawg
Immortal
Jun 22 2014, 1:27pm
Post #23 of 34
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LotR was my first set of my very own books
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even though they were used. I didn't read The Hobbit until about a year later and was shocked at how short it was in comparison ;)
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Aunt Dora Baggins
Immortal
Jun 23 2014, 12:28pm
Post #24 of 34
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I was twelve and had never heard of Tolkien, and a friend recommended it. Parts of it reminded me of my beloved Oz books (the road trip, the little people). I remember picturing the elves like Santa elves, and having to really revise my mental image when I read LotR. When I got FotR, I had no idea it wasn't a stand-alone, and was shocked when I came to the end. TTT was checked out of the library, so I went to RotK next.
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Arannir
Valinor
Jun 23 2014, 1:32pm
Post #25 of 34
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Would be interesting to see this poll for different nationalities...
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... I suspect for my own country it would be a large majority for LotR as TH cannot really be seen as the children's classic it is in other countries (well, at least that is following my experiences).
Many do read both here but read TH in order to "get more" after the appetite is whet by LotR, imho.
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You sound just like my mom!
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