Book Passages/References Recommended BEFORE Becoming a LotR Film First-Timer?

M

mykhael

Registered User
Greetings J.R.R. board journalists!

I've got my wife & niece joining me for the local LotR:Extended Edition film events, who are rather new to all things Middle Earth & Tolkien's fully realized world therein.
I was (in refreshing my own memory of reading the primary source material when the films first debuted), sharing some (spoiler/context free) poems & songs for fun, as well as enlightening her on the background & setting (From The Fellowship of the Ring first -with a touch of explanation from the Appendices), to bring out the richness & depth of it all. Besides they're mostly not in the films. But not to intimidate her, as there is no prerequisite for viewing them. (as some think they're too heavy to absorb easily & so skip them all)

Now, it seemed a good thing to read from The Hobbit, though ONLY up to Bilbo's obtaining the Ring & escape, for reference & background. (before any LotR's poems etc., even if the tone is decidedly light-hearted in comparison)
-I have read a bit from chapters not in the films, but not including any spoilerific context. She's good for stuff like that.

Perhaps 'tis not a good thing to do?
But if so, & since inviting my niece (who's a mature nine & a READER) to all three Extended Edition films:

Are there any recommended passages/references among the first four books (even the Appendices) that are a must/essential for warming up one's mind toward the films?

What have you done to get those friends/family up to speed?

Just wanted to help them to be more prepared & appreciate the material overall being presented.
(going to go to my niece's tomorrow with the books just to entertain her a bit before)

-Thanks for considering!
(& getting this far)
 
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I think it's a personal choice whether to read the book before seeing the movies or after.. I, of course, strongly recommend reading the books. But I don't feel one needs to read The Hobbit before LOTR and I actually recommend to people who are casually interested in reading LOTR that they be willing to let themselves skip through parts of the first half if they find themselves not engaging. If they do that, and then dig in after Council of Elrond, and find themselves fully engaged from there out, they will surely go back and read the first half of FOTR more properly. And they may be more highly motivated to read The Hobbit after that.

I had read the books so long before watching the movie (late 60's) that I essentially remembered very little about them. I thoroughly enjoyed the FOTR movie and decided to reread the series. I wasn't overly bothered by any changes in FOTR that I realized were in the movie by reading the books after watching. But I did know what the story was going into TTT & ROTK and I was quite a bit more bothered by some movie changes.

I don't know how I would have felt if I had waited to read the books till after watching the movies. (Waiting was not an option but that's another story). I still liked the movies... but those niggly irritations were always there for TTT & ROTK whereas I had none for FOTR. It's possible I would have had them whether I had read the books before the movie or not. But I think I might have taken the movie at face value had I gone in with a blank slate, and then taken the books for what they were once I read them. (which, in my case I felt were superior, in part because I think a book is overall richer than a movie and I prefer Tolkien's version better than PJ's for many of the changes)

So, although I don't recommend anyone put off reading the books, I don't think it's necessary and I actually think it may be a more enjoyable experiences in some ways if one waits till after.

And I don't know if it's really possible to fully appreciate passages out of context with the book. At least.. in my experience. It was almost a whole body experience that came from being immersed in the story. I don't know if pecking at it lets one appreciate the full effect.

My recommendation is to just go in expecting an enjoyable evening at the movies. You won't be disappointed. Thinking one has to prepare sounds too much like work to me. Especially for June! :-) And if the people you're hoping to prepare aren't quite as invested in the exercise as you... you could put them off.

Reading Tolkien should always be a pleasure. If that's what it seems like now... by all means read. But I don't think it's necessary and I don't know that giving someone unfamiliar with the books chunks of it is of much benefit.

(it will be interesting to see the reaction to that opinion here. There is a small group of us at imdb who have opinions about what order to read Tolkien's work for people wanting to read them for the first time and we get strong reaction to our opinion there. I suspect this opinion would get that same strong reaction at imdb and I'm curious how it will be received here)
 
and I can tell by Movie-Firsters' comments that they enjoyed the films and were surprised with the changes once they read the book. I started reading LotR at least once a year since 1971, so my experience with the films was AWESOME! While I noted the changes, and have a few a didn't care for (Lurtz & the knife, Gandalf & Witch-king), I absolutely loved the tweeking and additions (stairs of Khazad-dum, Green Dragon, etc.) that screenplay writer Philippa Boyens and Fran Walsh created. The entire filmmaking family show the utmost reverence and love of Tolkien's original text, so even their additions are true to the story and characters. For me, it's like having MORE Tolkien!

What you must remember is that this is Jackson's interpretation or adaptation of Tolkien's work, not a direct recreation of The Lord of the Rings. As Jackson says, it's his telling of the story.

I think giving people a rough description of what it's about and what to expect is a personal call, but never a mistake. When they're reading or watching, the thing they should be assured of is that they shouldn't try to remember all of the characters' names (some are multiple) and locations the first time around. Be familiar with who is who in context of the plot and relationships, but just enjoy the ride in the spendour of the music, the visuals, the sounds, the characters, and Middle-earth. Even if you don't know anything about the story or Tolkien, the films are unequivocally stunning. And that they did all 3 films at once is historic... never done before!

Please let us know what you family thought about each film... and what you thought! It's going to be a great ride :)
 
Hello Magpie!
What a nice, balanced & informative reply. I appreciate you sharing your own experiences & feelings reading the great tomes @ different times as well. I'm sure I'd feel the same had I read them before the films too. (as I did do a time/two before regarding another adaptation)
A great tip in more quickly getting to The Council of Elrond, as it's purposeful result became the title & theme, huh? I suppose it was the most faithfully adapted too.

I seemed to easily separate the films having read each book after every film. I didn't want to spoil the visual delights to come! (but since I believe I know what to expect for The Hobbit, I'm up to chapter 6 there now. But I'm sure I'll have those niggles too come Dec. 14th too!)
But TRUE, Tolkien's infinitely developed vision is superior as it can't be contained on camera.

I'm just reading the poems, though mostly not important for my guests, they do seem helpful:
The one concerning Balin's fate & the state of Moria was great in setting the tone for the dwarves though.
Having the idea of elvish and human love introduced to my future movie-goers (without mentioning the relevant names of course!), may have been a good thing to have in mind, as well as some jolly Hobbity understanding from the prologue (& beginning of The Hobbit), seems fine in establishing the people's involved, if not Tolkien's spirited whimsy on the subject.
Though I agree with you, truly part of 'a whole body experience' indeed!
("hey diddle, diddle" or not, lol)
-I hope I didn't convey "preparation" by not uttering it, by means of wanting to ease their minds into the immersiveness to come.

Your recommendation towards the enjoyment of the films comes wholeheartedly accepted by me! (perhaps I'll just entertain my niece with the intro to The Hobbit if anything, then answer both of their questions AFTER the movies)

Going back to reading J.R.R.'s classic There and Back Again has been a pleasure, as was the same in your reply.
Thank you!
 
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(for LOTR) is to listen to the soundtracks. This came up in a post discussion that some of us like listening to the soundtrack of a movie before seeing it. We start to become familiar with the music and can use it to connect with the movie without there being much spoilery.

It would be fantastic to listen to the Complete Recordings but they're not cheap and the OSTs (jewel case) will do just as well. Much of the choral, operatic singing you hear in the score is based on Tolkien's text, poems and songs.

Now.. following up on this is probably more work than I can actually suggest. You have to tend towards being really, really interested/motivated or be experiencing a bit of obsession in this area (raises hand in that matter). But.. if you're interested, you can follow up more by checking out the 'Source Songs & Poems' section of my website. Link to the website is in my footer. Find the 'Source Songs & Poems' section in the left navigation frame once you're there. None of this will be useful without the music.

Let me know if you're interested/motivated by need more guidance. I won't be offended if you're not. :-)

-I hope I didn't convey "preparation" by not uttering it, by means of wanting to ease their minds into the immersiveness to come.
Click to expand...


No, I don't think you conveyed it. I was just putting out a mild caution in case you were tending towards it (figuring you'd be the best judge if you were or not)
 
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Given the changes that the filmmakers made in most areas of the book, I think the most enlightening part to read as a film-firster would be "Here follows a part of the Tale of Aragorn and Arwen," in Appendix A. The film follows this more closely than any other premises of the book, and yet virtually none of it is shown. It explains Aragorn and Arwen's relationship, and it shows that Elrond's predictions about Arwen's future (Aragorn's death, her own grief-filled wandering) are true.

Other than that, I think any part of the books you read with film-firsters would confuse them in terms of what actually happens in the film.
 
there are multiple movies.
I know that sounds stupid, but at my first viewing (which actually was a preview), people who didn't know the books where absolutely stunned by the ending and didn't understand this was the first of three movies, so there wasn't a "real" ending.
I did read the books and thought they sticked pretty well to the story. A girl friend I took to a later showing hadn't read the books but just liked the story and I don't think she didn't understand the story, maybe she didn't get all the smaller tidbits, but the general story she didn't understand and she liked the movie (or at least she told me so [;)])

Have fun at the showing. I'm envious of everybody who can see this [angelic].
 
First let me applaud you for trying to lay some groundwork for your family to help them understand the story first. Because as a movie-firster who knew next to nothing about LOTR beforehand, I would have benefitted from some like minded kind soul to have shared a little with me first. Alas I didn't have that and so I spent much of my first viewing of all three films in a very confused state. Totally engrossed and enthralled but unfortunately quite confused.

So here is what I'd suggest. Paint only a very broad picture. Leave out details, leave out names. But what might help them is to explain that LOTR takes place at that long ago and far away moment in fantasy where the ancient world of magical mythical things is ending and passing away, and the current world as we know it, is beginning. In a way you may want to make a long timeline, not detailed by any means, but enough so that they grasp where on that timeline, the LOTR part is taking place - and that in a sense you are coming into a story that is two-thirds of the way finished already.

The above might be an odd way of putting it, but I think if I had understood that, it would have helped me put it all in perspective when I first watched the trilogy.

And I hope you have a wonderful time watching the films together with your family [heart].
 
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