The Lord of the Rings

[Sparrowhawk]

Rats. I have to go do dishes, so I won't get on MSN right now, but....that's just cool that we're actually online at the same time two days in a row.

I think I finished "Shelob's Lair" fairly early in the day, which means it was only around 10-15 minutes later that I finished "The Choices of Master Samwise." Then I moved on to RotK, by which time I was thoroughly involved in the books. I literally did nothing else but read, eat, and sleep during the three days I spent reading the books my first time around.

And I read them in May 2001, so it was before TTT, so I was fully prepared to criticize Faramir's portrayal when it came out.

[Ven]

wow...
im... special...
in that i don't get obsessed easily (except for online material and internet itself) and when i AM, it's not usually for over 3 months...
unless it's REALLY interesting.

can't do what you do

[Sparrowhawk]

Heh. I get obsessed very easily, with Fantasy stuff, and Sci-fi. And historical stuff and games. And modern stuff and such. There's very little I can't get obsessed with. I know more about some games which I've never played than my friends who play them all the time.

[Ven]

i get obsessed easily, then i get unaddicted in... like this: *snap*
ask LDM, she knows.
once she commented: Other people get addicted to drugs, you get addicted to those (meaning the orange things-or was it peach?- that i was obsessed with at her house.. that nobody ate by the way...

oh well.
yea ther ewas another time where i ate around 5-6 peaches a day over the summer (this summer actually) for a whole month (talk about eating healthy) and then i just suddenly stopped.

yea. i would get obsessed, and unobsessed. there are very few things that i remain obsessed with over 3-4 months.

[Sparrowhawk]

Pffft. Eat healthy? I would have a hard time doing it, unless there were lots of Grapefruits around. Otherwise, I'd just go for pizza.

And likewise, I wouldn't get addicted to drugs, or foods--I would get addicted to a game or book/series. That's just the way my mind works. And I would stay that way until I knew almost everything there is to know about it, too.

[Ven]

lol
i go in random bursts...

[RaistlinMajere]

Looking through a window would be accurate. I don't know about you, but most of my ideas on character personalities were pure speculation. Not enough character development, though watching the movies before reading the books helped on envisioning the setting. I didn't care much for his portrayal of Saruman either. Oh, come on... powerful wizard? Not much of a daunting impression save for his honey-toned voice. And his... uh... fate at the end of RotK simply infuriated me. I could have lived with it if Gandalf had been the one, but WORMTONGUE?! Yes, I know it has to do with that dainty little proverb about how evil turns upon itself, but you'd think that a cunning guy like Saruman would see it coming.

[Sparrowhawk]

The character development isn't as evident and strong as in most stories, but by the end of RotK, I had a pretty good idea of what their personalities were like. For me, it was sufficient, though perhaps not as vivid as many other stories.

As for Saruman, though--he was cast out of the Order. By the time we actually see him, in TTT, he has almost no power. It is simply that before, he had a lot of power. I think all of that was put in (including his death at Wormtongue's hands) to show just how far he fell, from being one of the great ones, to dying at the hands of his own servant/slave. He was greedy for more power, and grasped beyond his reach.

[Meldawen]

Re obsession: I get obsessed very easily, and it doesn't wear off for quite some time. Currently I'm obsessed with: LotR, PotC, and Star Crystal and everything pertaining to it. LotR I've been obsessed with for....*counts* probably three years now, PotC since DMC, and Star Crystal since page...mm...30-ish. Around Christmas, maybe.

Frankly, I never cared about Saruman. I fell in love with Sam and Frodo to a lesser degree, and Aragorn, and liked Arwen while determinedly not liking Eowyn. I don't mind her now. Saruman kinda faded into the background for me. Oh, and nobody say anything about movie Faramir vs. book Faramir or you'll get the Melda rant, I fully support movie Faramir.

[Sparrowhawk]

You support MOVIE Faramir!??!!?!? *faints* How could you!?!?!? He's sooooooo....awfully different from the awesome book Faramir! He was okay in the TTT EE and in RotK, but not nearly as cool as the book Faramir! *shuns Melda*

Haha. I am proud to say that I have never been obsessed with PotC. On the contrary, I have always been annoyed by it. But LotR, now that's a different matter. I've been obsessed with that since 2001.

[Meldawen]

[rant] Okay, you asked for it. Movie Faramir is SO not as bad as some people make him out to be. For one, PJ's interpretation actually enhances his character. If we just met this guy who gave the hobbits food and sent them off with a wave and a smile, how does that interest us? Instead we see a younger son who's desperately trying to please his father, and we can sense the inner struggle that takes place while he's trying to decide whether to do what he knows is right or try one last time to please his father by doing what Boromir couldn't. He wants Denethor's approval so badly, and what could give it to him more than Isildur's Bane? So we actually appreciate him more when he does finally decide to do what's right, because we know what he's giving up and how he's chosen - and he's chosen to risk the wrath of Denethor to do what his conscience tells him to. [/rant]

There. I could go longer. Bewaaaaare.

[Sparrowhawk]

Ah, but in the Theatrical version of TTT, we didn't know that Faramir was desperatly wanting his father's recognition--we just know that he's taking Frodo and Sam to Minas Tirith, which would be very bad.

And I know that book-Faramir would have been a mostly-uninteresting character for the movie, but for the book, he was incredible and perfect, and I think PJ could have tried harder to make him more like that and still have him interesting.

[Meldawen]

But we learn in RotK, don't we? Which helps us understand him WAY better in TTT, wouldn't you agree? And we learn he's not perfect, he's got flaws, but he overcomes them, and that's way more powerful any day than meeting a nice guy who gives you food. Whoop-de-doo.

Well, that could be said for lots of parts of LotR. PJ could have put Glorfindel in instead of Arwen (another decision I support), he could have had the hobbits' journey over the Barrow-downs, but there simply isn't time sometimes. It would have taken a lot longer to develop nice-guy Faramir than flawed Faramir.

[Ven]

i support Saruman!
i read the ending of the third book just to see him die... well not him DIE, but see HOW he died...
not that i was happy that he died...

[KitiaraBrightblade]

[rant]
LOTR has a special place in my heart, it was my second obsession, and my first real obsession. I actually didn't even watch Fotr when it came out, I watched it on DVD, then by chance went and saw TTT in theaters, and after TTT, I was hooked. I owned movie trivia games, replicas, shirts, everything.

I actually didn't even read the books though, until after I saw ROTK. When I read FOTR the first time, I didn't even like it. Only through pure fanaticism did I make it through it. Once I read TTT though, I was once again, hooked. Now I owned book trivia, I even went out and bought The Sim, and The Book of Lost Tales.

I didn't truly connect with the books until Book IV, with The Choices of Master Samwise. I actually cried while I read it. I don'teven cry in movies. I NEVER cry, and that chapter just made me cry and cry and cry. It was amazing to me.

So I might just be a little obsessed. And though I haven't read the books or watched the movie in over a year, LOTR, Tolkien and Jackson have a place in my heart.
[/rant]

And don't even get me started on Faramir book v. movie. Those are rants to remember.

And believe it or not, I've never read the Sim the whole way through. Never able to muscle my way through it with my major ADD.