I’m a little late posting and a little late starting but better late than never, right? The Lord of the Rings Read-Along is continuing this month with The Fellowship of the Ring. Clare from The Literary Omnivore is hosting the discussion for this book and has posted the first set of questions for all of us participating.
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?
As I said, I haven’t started yet but that will be changing tonight. We’re going to be getting another 10+ inches of snow here in DC and it seems like a good evening to curl with a book. 🙂
On with the adventure…
The Fellowship of the Ring
I first heard about the Lord of the Rings in high school. I remember reading the books but I don’t remember being all that impressed. I’m almost embarrassed to admit that now! I absolutely loved The Hobbit which I read in grade school but just didn’t get into the following books. I did pickup the series in college again after an English professor mentioned the books in class and I loved them the second time around. I re-read the series a few years ago when the movies came out as well.
My plan of attack is going to be different this time — I plan to take my time and savor this re-reading. I flew through most of The Hobbit in one afternoon and I plan to take things slowly and meander through this time. A quick look at my book tells me there are 22 chapters and I plan to read 2-3 a night. I’m going to give myself a little leeway because I know I will probably read more than my allotment each night. 🙂 I have trouble stopping sometimes when I get into the story. Middle Earth is a captivating place isn’t it? The characters are just amazing and once I start, I sometimes don’t stop until I find myself at the end. I’m going to try for a slower pace but we’ll see…
Yes, I have seen the movies and I did enjoy them all. But, for me, the books are still better. (This is almost always the case with me. :-)) Oddly, and I’m sure a lot of people have the same problem, all of the characters in the book now look like the characters from the movies in my head. I don’t find this to be much of a problem but the people I imagined and used to know in this book are gone now having been replaced by everyone from the movie — just to clarify, this is only in the way they look. I don’t think the movies have influenced my reading, other than the whole new people to imagine while reading though.
How about you? Have you read The Fellowship of the Ring? Any thoughts you’d like to share?
If you’d like to sign up for the challenge, click here.
Just Book Reading 
I’ve only read the introduction and the prologue so far- I just know that once I start, I won’t be able to stop. Oh, Middle Earth!
I’m doing like you, reading a few chapters a night so I can savor it. I haven’t read these books in a while.
I’m a slacker and just put up my first post for Fellowship of the Ring. But like you said, better late than never. I have to agree with you about books and movies. The books are usually better.
Happy reading.
I also have the same movie characters in my head when I read the book. Since I watched the movies first, I never had any other visions for the characters other than those who acted in the movies.