So what kind of fan were you?

[Snowdog]

I love this comic! :D

When the movies were coming... what kind of fan were you? (http://www.ctrlaltdel-online.com/comic.php?d=20031217) I myself wavered between #2 to #3 with Two Towers, then back toward #2.

[Bêthberry]

from the comic: Fan-spotting

Hahahahaha! ;) :smokin:

[mark12_30]

Snowdog, the comic was cute; but I like your other categories from Before And After The movies far better (Eldar, Edain, etc.) I was hoping this was a new thread about them...

(hint)

[Encaitare]

Amusing comic; I don't think I really fit into any of the categories though. Perhaps 3. What got me was the name of the site: "Ctrl-Alt-Del," since my friend is in a band of the same name.

As mark said, though, I prefer your categories, they make room for everyone!

[Snowdog]

Snowdog, the comic was cute; but I like your other categories from Before And After The movies far better (Eldar, Edain, etc.) I was hoping this was a new thread about them...

(hint)Should I put it here? I didn't want to spam multiple forums ;) .
Ok, per Mark12_30's & Encaitare's request.....

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

I break down Middle Earth fans thus:
Old-School Book Fan:
They read Tolkien’s books sometime between the release of the Hobbit (1937) & the Silmarillion (1977). They came to know the world of Middle Earth through the released writings of J.R.R. Tolkien, and awaited the release of The Silmarillion to relieve their hunger to know more of Middle Earth. Yet were apprehensive as to whether Christopher Tolkien would do justice to the beloved realm of Middle Earth in print, and were even more reluctant with the Bakshi, Rankin/Bass, & Peter Jackson films.

The New-School Book Fan Of the New-School Book Fans, there are two sub-groups which I call: ~The First-Born ~ This group originally discovered the world of Middle Earth after the books Christopher Tolkien released beginning with The Silmarillion in 1977. They include also Unfinished Tales and any of the HoME series. These are the book readers and would have been Old-School Book fans had they been old enough, or had discovered the Hobbit and/or the Trilogy of Lord of the Rings before the Silmarillion came out.
~The Edain~ Also known as The Adopted. They are the ones from the groups below who were motivated to seek out and delve deep into the writings of J.R.R. Tolkien & Christopher Tolkien and learn and love the true history of Middle Earth.
The Edain are the cream from many of the groups below.

The Bakshi Recruit: They first discovered Middle Earth by seeing the Bakshi and/or the Rankin/Bass cartoons. Many went on to read the books and delve ever deeper into Tolkiens writings, and essentially become one of the Edain.

The “Pre-Movie” Book Fan: They heard there was a Lord of the Rings movie in the making, and after looking into it, decided they wanted to read the books before the first movie came out in Dec 2001. Many go on to become Edain New-School Book Fans.

The Movie Recruit: They went to the theatre and saw Fellowship of the Ring, and loved it so much they were inspired to go and read the books, finishing the Two Towers and Return of the King before the release of the movie of the same name. Many go on to become Edain New-School Book Fans.

The Peter Jackson Recruit: Different from the Movie Recruit in that they did not start to read the books until after they saw all three movies. Their viewpoint of Middle Earth is seen through the eyes of Peter Jackson, and they note the differences in the books. Some may go on to become Edain New-School Book Fans, but to most their reading of the books are more an afterthought and of a desire to fill in some of the gaps in the movie, leaving the movie as the cannonized definitive word on their concept of Middle Earth.

The Hardcore Movie Fan: They went to the movies and loved them! They have no desire to read the books or inclined not to do so anytime soon. The movie is Middle Earth, and they like it as presented. Books are boring. They take too much imagination. Who needs to imagine what Middle Earth is like when Peter Jackson already did it for me? Who reads books anyway?
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

[mark12_30]

Old School Book Fans-- How about subgroups:

60's: Gandalf For President

70's: Pre-Sil

I'm pre-Sil, myself, having read the trilogy roughly around 1972 or 3.

[Snowdog]

Yeah, I'm 70's pre-Sil. By the time I read the books three times and covered every line of the Appendices, I searched out other books and found a lineparty organizing for the release of Silmarillion. Of course the first part of the Sil I read was The Rings of power bit.

Oh yes, another sub-group here would be: 30's - 50's, The originals

[mark12_30]

OK. So:

Old-School Book Fan:
They read Tolkien’s books sometime between the release of the Hobbit (1937) & the Silmarillion (1977). They came to know the world of Middle Earth through the released writings of J.R.R. Tolkien, and awaited the release of The Silmarillion to relieve their hunger to know more of Middle Earth. Yet were apprehensive as to whether Christopher Tolkien would do justice to the beloved realm of Middle Earth in print, and were even more reluctant with the Bakshi, Rankin/Bass, & Peter Jackson films.

"Sometime Between" means:

30's-50's: The Originals
(does anybody know one?)

60's: The Gandalf For President Party: Child, Pio....

70's: Still Pre-Sil: Lots of us

[Estelyn Telcontar]

Include me in the 70s category of old school book fans - I read LotR in '73, shortly before Tolkien's death, but since I moved to Germany in the fall of that year, I lost touch with the mass phenomenon of fandom. I do remember seeing (a) calendar(s) in that year and being disappointed with the pictures, since they didn't coincide with my own mental images. Years later, I checked out the Sil in German from my local library, but didn't enjoy it until I got an English copy. I've never liked the translations of JRRT's works - they lose too much magic.

Credit the movie hype with my introduction to this site and the renewed interest in the books - being on the Downs has been most inspirational!

[Snowdog]

30's-50's: The Originals I do, but he isn't here on the internet.

[Sapphire_Flame]

Good heavens, I must be really tired; I cannot, for the life of me, figure out which group I'm in. -,-;;; Can someone give me a hand?

~I was born after Silm came out (nearly ten years after).

~I read The Hobbit when I was about six or seven; immediately thereafter, I wanted to learn more about Middle-earth and its inhabitants.

~Around age 8, I saw the Rankin/Bass version of The Hobbit, and the Bakshi LotR.

~Attempted to read LotR around the same time; failed miserably.

~Started to read LotR in October of 2001; was little, if at all, influenced by the upcoming movie.

~Saw the movie on December 21, 2001; was dumbed with astonishment and amazement which bordered on stupification.

~Restarted LotR, reading the entire book through in three weeks.

~Started into The Silm in November 2002.

~To date, have read The Hobbit 35-40 times, LotR 10 times, Silmarillion twice, Unfinished Tales once, and The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien once. Am currently hunting down the HoME series.

Help? Please? ^^;;;

Abedithon le,

~ Saphy ~

[mark12_30]

Heh.

You're one o' them addicts.

;)

[Snowdog]

Good heavens, I must be really tired; I cannot, for the life of me, figure out which group I'm in. -,-;;; Can someone give me a hand?

~I was born after Silm came out (nearly ten years after).

~I read The Hobbit when I was about six or seven; immediately thereafter, I wanted to learn more about Middle-earth and its inhabitants.

~Around age 8, I saw the Rankin/Bass version of The Hobbit, and the Bakshi LotR.

~Attempted to read LotR around the same time; failed miserably.

~Started to read LotR in October of 2001; was little, if at all, influenced by the upcoming movie.

~Saw the movie on December 21, 2001; was dumbed with astonishment and amazement which bordered on stupification.

~Restarted LotR, reading the entire book through in three weeks.

~Started into The Silm in November 2002.

~To date, have read The Hobbit 35-40 times, LotR 10 times, Silmarillion twice, Unfinished Tales once, and The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien once. Am currently hunting down the HoME series.

Help? Please? ^^;;;

Abedithon le,

~ Saphy ~Easy Sapphire ... you're First Born (Eldar) with a strong Movie Recruit influence! Why? because you first discovered Middle Earth via the Hobbit. But didn't have the drive to read the LotR until you tasted the movie.

Now, you're an addict!

[Reg Pither]

Hmmm....

I'm probably an Old-School fan, having read the books around 75-77 (?), but I think my love for the whole saga was really cemented when the BBC radio version was broadcast (81?), so I don't know what to call myself now. :confused:

[The Saucepan Man]

OK, I think we need a new category: The Prodigal Old School Book Fan. To include those such as me who read The Hobbit and LotR way back when and were smitten, but read nothing further until the films came out and resurrected their interest.

I first read The Hobbit around 1975/1976, and then LotR in 1978/1979. I gave up, though, on the newly-published Silmarillion shortly afterwards. Too heavy, differnet locations and, most important of all, no Hobbits. It was thanks to the films that I discovered this site and delved further into Tolkien's writings. So, long-standing history, but only new-found depth.

[Gurthang]

Well, I'm just one of those really new ones, then, having just read the books for the first time a few years ago. Since, I have read LOTR, the Hobbit, and the Silmarillion twice each. I've also scrounged up a couple of his lesser known works, such as Farmer Giles of Ham

Oh yeah, I thought #4 was pretty funny. I wonder if that guy got any food? :D

[Imladris]

I am a Bakshi Recruit: They first discovered Middle Earth by seeing the Bakshi and/or the Rankin/Bass cartoons. Many went on to read the books and delve ever deeper into Tolkiens writings, and essentially become one of the Edain.

I will not mention how the Hobbit movie totally creeped me out and how I only read the Hobbit because my bro was reading it and how could I let him read something I wouldn't/couldn't read. Ah, the joys of sibling rivalry.

I never saw the cartoon of LotR, but watching the Hobbit (the cartoon) got me hooked onto it.

[Keeper of Dol Guldur]

I'm happy being a "First Born".

If I was around back when any of it was first written, I'd have been hooked. But hey, 1985 was long after most of it was released.

I remember first getting into it. For starters ... I think I HAD seen the cartoon Hobbit movie beforehand ... but I'd totally forgotten about it, as I'd seen it when I was very little and totally forgot.

So in my Freshman year (I think) we read the Hobbit, and I was like ... OOOOOOOH MAN.

Instantaneously into it.

It was like a Ninth Grade reading class (maybe 8th ... memory fuzziness), and instead of reading any of the other books for the class, I managed to con my LOTR obsessed teacher (our school had a class called Trilogy) into letting me read the entire Trilogy for reading, as a sort of independent study which still counted as reading, instead of reading some real crap.

And because I wasn't reading what the rest of the class was reading, I got to read in her Trilogy classroom, which was a small, air-conditioned room with a table, chairs, and walls plastered with LOTR posters.

What a way for a kid to get into it. That was like ... 1998 or 1999.

I was like ... 13, 14.

I'm a youngin' still, at 19. But hey, I'm hooked forever now.

I had NO clue a movie was being made, and I read it like ten times before I found out. That was a pleasant little shock. As far as the movies go ... I guess I'm a fanatic, in that like any other book reader, I knew what was different, and I used to point it out a lot, but I got annoyed by the constant pointing of it out.

So I just like the movies now. A lot.

They stand on their own as awesome.

Of course, they're not the books.

[The Saucepan Man]

but I got annoyed by the constant pointing of it outAmen to that! :D

[Mithalwen]

Old amongst the firstborn - I think I read the Hobbit in about '79 - whenever it was screened on Jackanory! I had to read it to fill in the gaps.... I bought the first four volumes of HoME as they were issued in paperback and had to wait until 2002 to complete the set. Eek that date ..... not really old enough for a silver Jubilee - I was a very precocious reader ... in fact I read the Hobbit in utero... :p

[Sapphire_Flame]

Oh yeah, I thought #4 was pretty funny. I wonder if that guy got any food?

I wanted to try that once, but my mum wouldn't let me...

So I'm one of the Eldar? Much loftiness. :D Thanks for the help, Snowdog!

Abedithon le,

~ Saphy ~

[Gurthang]

After a little thought, I've decided that I am a First-Born. I don't fit into any of the Edain categories, and was originally influenced to read the books by my cousins, although there might have been some movie influence now that I think about it.


I wanted to try that once, but my mum wouldn't let me...

Yes exactly. And then there's that whole legal thing that always gets in the way on these sort of things. ;)

[Elennar Starfire]

Someone classify me...I can't figure out where I belong!

I was introduced to The Hobbit at four, by my father, an Old-School fan. LotR followed closely. What's the category for someone whose bedtime story every night was a chapter of LotR?

We'd finished by the time I was six for sure, I don't remember exactly. I re-read The Hobbit several times through elementary school, then drifted away to other interests. The movies re-caught my attention, and now I'm addicted.

So, where do I fit?

[Morgul Queen]

Uh...help! Someone classify me, quick, before I turn into a Gollumish character!

~ I first read the hobbit at five.

~Promtly read Fellowship. Finished it. Didn't know there were more books.

~re-read the hobbit twice a year for the next7 or so years.

~heard about this film that some dude was making somewhere down the road from where I was living.

~Heard it was based on a book.

~Bought book thinking 'Yay! A Book I haven't read yet!'

~Realised I had read book.

~Realised there was more to book.

~Holed up in my room for the next few weeks reading and re-reading.

*skips two years*

~Saw Fellowship...etc

Oh, and for the comic thing, I'm Code Orange!

[Sapphire_Flame]

Morgy, methinks you're one of the First-Born, with some Movie Recruit influence. *nod nod* More power to ye, my friend. :D

Abedithon le,

~ Saphy ~

[Nimrodel_9]

~ I first read the hobbit at five.That`s great Morgy!

I don`t really know what I am. I had seen the books in the library all the time, and kinda decided I was going to read them some time. I saw The Fellowship of the Ring a month after it came out. My mom wouldn`t take me to see it in theaters. Loved it, read FotR and began reading The Two Towers. I saw TTT in theaters December 31, about 13 days after it came out (Yes, I actually remember the dates I saw all of the films. I still have the ticket stubs from the many times I saw them in theaters. :D ) Loved it, finished book, and read The Return of the King. I had already bought all of the theatrical versions and later bought the Extended Editions last January. I have read the books several times (including The Hobbit and Silmarillion), have one the books at hand all of the time, and watch the movies constantly. Can`t wait for RotK EE. I can`t really place myself. Any help? ;)

[Laitoste]

First-born here. (But just barely! I finished The Return of the King in October 2001, but had not yet heard of the movie...such is my isolation :rolleyes: ) Somewhat introduced by an Old-School fan (my dad). Anyway, out of those other categories, I would probably be Code: Yellow. The Code: Dear God, Get This Kid Some Therapy; The Raving Lunatic was hilarious! My friends might classify me as that...

[Iaurhirwen]

Ah, I am a proud 1st born, having randomly picked up FOTR way back in the beginning of 8th grade, when I was 13, got a little confused, so borrowed the Hobbit from my brother who was reading it for 10th grade English class (so convenient). Read The Hobbit in one day, then promptly continued onto LOTR. Was finished reading that by Christmas and got The Silmarillion for a Christmas present, read that . . . . and so on and so on.

When I heard that a movie was being made I was so syked, but really worried about if it would be worthy. Luckly, for the most part, I have not been let down.

[Lindolirian]

Well I suppose I'm somewhere around the Edain, but I had heard of the books and read them before I ever knew about a movie. I was introduced to the Hobbit by my fifth grade teacher in 1997 and fell in love with Tolkien's writing style and imagination. I immediatly tried to read the Lord of the Rings, but didn't like "Bilbo turning evil" and put it down. It took me until the next fall (of '98) to actually read the, all the way through. Naturally, I was hooked and read and re-read them over and over again. I was on my fourth run-through when I heard rumor of the movies. I was a freshman in high school and had already read LotR 24 times, the Sil and Unfinished Tales by December 19, 2001 when the Fellowship came out.

[Aldarion Elf-Friend]

I like that prodigal first-born category. I read the Hobbit and LotR back in my middle-school days in the late seveties (struggled a bit with LotR - skipped the Council of Elrond entirely). I got completely bogged down in the Silm. I re-read LotR in high school in the early 80s.

Then when the movies came out it rekindled my interest. After the first movie, I went out and purchased the single volume of LotR from Wallyworld and finished it in a month. I then picked up the trade paperbacks of the Silm and Hobbit and have read each twice. I currently on my second read (of this millenium) of LotR following along with the Chapter-by-Chapter discussion (which I highly recommend).

Two funny things - first, the Silm has become my favorite book. I had to set it aside from a third re-read to pick up LotR again.

Second, while the movies really pulled me back into Middle-Earth, and they are visual masterpieces, the more I read and appreciate the books, the less I appreciate the screenplays for the movies.

I think I have Unfinished Tales in my future...

Planning on reading The Hobbit to my two older children (8 and 4) next summer...

[Enorëiel]

I am a Movie Recruit through and through, however, I am becoming a bit of a Edain. Only time will prove where i shall be led. :eek: j/k but really... The only different thing is that instead of seeing FOTR in theaters I saw it one day on Starz and thought... hmmm that's not as bad as I thought it'd be! ;) So I went uber nuts and read all the books before I went and saw TTT two weeks later. :D And well... I suppose the rest of my story is leaning towards Edain-ium.

~ Enny ~

[airetari]

I am of a rare breed, being one of the people who first read The Hobbit when I was about 5 in the 90's and loving it madly. Then reading all of the LOTR books when I was about eight and becoming completely obsessed, proceeding then to read the Silmarillion, The Unfinished Tales, The books of Lost Tales, The Lays of Beleriand, etc. when I was about 13. I am of the Harry Potter generation and I remember seeing the 1st Harry Potter movie in theaters and almost dying because of the sad mutilation that the directors and writers bestowed upon that poor book. I saw that movie and am so scared of it that I can't watch any of the LOTR movies. I know they won Oscars and stuff, but I'm just so scared that they will ruin my interpretation of LOTR, that I've refused to watch them. I think that if you met anyone my age(15) and heard me say "oh I love LOTR" you would probably classify me as the Orlando bloom LOTR fan (the type of fan that ritualistically watches them and fawns over Orlando and refers to him as "the precious"). So I don't realy know where I fit, I would be one of the Eldar, but what type since I haven't seen any of the movies? Maybe the Eldar should be broken into the Vanyar, Noldor and Telerin. The Vanyar being people like me who refuse to see the movies, the pure ones who haven't been exposed to Peter Jackson's Middle -earth. (not that I'm saying it's a bad thing, don't misunderstand me, I'm merely making a connection). The Noldor, people who were fans before the movies and since have seen the movies but aren't completely obsessed with them, and the Telerin, Eldar equally obsessed with the books and the movies. Just a suggestion, I'm just trying to find my place in the world.

[Snowdog]

I am a Movie Recruit through and through, however, I am becoming a bit of a Edain. Only time will prove where i shall be led. :eek: j/k but really... The only different thing is that instead of seeing FOTR in theaters I saw it one day on Starz and thought... hmmm that's not as bad as I thought it'd be! ;) So I went uber nuts and read all the books before I went and saw TTT two weeks later. :D And well... I suppose the rest of my story is leaning towards Edain-ium.

~ Enny ~You read the books in two weeks? Wow!
I suggest you read them again for surely you will find stuff you missed the first time through, or may see things differently. I have yet to tire of reading them!

[narfforc]

I read The Hobbit in 1973( though I played Fili in a school play in 1969), LotR in 1975 and queued in Oxford St for the release of The Silmarillion in 1977, and I count not one second wasted.

[aelithes]

I would have to admit that I'm an Edain movie recruit, but in fact my first exposure to Tolkien was when I was in middle school about ten years ago and saw my older brother reading The Hobbit. I remember scoffing and thinking how only nerdy boys who play D&D read that kind of stuff. And now look at us! - he is a saavy, politically/socially-connected lawyer, whereas I'm whiling away my hours poring over Tolkien and ancient literature!

[Shelob]

First-Born for me...I first recall hearing the Hobbit because I went up to my dad (old school book fan) while he was reading it and bugged him until he went back to the begining and read it to me, though acording to my mom he had been reading it to me since I was in the cradle and I had just never realized. After that I made him read me The Lord of The Rings (though we only got as far as Shelob's Lair before I was too scared to continue--which is still pretty good for a 6 year old) I finally finished reading the Lord of the Rings a few years later (when I was about 9 years old).

And I liked the comic...I think I know all those people...

[Milady Revenwyn]

First-born here. My mom had read LOtR when she was around my age currently but has since forgotten everything about it. Thus, I discovered them by myself without the aid of any movie/cartoon version. I became a hardcore LOtR addict, having read the books 76 times since my first reading in 1998.
I have also read Silm, Unfinished Tales, HoME series.

[Thinlómien]

I don't really understand this classification, can someone help me?
What am I? To which class do I belong?:
- I was born after The Sil was published
- My father read me aloud the Hobbit, LotR, The Sil and The UT, beginnig from when I was 6 years old
- I saw the Ralph Bakshi's animation when I was small, but I don't remember was it before or after my first touch with the book
- When I was 8 years old I read LotR by myself and fell in love with it. Since that I've been a fan.
- since then I've read the books mentioned before many times by myself
- the movies had no influence on me

[Sophia the Thunder Mistress]

Goodness, so many young readers 'round here. I thought I was pretty young to read LOTR at about 12. :eek:

This is a clever thread, Snowdog.

I would have to say I'm something of an equal mix of Eldar by Bakshi Recruit (although really more aptly Rankin-Bass Recruit) and First-Born. My mother an Old-School Book fan (of the 70s variety) often read aloud to us during the winters when I was a kid. When I was about 8 years old she bought us the Hobbit book and the Rankin-Bass movie for Christmas and we read it aloud together and then watched the movie afterward. It was magic. Here I am.

I got the Bakshi LOTR and R-B ROTK as soon as I could, and though I always could see what was obviously wrong with them, I still enjoy them nostalgically--and frequently. And I am a firm believer that if a live-action Hobbit movie is made, I won't like it better. *Stubborn* The R-B version is whimsical. :p

Sophia

[Lathriel]

Well, since I was born in the late 80's I read the hobbit in the nineties at about 8 or 9.
I read LOTR when I was about 12 I believe or maybe I was eleven. Then I forgot about them for a while. (Partly because I was mad at Tolkien for making Frodo leave ME) Then I read it again and enjoyed it. (This time in english) Then a few years later I heard about the movies and I read the book again. Initially my family didn't like FOTR very much. I however felt this need to see the movie again. So when we saw TTT and my family approved my obsession suddenly exploded! And at aound that time I joined the Barrow Downs, got the FOTR EE and it goes on form there.

[Enorëiel]

You read the books in two weeks? Wow! I suggest you read them again for surely you will find stuff you missed the first time through, or may see things differently. I have yet to tire of reading them!

Okay... I exagerated just a wee bit. I read FOTR and TTT before I saw the next film (TTT) :D And not to worry I have reread them since. I am currently in ROTK my third time through :D

[wilwarin538]

I am a Movie Recruit on my way to being a Edain New-School Book Fan. I saw FotR read all three books in about 3-4 weeks(I was completely addicted) then I read the Hobbit probably about a week after seing TTT. I'm about half way through the Sil. Too much homework not enough time to read.

[ninlaith]

I think I'm a mixture of the first and second. I'm not too picky but picky enough. I'm that one that would sit with you watching the movies and be like "Oh why did they leave that out!!!" "why did they add that!!" "What's going on!!" "Why would they do that!!"...something to that extent. I read the books a long time before i saw the movies. Maybe that wasn't such a good idea.

[Shuki]

Well, I was a fan long before the film are coming.
I read the books in the 80 and from these moment on, I saw middle-earht all around me und feel a little Hobbit in my soul :D
But also I love the films, twoo. Most everything is like in my fantasy, exspecialy the places...

[Morsul the Dark]

I suppose I would be Fan #1...until I saw TTT then I moved to #3 now I'm slowly getting to #2...I am however #4..in drama class for my Audition I sang theoden's warsong ...I used a brrom as my spear :p

[Snowdog]

Had to fix the link in the first post as they moved their archives. :)

[Elfchick7]

Well, I grew up watching the cartoons but I didn't really think much about it.

So I guess I'm a movie recruit. I heard the movies were coming out so the month before the FOTR release I read the Hobbit and the LOTR. I wanted to be able to give educated opinions on the movies.

Since then I have read LOTR four times and have read the Sil 1&1/2 times

[Rikae]

First Born, would have been an Old-School Book Fan, but I wasn't born until '79!

Although I might not be a totally pure book fan, so to speak, since I had an audio recording of the Rankin-Bass "Hobbit" back in '82 (a 45!) - though I didn't see the movie before first reading "The Hobbit" in '85 and LOTR in '87.

Now, as for the first question - definitely #2; code yellow "Tolkien Fanatic", but by now I've decided, overall, I like the movies.

[TheGreatElvenWarrior]

I suppose I am a PJ recruit. I suppose people will look down on me now.:( But that was probably because the movies did not come out until I was five since I am 13 now...and I only just read the books two months ago. I read them in five days and have sorta re read them.

[sallkid]

I'd like to say I'm pre-Sil by Proxy, as i was introduced to the LOTR by my father who would have read it pre-Sil and took no interest in the Sil (I likewise took no interest in the Sil until long after i'd read the Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings, and my copy of the Lord Of The Rings is a pre-Sil edition.

But as age goes I'm post Sil, despite to this day not having read it.

[piosenniel]

As far as the movies are concerned, I was this sort of fan:

#4 CODE: Get this kid some therapy - "The Raving Lunatic (http://www.ctrlaltdel-online.com/comic.php?d=20031217)"

Yes, I had.....that is, have.....an Elven sword

:p

[TheGreatElvenWarrior]

As far as the movies are concerned, I was this sort of fan:

#4 CODE: Get this kid some therapy - "The Raving Lunatic (http://www.ctrlaltdel-online.com/comic.php?d=20031217)"

Yes, I had.....that is, have.....an Elven sword

:p

You have an Elven sword? OOOOOOHHHHH I wants it.

[Thenamir]

I am among the last of the Old School Book Fans, as I read The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings just bare months before The Silmarillion was released. I found The Sil hard going, and gave it up halfway through (not finishing it until about 4 years ago), but read and re-read TH and LOTR, perusing fan BBS and the Internet when it became available, reading movie rumors (oh, the endless debates on who should play Gandalf...Sean Connery being the much-hailed-and-derided favorite) and balrog wing discussions.

The real announcement of a real movie (which I read first on Ain't It Cool News) refueled my interest. I ended up being strongly influenced by the movies, but revere the books alone as canon, of course.

Oddly, I find myself standing almost in the exact center of the movies-versus-books road, and suffering the slings and arrows from cars on both lanes. "I love the books, I love the movies, they're two different things, why can't we all just get along?"

<Thenamir ducks as another salvo of sharp, pointy objects is hurled his way...>

[Thenamir]

Oh, as far as the movies were concerned, check this photo of me and my lovely wife just before the release of TTT. I think this makes me A Raving Lunatic. And yes, that is Glamdring in my hand.
http://www.xenite.org/special_events/pics/2002HLP-dinner-02.jpg

[Lalwendë]

Oh does that ever beg for a Crazy Caption...:D

"Um, Celebrimbor, do you think you could help me? You see I was messing about with Glamdring and there was this big lump of cheese...and they kind of got stuck..."

[Lindale]

A literal pre-book. I saw an article comparing the movie versions of HP1 and FotR sometime during my tenth or eleventh year. And then, I pestered my parents to buy me the book. The Christmas that followed, FotR was playing. I read Silm three years later, during my high school.

I wasn't even alive when the First-born thingys here were happening!

[Galendor]

I'm a first-born or prodigal first-born. Read The Hobbit many times starting at age ten in 1980, then moved on to read LOTR as a teenager. Since then I have re-read them several times. However, I have never read any other works by Tolkien (a serious deficiency in my education, I know).

So, like many here I went to see the movies with preconcieved notions on how characters should look and act, and approached the Jackson movies with great anxiety and trepidation (and hope!) over what Hollywood might do to the story. I loved FOTR, I felt it was very close to Tolkiens books. I was less pleased with the 2nd two movies, where deviations from the books (and silly, pointless dwarf jokes, etc) became more prominent. Like several here, I did not mind omissions of characters and events (since this is necessary to fit within a movie length) but I did not appreciate the insertion of new events, and the previosuly mentioned base humor apparently inserted in attempt to get a cheap laugh (such as: "Nobody tosses a dwarf!" Gimli.

[William Cloud Hicklin]

Ah, children!

I can't claim to be a genuine Old-line Bookie (that's reserved to those who read LR in the First Edition)- but I did read it in the (brand-new) paperbacks with the ghastly red-and-blue Barbara Remington covers- and again and again until they fell apart. I wrote to Christopher Tolkien two years before The Silmarillion appeared asking questions about it. I digested all of UT and HME as they came out: all, of course, well before the movies.

So it's fair to say that the movies were not my introduction to Middle-earth....

[Galendor]

P.S. as a kid, I had a larger "coffee table" The Hobbit book that was full of glossy color illustrations that look similar or the same as the Rankin/Bass cartoons. It did strongly influence my mental images of Middle Earth. I wish I had that same book now - I think I'll go look for it on the internet!

[Sauron the White]

Galendor .. that coffee table HOBBIT was produced by Abrams - one of the premier publishers of such fare. It sounds like you have lots of childhood memories interwoven with that particular book. Speaking for myself, I did care much for either the style of illustrations or the quality of the animation. But then, I was no child when it came out so I do not have the wonderful associations with it that you seem to have.

here is one being sold now on ebay for a decent price

http://cgi.ebay.com/The-Hobbit-HC-by-Abrams-1977-lg-fold-out-illustrations_W0QQitemZ110197959533QQihZ001QQcateg oryZ378QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

[Galendor]

That IS it - thank you very much, Sauron the White! I may bid on it (I wish they took Paypal), but if not at least now I know what to look for. I must have read that book 20 times. Those fanciful and somewhat childish illustrations definitiely became imprinted on my young brain. When I envision Beorn, Bard, Thorin, etc. I still see those illustrations. But those illustrations somehow didn't transfer very well to LOTR - once I read it I began to see the characters more as real people, not cartoon characters. If memory serves, the Rankin/Bass elves were particulary silly-looking, with pointy sock-like feet!

[Azaelia of Willowbottom]

I'm somewhere between a First-born and a pre-movie book fan. Not quite sure where I stand.

I attempted to read LOTR first in late 2000-early 2001, between the ages of 12 and 13. I'd noticed some of my classmates were doing so, and I thought the covers were interesting. I was a big Star Wars geek, and I was looking for an action-packed story. I didn't find it, and halted only a couple pages from the end of FOTR. I did, however, have a sense that there was a larger picture, something I was failing to grasp for whatever reason, and that I should absolutely come back to LOTR.

I then proceeded to mostly forget about it, until seeing the preview for FOTR in early November 2001, almost a year later. By then, I was fast approaching 14. I decided that NOW was the time to go back and attempt LOTR again. Someone expressed surprise over a 2-week read. I spent the majority of Veteran's Day weekend on the couch, reading. It took me 3 days. I was hooked. Over the course of the next few months, I read it 6 times or so, before attempting to limit myself to the traditional single read once a year. I've been here pretty much ever since.

As to the comic, I believe I fit into the sword-waving category the best...hahaha. I was in full hobbit costume for both TTT and ROTK. What can I say? I'm a theater kid. Any excuse to go out in public in costume is a good one, LOTR doubly so. :D

[Sir Kohran]

Definitely a movie recruit. I read the books through 2002 and early 2003. It was a life changing period.

[Alonna]

If PJ had never made the movies, I doubt I ever would have picked up the books. I saw the Bakshi cartoon when I was young and thought it was the worst thing I'd ever seen. I refused to even consider reading the books because I assumed they were just like the cartoon. After FOTR came out, one of my friends managed to convince me to give it a chance. The film completely wiped away the memories of Bakshi and got me to read the books.