The Tolkien Coming of Age Club 2

[Snowdog]

Here's my oldrocker, there's my staff, here's my hood and cloak to hang on the peg by the door. Anyone going to join me on the porch?

Eh? Ah, been waitin' for ya since May... musta fallen asleep. :smokin:
Much too warm for a heater or a blanket Bethberry. ;)
Hey thanks for the cookie Hilde! :D

[Hilde Bracegirdle]

No wonder it is so warm, with that roaring fire you've got going in the chiminea! I think it is melting the chocolate bits clean out of my cookies! :p

[Estelyn Telcontar]

Can I hide in here for awhile? I don't have the energy to cope with moderating right now, but a nice cookie and a cup of tea with friends who aren't squabbling about the movie would be very pleasant. Thanks for the cookie, Hilde - may I pour you a cuppa?

[Bêthberry]

Well, I shall keep my blanket in any case, dear Dawg, as I am feeling quite chilled. But perhaps a cookie will also inspire some warmth, thank you, Hilde. And tea too would be lovely.

Estelyn, do you think we will be busier with this new movie out?

[Hilde Bracegirdle]

*Hilde also accepts a cup with gratitude, and stirs it with eyes averted and ears straining as she awaits Esty's reply.

[Estelyn Telcontar]

It's hard to say, Bb - we do have a few new members coming in, and certainly the members that have been around longer are discussing a lot on the movie forum. I guess the Hobbit movie just didn't fascinate me enough to compete with real life interests, so I'm not enjoying posting as much as I did 10 years ago.

I'll make some more tea - would you prefer green or Lady Grey?

[Bêthberry]

Well, since I haven't seen the movie yet, I am enjoying reading the comments. But we do seem to have a rash of rude posts lately. Imagine telling Legolas he didn't need to provide a long explanation!

Oh, and green would be lovely, ta.

Hilde, your cookies were just the kind of Christmas treat I like, crunchy on the outside, soft and chewy inside. I suspect Bilbo might have been rather fond of that kind too.

[Snowdog]

I saw the movie and said all I had to say about it in one small post at the end of Morothon's Extraneous journey thread.

Trying to get the house to cool down after a 33° C day. I'll have a cold beer thanks!

[Hilde Bracegirdle]

Hilde, your cookies were just the kind of Christmas treat I like, crunchy on the outside, soft and chewy inside.

Rather like some people I know! ;)

I have decided not to see the movies in order to avoid the confusion. Goodness knows the LoTR movies had the unfortunate effect of eclipsing my own mental images. Not worth having it happen again.

[Nogrod]

I have decided not to see the movies in order to avoid the confusion. Goodness knows the LoTR movies had the unfortunate effect of eclipsing my own mental images. Not worth having it happen again.
If that has happened already, you lose nothing by seeing it as the visual outlook of the Hobbit is more or less the same than with the LotR. The milk is spilled so you have nothing to save...

I myself belong to the club of those saying the LotR movies (and now the Hobbit) were and are a kind of an eye-candy - and as such quite great - but as telling of a story quite terrible (unlike the stories the prof. wrote decades ago which still can captivate peoples' imagination). The Hobbit -movie is a calculated project to the bone for maximum audiences (and thus Box Office cash-value), but that calculation also pays heed to Tolkien fans as we have a lot of nice little details from the book in there, only those knowing the book inside-out will appreciate.

But if you go to see it already with the presupposition that it is a Hollywood blockbuster movie meant to draw in teen audiences and offfering all sorts of cliffhangers for people who don't yet know the story - and then sit back and relax concentrating rather on how it looks (or which details you can spot from the original work), then you might even enjoy it. :)

[Hilde Bracegirdle]

Ah, but in my mind The Hobbit and LoTR are worlds apart and I don't want those worlds to collide! You have brought up some good points though. Perhaps I am just too old to contemplate a trip to the theater when I'm content to read at home by the fire. Really I'm not nearly as curious as I thought I'd be.

[Nogrod]

Ah, but in my mind The Hobbit and LoTR are worlds apart and I don't want those worlds to collide!Well, that is a Pandora's box we're probably not going to open here... even if I kind of agree with what you say (and sadly see that problem in the new movie all too well).

If I had a fireplace I'd stick with it quite often...

[Snowdog]

I have decided not to see the movies in order to avoid the confusion. Goodness knows the LoTR movies had the unfortunate effect of eclipsing my own mental images. Not worth having it happen again.
A wise decision in my opinion. It's absolute rubbish. Don't spend 1¢ on this cash-grab travesty of a movie.

[Rhod the Red]

Absolutely rubbish? Are you sure there's nothing praiseworthy in it, for you?

[Snowdog]

I stated what was praiseworthy in a thread in the movie forum. I'll state it again here...

Hobbiton looked good and the party at Bilbo's was well done.
Rivendell looked better after the remodel and the tearing down of some of the gazebos.
Elrond looked better and the acting was more 'Elrondish'
Galadriel looked much better, more like Galadriel.
The whole 'Riddles In The Dark' bit was good. Andy nailed Gollum again!

That's about it. The screenplay, the overly padded story as written and portrayed, was absolute rubbish.

[Bêthberry]

*offers Rhod and Snowdog a beer from the cooler*

It's hot down your way, right now, so I thought you might prefer something other than Estelyn's tea. Help yourself to one of these old rocking chairs, Rhod.

Hilde, I haven't seen it yet, as a dratted winter cold slowed down our holiday festivities, but my children want to take me to see it, and then to have a "High Tea". To be honest, after hearing much about the movie, I suspect the High Tea will be the highlight of my gift. I am looking forward to hearing what my young 'uns have to say as Daughter loves The Hobbit but dislikes Lord of the Rings, whereas with Son it's the reverse.

Nogrod, what was it like seeing the movie with so many other Downers?

[Mithalwen]

Ooh Bethberry, my sister was making maple oldfashioneds with your syrup. I bet one of those would help the cold...

[Snowdog]

Thanks for the beer Bethberry... It is a bit warm down this way!

[Snowdog]

Now it's cold.
Where are all us old book-folk? Disillusioned with the PJ treatment of the Hobbit?

[Estelyn Telcontar]

There's certainly not as much excitement, coupled with the desire to discuss various aspects, about this movie. There's much more Peter Jackson than Tolkien in The Hobbit, which is fine for fans of the former and not as much so for the readers of the latter...

Still around, just not as vociferous as 10 years ago.

[Snowdog]

I think in 2000-01 there was this aura of what Middle Earth would look like and all, whereas, that has been established by the earlier movies, and now it's just more of the same. Also, PJ had to worry about whether his movies would be a success back in 2000 when he filmed them all, whereas, he was sure it would be at least somewhat successful this time and could take his blatant liberties with the story.

[mark12_30]

I'm going to enjoy the Hobbit movies, despite Radagast' s, erm, hair. It's an excuse for me to skim the books again, and ponder Thranduil' s psyche. Anyone read the article (TORn) that Mirkwood was partly a reflection of Thranduil' attitudes? Creative.

[mark12_30]

Thranduil, The Fisher King and Oberon; Why It Matters

http://www.theonering.net/torwp/2013/09/15/79209-thranduil-the-fisher-king-and-oberon-why-it-matters/

[Bêthberry]

Thranduil, The Fisher King and Oberon; Why It Matters

http://www.theonering.net/torwp/2013/09/15/79209-thranduil-the-fisher-king-and-oberon-why-it-matters/

Interesting to see how the actors--or one actor--prepared for their roles. However, I don't see any research here that links any of this to Tolkien.

[mark12_30]

There may not be any. I just thought it was fun. At least the actor linked it with faerie and not Disney or worse. I guess it reminded me of Lmp' s thread "It feels different near the Shire." I liked the faerie in it.

Getting pretty casual in my old age. Hear the owls? Have a glass....

[Bêthberry]

There may not be any. I just thought it was fun. At least the actor linked it with faerie and not Disney or worse. I guess it reminded me of Lmp' s thread "It feels different near the Shire." I liked the faerie in it.

Getting pretty casual in my old age. Hear the owls? Have a glass....

And I guess I'm getting pretty suspicious of anything from TORN in my old age. Yours sounds kinder and more generous. :) Tolkien disliked Shakespeare's fairies and had a kind of grudge against Celtic/Arthurian legends, so that's what made me suspicious. But you are right that it is preferable to take a cue from them rather than from Disney.

By the way, I really enjoy Smith of Wootton Major. It think I like it's fairie more than the aspects of it in LotR.

Tea?

[mark12_30]

By the way, I really enjoy Smith of Wootton Major. It think I like it's fairie more than the aspects of it in LotR.

A huge favorite. Makes me want to find the queen and go dancing in the woods. (Maybe I want to BE the queen and lead the dancing in the woods.) I miss being agile. I daydream about getting back into ballet but so far it's just a dream (partly because my tendons still warn me about Highland dancing...)
I love the elvish dances in Tolkien's work, but the dancing in Smith is more magical still.
Watching ballet or even highland on youtube doesn't do that for me. I want the air to be fresh and new, and I want magic. Maybe that's heaven calling.

Tea?
Please! Ah, that's good. Very good.

[mark12_30]

A funny thing happened to me on my way to a e-trilogy.

So I went to Amazon, because even though I have boxfulls of trilogies, and three or four single-volumes, I carry a Kindle on travel, and wanted an e-copy. I shopped a bit, and found the trilogy for ten bucks. Glee! Even better, it was the 50th anniversary edition. I bought it.

Then I wondered, what about the pricey Rob Inglis audio book I've been wanting for a decade now? It's endlessly checked out at the library, and it's not cheap otherwise, but I hear the chap is really, really good. A downloadable version would be really, really nice. So I looked that up on Amazon.

Wow. About $33 bucks per-- so for the trilogy, nearly a hundred bucks. Zowie.

But then I noticed, according to the leading reviews, it's also available as the Kindle read-along to the audio feature. I forget what they call it, but you buy the text, and then for a few more bucks, you can get a good, professionally read matching audio (not Microsoft Bob) that you can listen to and simultaneously read-along, and the price for that is usually about four bucks. And in this case, for a standard three-book trilogy, for the kindle, the text is just under eight bucks and the read along is just under four bucks. So that's under twelve for the text and the audio-- Times three for the trilogy, $36 -- and you have both the text, and (according to Amazon) the Rob Inglis audio.

For real? That's what it looks like to me. Alas, I had already spent my ten bucks, and I want to keep the 50th anniversary edition-- which, with the subtle changes, doesn't have an audio to go with it yet. And the $36 (over the ten) isn't in my budget this week.

But if anyone else has been hoping for Rob Inglis, $36 doesn't seem like a bad price at all, at all. I may yet do it in a paycheck or two. And I thought I'd pass it on.

Meanwhile, I am in chapter five, just entering The Old Forest. I am very much looking forward to Tom Bombadil.

Cheers! And once again, Happy Birthday, Professor.

[mark12_30]

Since the previous post, i have purchased the Inglis audio for FOTR , TTT, ROTK, and TH. Inglis is amazing, and especially wonderful on long drives. But I really wish he had published an audio book of the Sil!

[Mithalwen]

I have a 4 CD set - the Tolkien Audio collection IIRC (not being lazy most of my possessions are in storage), which has fairly lengthy excerpts from the Silmarillion read by Christopher. Not quite like having the whole thing of course but worth a listen if you get the chance.

[mark12_30]

Are they coherent sections, similar to short stories? Depending on the sections that might be awesome....

[Mithalwen]

The first two CDs re JRRT reading short excerpts from LOTR and the Adventure of Tom Bombadil poems, the third and fourth, Christopher reading the tale of Beren and Luthien and Of the darkening of Valinor and the Flight of the Noldor in their entirety.

I have to say that for a serious Tolkien enthusiast there is a special pleasure in hearing the writer and editor reading.
It isn't a fortune ...annoyingly the same in dollars as sterling 18.85 and in the states issued as JRR Tolkien Audio Collection but clearly the same, Not a inconsequential amount either but if you are due a treat..or a present then I am sure you would appreciate them.

[Snowdog]

Mae govannen!
I read through Lord of the Rings again for some countless time, and thought I'd make the rounds to the old forums. Reading closely the last chapters in Book V and the 1st couple in Book VI, I really hate those PJ fanfic movies all the more. They so miss the point. Anyway, it was good to get re-grounded with what is the tale as written by Tolkien and what is made-up fanfic. :cool:

How is everyone?