Should I read the books before I see the movies?
 

Ok, after I saw the movie, I immadiatly dove into the books, but I lost intrest in the Fellowship, and went straight into the trials of Sam and Frodo. Do you think that was a bad idea? Cause now I'm lost! I read the end of the ROTK again, and I am totally clueless! Should I wait for the movie and be surprized, or should I bite the bullet and read it? I must confess, the only character I enjoy reading about, is Frodo. So, call me pathetic, cause I am! And doesn't he look sweet in this pic???
http://www.mckellen.com/images/lotr/frodo_and_sam.jpg
But, seriously, what do you guys say to my question???

[ July 22, 2002: Message edited by: The Barrow-Wight ]

Of course you should read the books! The movie, while amazing, is nothing compared to them. And you're going to continue to be very lost until you read FotR and TTT.

READ IT! I´d die if I didn´t know whats happening in between the szenes with Sam and Frodo. Don´t you like the other characters at all???

theres alot of stuff in the movies that will b more understandable if uve read the books... even tho the movie was great the books to me were more interesting.... have a go at reading them but 4 sum ppl the books just dont seem as interesting... its different 4 everyone.... have fun [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]

Don't read them. Then you'll actually be surprised by anything that happens in the films. And since the books will inevitably be better, you are going from good to great.

I think, if you read them first, you'll be able to understand the movie better. If you see the movie first, it'll open up a new dimension to the book. But the most important thing. DON'T SKIP ANYTHING

I agree with Aldagrim with the don't skip anything part. When I read LotR I would occasionally skip bits, when I was tired [img]smilies/rolleyes.gif[/img], but I'd always go back and read them because otherwise you don't know where you are or who some people are e.t.c. Put it this way, if it wasn't important to the story Tolkien wouldn't have written it down!!! Enjoy!!!

Oh and yes Frodo (Elijah) does look sweet in that picture!!! [img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img]

If you see the movies first, then you won't know what to expect, which would fun. But if you read the books first, #1 the movies will make more sense #2 you'll have a mental picture of some of the new characters, which you won't get after seeing the movie, because then you'll picture the Actors as the characters.
And that is a great picture of Frodo, one of the few I've seen of him smiling.
~M

I would say that you should read the book first, that way you will be surprised by the book. The movie will make more sence if you read the books first. I know how you feel though, I wanted to skip to the part about Frodo and Sam too, but don't. Now I like both parts.

You are right though, he does look sweet in that pick! I don't blame you for just wanting to read about him. Maybe think of it this way, to understand him better, you have to understand his friends. To do that you have to READ the BOOK!

Good luck!

Well, ok, I'll try em. but, if I'm totally dissapointed, I'm holding you all responsable! Lol...

The only problem with Kettle of Fish's idea is that the movie isn't necessarily true to the books. You might come out of the movie expecting certain things to happen which won't. Also if you didn't read the books you'd never hear of Tom Bombadil, the Barrowdowns...

Well, I read all of The FOTR, but when I got into the others I got bored with Aragorn and Mery and Pippin, and so on and so forth, so I went and read Sam and Frodo instead.
Oh, and one question...who changed the title of my post? It wasn't "Should I read the books before I see the movies?" It was "How many of you like..." Oh well, I will nevr be caught up with all the anomalies of this site...lol

[ July 22, 2002: Message edited by: Anorien ]

As someone has said before (I don't remember who it was anymore), the movies are just fan-fiction. If you want the real thing, you have to read the books.

I can't believe that you got bored! Maybe you just aren't ready for them yet. Don't rush it. If you aren't enjoying it, go on to something else until you feel ready to delve into it. LotR demands your undivided attention. If you aren't willing or able to give it, don't read it until you are or you'll just be cheating yourself out of enjoying an exceptionally great trilogy. Once I got into them, I read them as slowly as possible so that they would last longer! [img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img]

The book is always better than the movie--no matter what book it is. LotR is no exception. The books cover much more than the movie and are well worth reading first.

Well, to tell the truth, after I saw the movie, I really wanted to see what happened to Frodo and Sam, not to the others, so I couldn't satisfy myself with the fellowship, until I knew what happened to Frodo. Yes, i am pathetic, and I know that. I'm ready for the books, been reading them for years, just not all the parts of LOTR. Considering that Frodo is my favorite character, you can see where I got that from...

Err...umm...are you sure that you like LotR or is it just Frodo that you like? Anyways, to answer your question. Yes you should definetly read the books, but only if you're going to read them all the way through. [img]smilies/wink.gif[/img]

Read the books and dont skip anything, I saw FOTR and then i decided to read FOTR but I got bored and went to TTT but I got too confused and had to go back and read FOTR. They dont do everything in the movies so I had to keep asking my friend questions. Yes Frodo does look sweet.

Sure i luv LOTR!!!!! They are the best books ever written, and Frodo is the best character ever written.

You should read the books first cause you understand the movies better. For me I hate seeing the movie and then reading the books because i allready know what happens in the end. and i dont want to take the time reading when the movie allready told me the book. So when Lotr came out I forced myself not to see the movie until I finished the book, even if i never did. Well luckily I finished the book just before the last showing of fotr at the theaters. [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]

p.s that is a really great pic of frodo and sam!!!!! [img]smilies/tongue.gif[/img] [img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img] [img]smilies/cool.gif[/img]

As I said before, you should definitely read them! I know Frodo is your favourite character and all but all the really good battle scenes don't involve him! You have to read the battle bits or you miss like half the point of the books!!! [img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img]

I suggest you read the books first. The movie doesn't include all that is in the book, and so you might get confused.

yeah I agree with most of the people on here, read the books first. Becuase I was like you, and I saw the movie first, and I had no idea what was going on, I didn't even know what a hobbit was!! but once I started reading the books it was all explained to me and there were a bunch of good characters that they didn't include in the movie.

Anorien the BW must have edited your first post.

It's cool that you like the Frodo bits but in my honest opinion I prefer all the bits with the rest of the fellowship. Either way if you don't read it all you'll end up hopelessly confused and it just won't hold the same depth and magic that it normally would.