Markreads.net: The Lord of the Rings

[Formendacil]

Originally Posted by Galadriel55

You Downers are slowly cultivating me... I think I'm past Stone Age already! I think I'm leveling up to civilization...


Back on topic, Mark has the chapter titles posted up to ROTK Book 2 Chap. 6, but only has links until chap. 3. Did he not read/not have time to type up the rest of them? (I'd assume the latter's the case)

Click on the titles of the posts--he doesn't always include a blue "read more" link at the bottom.



...yes, I have gone on a Markreads. binge.

[Eönwë]

This is absolutely brilliant. I've just read a ridiculous number of them (i.e. the whole hobbit and about half LOTR). It's interesting to see how someone sees it the first time, especially when their ideas are fully-formed in general (as an adult, I mean). I also approve of his attitude towards Tom Bombadil, which was mine when I first read it, and still is. I am also pretty impressed at the whole uncloaking thing too. He definitely has the makings of a Barrow-Downer!

[Legate of Amon Lanc]

Originally Posted by Eönwë

This is absolutely brilliant. I've just read a ridiculous number of them (i.e. the whole hobbit and about half LOTR). It's interesting to see how someone sees it the first time, especially when their ideas are fully-formed in general (as an adult, I mean). I also approve of his attitude towards Tom Bombadil, which was mine when I first read it, and still is. I am also pretty impressed at the whole uncloaking thing too. He definitely has the makings of a Barrow-Downer!

Now that you brought it up, I also had to read what he thinks about Bombadil and haha, he is just brilliant! Totally freaked out, puzzled and all

I really loved this line:

Originally Posted by mark (obviously, soon to be Downer-name ;))

I’m sorry, I know that it’s nice and kind and I won’t ignore that, but if I showed up at a stranger’s house, and he had four bathtubs perfectly set up for me and my three friends, I would leave immediately.

Great. But very true!

And it's fun as the description and conclusion gradually develops to "no! And he did this! And he did that!" - I started to anticipate that at certain point, the next line would be: "THERE IS NO OTHER WAY! TOM IS A WOLF!!! ++BOMBADIL!!!"

And I also like observations like this:

Originally Posted by mark again

Frodo vision of the dark tower with a man on top of it reminds me of the one he had earlier, so I’m going to assume it’s important to the story.

Makes you want to wink knowingly at your friends while Mark just stands there, confused...

What I really loved, though - and that is in line with what I have said in one of the posts above about "reviving the reading for us" - was the description of how Mark felt about the end of the sixth chapter. Somehow I really started thinking about it again as if I had just read it for the first time. Sort of reminded me of the beauty of the story and, heck, now I want to reread LotR... as if I didn't have many different things I want to read on schedule already...

[Marileangorifurnimaluim]

Originally Posted by Legate of Amon Lanc

Now that you brought it up, I also had to read what he thinks about Bombadil and haha, he is just brilliant! Totally freaked out, puzzled and all

What I really loved, though - and that is in line with what I have said in one of the posts above about "reviving the reading for us" - was the description of how Mark felt about the end of the sixth chapter. Somehow I really started thinking about it again as if I had just read it for the first time.

Yes, exactly, Legate. I worried when he got to Bombadil--because I love Bombadil in all his unexplainable glory, though not everyone does. But lo, it was wonderful. (I should have known from mark's delight at Tolkien switching to the point of view of a passing fox that mark would embrace the Bombadilness.)

Wait to get to where Frodo climbs Orodruin. Mark had assumed that the climax of the story would be near the end of the book. Surprise! And as of today, mark said: "I don't want it to end."

Me neither, mark, me neither.

[Bom Tombadillo]

Originally Posted by Legate of Amon Lanc

Makes you want to wink knowingly at your friends while Mark just stands there, confused...

. . . We clearly have different personalities. I want to jump up and down and scream out the answer to every little question and explain in great detail the entire plot.

Also, his response to the plot twist in chapter 5 (as far as I've gotten right now) is so adorable.

[Marileangorifurnimaluim]

Originally Posted by Formendacil

...yes, I have gone on a Markreads. binge.

Oh, me too.

I wish he'd done chapter by chapter reviews of Martin's Song of Ice and Fire series, because by the second or third book the violence women against got to me. Yet I still want to know how it turns out for the characters. Alas, he did "whole book" reviews, which left me more confused than before.