Oh, and I'm reading The Golden Compass again. I love this trilogy so much no matter how many times I read it.
Ah, now I understand that here is a treat lying in store for me. Actually, I have heard such wonderful feedback on these books (oddly, I've read some of Philip Pullman's later works, the delightful Sally Lockhart series), and treated myself some years to a hardback copy of the trilogy, but have never got around to reading them. Well, Christmas beckons, and so therefore, does the trilogy....
Like so many others here, I'm rereading The Hobbit.
That's understandable because they're both very different books. One is essentially a children's story: a fast-paced fantasy adventure. The other is, like you say, an epic: a much heavier piece of work focusing on bringing Middle Earth to life. In more contemporary work it's a bit like comparing Harry Potter to Game of Thrones, except for the overlapping characters and lore.
I totally agree that some parts of LotR are overly indulgent and there can be pages upon pages before anything actually happens. I think G.R.R Martin manages to build a fantasy world nearly as vivid, but with more colourful characters and a more gripping pace. Though saying that, I think LotR is an 'experience', if you get me? By the time you get to the end, you
feel the sense of achievement... possibly
because of parts you had to struggle through? I don't know if I'm articulating that well enough.
FWIW I think Frodo in the book is nowhere near as annoying as in the films. When I watch the films I find myself skipping the Frodo/Sam scenes.
Very good post, and I'm broadly in agreement with you.
Apart from Frodo (and Samwise), I don't like his portrayal of women (exceedingly clichéd and so, so limited), and Sauron also lacks depth. Now, some parts of the epic tale are simply wonderful (the entire section in the Mines of Moria - superb, and real page-turning stuff; everything to do with the Ents, anywhere Gandalf appears, the other two Hobbits, Merry & Pippin, Galadriel, - especially Galadriel and the Dwarf, - (his name escapes me) - that was nicely written, Saruman, Wormtongue - the progenitor of the stock character of the Evil Counsellor, and so on.)
I do 'get you' re the 'experience' of completing this epic tome, and the sense of achievement at so doing. For what it is worth, I've managed to read it all cover to cover three times, and I very much I'll re-visit the entire work again; the last time I read them I was in bed for a week, and promised myself 'that's it; we don't need to go here again'.
Re G R R Martin, excellent stuff, well written and well worth a closer re-visit. I galloped through most of it earlier this year, and must allow myself a slower re-read to savour it. Again, Christmas, a time of long walks well wrapped up, warm fires, port, and plenty of books to read.....
Because some may don't know about it (like myself
) and there's some bilbomania in this thread going on: the annotated version comes with a multitude of additional infos, more like an encyclopaedia (still
, that's probably more than obvious, I still didn't expected it).
Sad thing is, that annoys me pretty much, since the 'real' text is embedded in these overhelming sidebars and injections...almost unreadable to me
While I wouldn't describe myself as subscribing to 'bilbomania', I much preferred him as a character to Frodo; he had more class, style, panache, wit, and sheer élan to him, and was - to my mind - a more attractive hero; Frodo was more of a sort of crucified Christ, and above all, lacked humour.
