I’ve started reading LOTR again. I just finished “Fellowship” and have just started on “Towers”. I found the first time around tough going ( I never cared much for fantasy of any kind), but I watched the films with my wife (she’s a huge fan) for the third time, and I’m starting to get into the rhythm of the prose and the landscapes and cinematography of the movies help me visualize the action.

Ar any rate, I’m getting into the story again, and am grudgingly coming to appreciate it as a work of literature. The language is almost Shakespearean, and the detail of the world Tolkein has created is marvelously intricate. There are still some difficulties for me–I still find the fantasy elements difficult to wrap my head around, and I wonder if it could not have just been written as a medieval romance or even given a science fiction treatment (as in Silverberg’s Majipoor Chronicles). But the cinematography of the films was so spectacular that it keeps bringing me back, and the art direction, acting and direction are absolutely superb. Normally I don’t feel that way about movie and book, but Jackson’s interpretation is so vivid and his vision so clear it has won me over.

There are some places where the book seems to drag, or lose cohesion (why even bother with Tom Bombadil, what dramatic or narrative purpose does he serve?, and the walking, talking trees are difficult to process). Its almost as if Tolkein had trouble getting into the groove of his own tale, and he needed some time to settle down.But the films have tightened up the action and made the pace more cohesive. It works as a film, perhaps even better than the book, although the book is a universe all its own, one you can get lost in. It isn’t always the case where you must immerse yourself in both to really appreciate the work. The only other example I can think of is the Huston/Bradbury/Peck Moby Dick. It does not “follow” Melville precisely either, but it catches its spirit perfectly. You really must see the film to fully appreciate the novel, but the film could never have existed without the book to chart the voyage first. Other film versions of the White Whale simply did not work, even with better SFX and competent actors. John Huston and his collaborators got it right.

The Hobbit films have been a disappointment to me. The original material was a bit thin to begin with, and the film is making an effort to exploit more than interpret the source material. Still, they are a visual treat, and worth watching on that level.

I’ll be back with a final report after I’ve finished the Trilogy. Hopefully, by that time, the last Hobbit film will be released.