Use the delete button:) - I probably should

Stan Gorodenski stanlep at extremezone.com
Mon Jan 7 23:18:19 EST 2002


The cursed right carrot is rearing its head again.  I will resend again.

> 
> Actually, if we're going to label ourselves, can't we be Hobbits?  Trolls,
> Wargs, Orcs - a bit distasteful, the whole lot of them.  As far as Anne's
> advice to see the film - well, my son and I are on a quest to reread the
> books before we head for the theatre.  I'm presently somewhere in the hills
> of Rohan, having left the Great River in pursuit of enemies and the friends
> they've captured.

It's interesting how things come into fashion.  I read the Hobbit and 
Lord of the Rings 30 years ago and only now is it becoming popular
(probably because of the special effects in the movie).  As for seeing
the movie, I would not recommend it.  Why have someone else form images
of what the characters, mountains, forests, etc. are supposed to be
like?
Why not let your own imagination do it for you by reading these books?
I think a nature lover would fall in love with these books, and it is 
the extensive 'nature' part of the books (mountains, forests, flowers,
lakes, etc, and the cool crisp star lit  evenings) that I do not think
a movie could convey as well as the books.

I have not seen the movie but saw some previews of how it was made.
It is claimed to follow the books well, but from what I have seen,
it does deviate from Tolkien.  For one, the 'hobbits', as far as I 
could determine, are too tall, and there was one deviation that was
undoubtedly done to make the movie more exciting and to keep the 
audience on "edge".  This was where Frodo jumps onto a raft (or ferry)
crossing the Brandywine to get to Hobbiton.  A Ring Wraith is hot on his
heels and Frodo just barely manages to escape by jumping on the raft.
This is not at all what is in the book "The Fellowship of the Ring", 
the first in the series.  If there was this deviation in such a small
segment of  the movie, I have to wonder how many more there are.

Stan

 
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