HP vs. LotR round 3

[fitzchivalryhk]

--- In HPFGU-Movie at y..., "saintbacchus" <saintbacchus at y...> wrote:
> 
> I suppose it's about time for me to add my blood to
> the battlefield. I saw both HP and LotR without having
> read the books. The reason I never read LotR is that I
> found it overbearingly dull (although I loved The
> Hobbit). I had simply not bothered to read HP, figuring
> if the movie was interesting, I could read the books.
> 
> LotR was a fantastic movie, but I'm still afraid of the
> reams of text that await me should I try to crack the
> books again. HP was a mediocre movie (and I hate it for
> that), but it did inspire me to read the books, which I
> now love.
> 
> I will say that, despite the poor directing job by
> Columbus, the acting was spectacular in HP. Well, that
> and the casting was inspired. Anyway, the acting redeems
> the cartoony feel and choppy editing to the point where
> I'll be in line for the DVD on May 28th. I can't wait to
> see the deleted scenes! *bounces*
> 
> --Anna

Hello, I'm a newbie to the group, and it surely takes time for me to 
discover the world of HP (and this group). I read LotR before I watch 
the movie, and to me, the LotR movie was a bit of a disappointment. I 
find there are too many things lost from the book. Perhaps, my 
expectation was too high and I demanded too much from it :(

As for whether LotR is hard to tackle, I think it depends on your 
taste. English is my second language, and I don't live in a country 
where most people speaks English in daily life, yet I read LotR when 
I was 15, and found it very interesting. Whereas my father, who I am 
sure had a better grasp of English than me when I was 15, found it 
hard to tackle. It was not because of the language style, but that it 
was such a heavy read, because of the realities of the danger and the 
burden the fellowship faced. He found that it did not serve the 
purpose to allow him to escape from reality.

I read the HP books after I watched the movie. Although I find the 
second half of the movie boring (too much of the cliche Indiana Jones 
type of treasure seeking for me), I find the first half of the movie 
fascinating. HP books are great entertainment for me. I become more 
addicted to them as I read more. However, I did not have the same 
uplifting experience as I had when I first read LotR. 

Does it mean LotR is better than HP, or HP is better than LotR? There 
is no definite answer. It depends on what you define as "good", some 
put entertainment values on top, some put others. Hmmm.. and judging 
from that the other best-seller of all times, the Bible, I do not 
think "knowledge" or "entertainment values" are all the things people 
are after when reading a book.

Fitz