Lord of the Rings

[yozora_no_onna]

> Advice I have heard, and think is not bad, is to skip the Prologue, 
> and even to start as late as the beginning of Book 2 (meaning, 
> the chapter Many Meetings). Later on, once you are quite into it, 
> you can go back and reread the parts you skipped.  
> 


Also, I think that reading the Hobbit first would give a "taste" of 
LOTR, but in a more easily digestable size/length.

I finished the Hobbit first, and then was very eager to read LOTR, 
but found that one much harder to get into too. Frankly, I'm amazed 
at the amazing detail of the world that Tolkien constructed. 
It took me 2 years to finish LOTR (all 3 books) although I put it 
down for quite a while. It needs a lot of concentration to read LOTR, 
whereas Harry Potter is "lighter" fare - I can read HP as a break 
from studying, whereas you _have_ to study LOTR. 
I'm reading the "Silmarillion" right now, I think it explains a lot 
about the legends and myths of Middle Earth. I would only recommend 
the book to huge LOTR fans, because it's very detailed, but then 
again, it helps give a feel for LOTR.. so.. =)
The edition that I own (Houghton Mifflin 2nd edition) also contains 
interesting background information about Tolkien, and his letter to 
Milton Waldman, explaining why he created Middle Earth. 

Movie misc. info: Christopher Lee, who plays Gandalf, actually met 
Tolkien in a pub a long time ago (He also heard Hitler give a speech, 
and he met Marilyn Monroe too). .. It was from the interview with 
Elijah Wood , December's issue of the Face magazine (There are 2 
covers; one is HP, one is LOTR) 



   > Good luck with your efforts and I hope you end up persevering 
> Sofie.
> 

Good luck! It's definitely worth the (immense) effort. 



~miyabi 
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