Parts We Skip and Why

[Sharpis Corbis]

First of all I read slow. I first read the Fellowship when I was twelve, as well as The Two Towers. I thought the second part of it was incredibly boring, Frodo, Sam, and Smeagol wandering around. It took me a few months to finish. I was more intrested in the other parts because of fighting and battles. But now I've come to appreciate that part more.

[tar-ancalime]

How interesting that so many people find the second half of The Two Towers to be boring (especially Sharpis Corbis, who prefers "fighting and battles")!

I have much the opposite reaction: I find the fighting to be really, really boring. This is not confined to Tolkien, by the way. In any book or movie with lots of battling, I always find myself wishing I could skip to the end. Just tell me who wins and let's get on with the story, already! I don't feel any need to count dead orcs or to envision swashbuckling action.

I have always enjoyed the Frodo and Sam parts of The Two Towers, as well as the Bombadil chapters. But as soon as swords are drawn, I find myself skipping ahead or wanting to.

[Thinlómien]

I've never skipped anything, but I've read the fourth book quite hmm.. uncarefully... I used to think it was a bit boring, but it really isn't.

[Firefoot]

Originally, I too was very surprised at how many people find the Frodo/Sam storyline boring. I still am, but I think I can begin to understand why. The first and second halves of TTT are very different, in tone, amount and type of action, and even in the types of characters. Also, the first half is more about events and the many characters in them, while the second half is more about the characters and their journey. I can see where some people might think that the Frodo and Sam part is a bit low on action. But boring? I suppose it's just a matter of taste - I'm glad that many people who orginally found the Frodo and Sam parts to be boring have come to appreciate them more.

So the predominant reason for skipping seems to be because the events are 'boring'. How about because characters are boring? For me, this would be Treebeard and the oh so slow Ents - I routinely skip that chapter. Also, like Mithalwen, I have no tolerance for Tom Bombadil - I tend to skip his chapters, too, no matter how hard I try to keep reading through them.

Sharpis Corbis brings up a good point about people who read slow - my brother is like that as well. My brother commented that in the slower-paced second half, he had a harder time remembering what was going on. For slower readers, it would probably make the book much more interesting if something was constantly going on, whether it be battles or otherwise.

[Eomer of the Rohirrim]

My examples are not really the same as yours. I think I should be punished far less severely than those who skip chapters in The Lord of the Rings. (Bad - all of you!)

However...

...there are Unfinished Tales that I never go back to. I read them all in the order they come in the collection, and since then I have gone back to many of them for some delightful evenings of reading. However, it's probably more likely that I will play dominoes with Top Cat on Jupiter than ever reading the history of Galadriel and Celeborn again. Tedious (G & C that is, not Top Cat - he's amazing!)

But I treasure every word in The Lord of the Rings.

[Estelyn Telcontar]

Like tar-ancalime, I did not enjoy the battle scenes and skimmed (though I never skipped) them when I first read the book. Later on I did read them more closely to comprehend the details of what happened, but I still tend to enjoy the conversations and descriptions more than fighting scenes.

[Boromir88]

When I first read, I didn't skip anything, but now that I've read them more I find myself skipping around some chapters. Mostly it would be the beginning of FOTR, with the party, and Bombadil, that I simply skip into Bree and go on. Bombadil is not one I'm greatly interested in, and I don't find him to be important to the story, however he is important to the hobbits.

A chapter a lot of people skip, and I simply just don't understand why, is the Council of Elrond. This chapter is filled with stories from Dale and Erebor, to Mirkwood, Gandalf's deals with Saruman, then with the all important Ring. It's filled with histories and tales, I just cannot see why people skip this chapter. Some say there's a lack of action. I find this chapter to be filled with action, and important details, not that fighting type of action, but a lot of interesting dialogue action. I don't really skip anything from TTT or ROTK, maybe the Passages of the Dead from time to time.

[Parmawen]

Originally Posted by Boromir88

A chapter a lot of people skip, and I simply just don't understand why, is the Council of Elrond.

I being the typical teenage-girl I am skipped over that part...except when Legolas was speaking of course

But whenever I reread the books, it's usually the parts with a lot of action I can't stand. For instance, the end of the book. Just like in the Hobbit, I can't reread the final battle. I think it's because after the intensity of reading it a first time, I felt really tired (I think I got a little to involved in the book)...and I don't want to lose that feeling of awe once the book is done.

[narfforc]

Being the runt of the last litter of my Orkish sire, I skip all the poetry, lots of Elvish rubbish bah.

Sorry I would like to apologise for the last outburst, this was from the half of me that is Orkish, I in fact love all the beauty and splendour of the Tolkien verse.

Bah! and bah again.

I think I must have skipped the bit where Old Whitchy-poo breaks that Wizards staff.

[Feanor of the Peredhil]

As I alluded in my last post, it is not necessarily that I think certain parts are permanently boring, but more that at this point of my life... they just don't do it for me.

It is like the way that as you grow and experience new things, favorite characters change. The same thing, for me, happens with passages. If I am going through a particularly rough time in RL, I make it a point to avoid passages that I know will make me cry. If I feel the need to wallow in self-pity, I pointedly ignore Tom Bombadil.

I am a 17-year-old. I am [not particularly] fighting a bad case of senioritus, and right now, I'm making it a point for life to be a blast. Anything that brings me down, or sinks me back into a depression that I've finally pulled out of, is highly unwelcome in my life. Seeing Frodo falling into such despair and needing Sam to help him out of it... it makes me remember feeling helpless, and I don't like the feeling. So I avoid it, skipping the downfall and celebrating when Frodo is saved. I read specific passages that make me smile, or cry happy tears. I admit it... I have to try really hard to hold back tears when Eomer finds Eowyn at the Pelennor.

What the point is that I am trying, but perhaps not succeeding, to make, is that what we enjoy seems to be in direct relation to experiences we have had and things that we are currently dealing with.
I may, of course, be dead wrong, and feel free to berate me something fierce (preferably out of sight of the public) if I am, but from what I've observed... Fea trails off in order to allow you all to draw your own conclusions.