So what kind of fan were you? - The Barrow-Downs Discussion Forum

Milady Revenwyn · 02-16-2005, 02:38 AM

First-born here. My mom had read LOtR when she was around my age currently but has since forgotten everything about it. Thus, I discovered them by myself without the aid of any movie/cartoon version. I became a hardcore LOtR addict, having read the books 76 times since my first reading in 1998.
I have also read Silm, Unfinished Tales, HoME series.

Thinlómien · 02-16-2005, 12:26 PM

I don't really understand this classification, can someone help me?
What am I? To which class do I belong?:
- I was born after The Sil was published
- My father read me aloud the Hobbit, LotR, The Sil and The UT, beginnig from when I was 6 years old
- I saw the Ralph Bakshi's animation when I was small, but I don't remember was it before or after my first touch with the book
- When I was 8 years old I read LotR by myself and fell in love with it. Since that I've been a fan.
- since then I've read the books mentioned before many times by myself
- the movies had no influence on me

Sophia the Thunder Mistress · 02-16-2005, 02:27 PM

Goodness, so many young readers 'round here. I thought I was pretty young to read LOTR at about 12.

This is a clever thread, Snowdog.

I would have to say I'm something of an equal mix of Eldar by Bakshi Recruit (although really more aptly Rankin-Bass Recruit) and First-Born. My mother an Old-School Book fan (of the 70s variety) often read aloud to us during the winters when I was a kid. When I was about 8 years old she bought us the Hobbit book and the Rankin-Bass movie for Christmas and we read it aloud together and then watched the movie afterward. It was magic. Here I am.

I got the Bakshi LOTR and R-B ROTK as soon as I could, and though I always could see what was obviously wrong with them, I still enjoy them nostalgically--and frequently. And I am a firm believer that if a live-action Hobbit movie is made, I won't like it better. *Stubborn* The R-B version is whimsical.

Sophia

Lathriel · 02-22-2005, 12:05 AM

Well, since I was born in the late 80's I read the hobbit in the nineties at about 8 or 9.
I read LOTR when I was about 12 I believe or maybe I was eleven. Then I forgot about them for a while. (Partly because I was mad at Tolkien for making Frodo leave ME) Then I read it again and enjoyed it. (This time in english) Then a few years later I heard about the movies and I read the book again. Initially my family didn't like FOTR very much. I however felt this need to see the movie again. So when we saw TTT and my family approved my obsession suddenly exploded! And at aound that time I joined the Barrow Downs, got the FOTR EE and it goes on form there.

Enorëiel · 02-22-2005, 09:15 PM

Quote:

You read the books in two weeks? Wow! I suggest you read them again for surely you will find stuff you missed the first time through, or may see things differently. I have yet to tire of reading them!

Okay... I exagerated just a wee bit. I read FOTR and TTT before I saw the next film (TTT)

And not to worry I have reread them since. I am currently in ROTK my third time through

wilwarin538 · 02-25-2005, 03:20 PM

I am a Movie Recruit on my way to being a Edain New-School Book Fan. I saw FotR read all three books in about 3-4 weeks(I was completely addicted) then I read the Hobbit probably about a week after seing TTT. I'm about half way through the Sil. Too much homework not enough time to read.

ninlaith · 02-25-2005, 04:11 PM

I think I'm a mixture of the first and second. I'm not too picky but picky enough. I'm that one that would sit with you watching the movies and be like "Oh why did they leave that out!!!" "why did they add that!!" "What's going on!!" "Why would they do that!!"...something to that extent. I read the books a long time before i saw the movies. Maybe that wasn't such a good idea.

02-28-2005, 12:39 PM

Well, I was a fan long before the film are coming.
I read the books in the 80 and from these moment on, I saw middle-earht all around me und feel a little Hobbit in my soul

But also I love the films, twoo. Most everything is like in my fantasy, exspecialy the places...

TheGreatElvenWarrior · 08-04-2007, 01:37 PM

I suppose I am a PJ recruit. I suppose people will look down on me now.

But that was probably because the movies did not come out until I was five since I am 13 now...and I only just read the books two months ago. I read them in five days and have sorta re read them.

sallkid · 08-05-2007, 12:33 PM

I'd like to say I'm pre-Sil by Proxy, as i was introduced to the LOTR by my father who would have read it pre-Sil and took no interest in the Sil (I likewise took no interest in the Sil until long after i'd read the Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings, and my copy of the Lord Of The Rings is a pre-Sil edition.

But as age goes I'm post Sil, despite to this day not having read it.

Lindale · 11-22-2007, 01:19 PM

A literal pre-book. I saw an article comparing the movie versions of HP1 and FotR sometime during my tenth or eleventh year. And then, I pestered my parents to buy me the book. The Christmas that followed, FotR was playing. I read Silm three years later, during my high school.

I wasn't even alive when the First-born thingys here were happening!

Galendor · 11-23-2007, 08:15 PM

I'm a first-born or prodigal first-born. Read The Hobbit many times starting at age ten in 1980, then moved on to read LOTR as a teenager. Since then I have re-read them several times. However, I have never read any other works by Tolkien (a serious deficiency in my education, I know).

So, like many here I went to see the movies with preconcieved notions on how characters should look and act, and approached the Jackson movies with great anxiety and trepidation (and hope!) over what Hollywood might do to the story. I loved FOTR, I felt it was very close to Tolkiens books. I was less pleased with the 2nd two movies, where deviations from the books (and silly, pointless dwarf jokes, etc) became more prominent. Like several here, I did not mind omissions of characters and events (since this is necessary to fit within a movie length) but I did not appreciate the insertion of new events, and the previosuly mentioned base humor apparently inserted in attempt to get a cheap laugh (such as: "Nobody tosses a dwarf!" Gimli.

William Cloud Hicklin · 11-23-2007, 09:55 PM

Ah, children!

I can't claim to be a genuine Old-line Bookie (that's reserved to those who read LR in the First Edition)- but I did read it in the (brand-new) paperbacks with the ghastly red-and-blue Barbara Remington covers- and again and again until they fell apart. I wrote to Christopher Tolkien two years before The Silmarillion appeared asking questions about it. I digested all of UT and HME as they came out: all, of course, well before the movies.

So it's fair to say that the movies were not my introduction to Middle-earth....

Azaelia of Willowbottom · 11-27-2007, 09:41 AM

I'm somewhere between a First-born and a pre-movie book fan. Not quite sure where I stand.

I attempted to read LOTR first in late 2000-early 2001, between the ages of 12 and 13. I'd noticed some of my classmates were doing so, and I thought the covers were interesting. I was a big Star Wars geek, and I was looking for an action-packed story. I didn't find it, and halted only a couple pages from the end of FOTR. I did, however, have a sense that there was a larger picture, something I was failing to grasp for whatever reason, and that I should absolutely come back to LOTR.

I then proceeded to mostly forget about it, until seeing the preview for FOTR in early November 2001, almost a year later. By then, I was fast approaching 14. I decided that NOW was the time to go back and attempt LOTR again. Someone expressed surprise over a 2-week read. I spent the majority of Veteran's Day weekend on the couch, reading. It took me 3 days. I was hooked. Over the course of the next few months, I read it 6 times or so, before attempting to limit myself to the traditional single read once a year. I've been here pretty much ever since.

As to the comic, I believe I fit into the sword-waving category the best...hahaha. I was in full hobbit costume for both TTT and ROTK. What can I say? I'm a theater kid. Any excuse to go out in public in costume is a good one, LOTR doubly so.

Sir Kohran · 11-28-2007, 03:07 PM

Definitely a movie recruit. I read the books through 2002 and early 2003. It was a life changing period.

Alonna · 11-28-2007, 06:42 PM

If PJ had never made the movies, I doubt I ever would have picked up the books. I saw the Bakshi cartoon when I was young and thought it was the worst thing I'd ever seen. I refused to even consider reading the books because I assumed they were just like the cartoon. After FOTR came out, one of my friends managed to convince me to give it a chance. The film completely wiped away the memories of Bakshi and got me to read the books.

02-16-2005, 02:27 PM	#3
Sophia the Thunder Mistress Scent of Simbelmynë Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Aboard Highwind, bound for Traverse Town Posts: 1,780	*Where there's a whip crack* there's a way... Goodness, so many young readers 'round here. I thought I was pretty young to read LOTR at about 12. This is a clever thread, Snowdog. I would have to say I'm something of an equal mix of Eldar by Bakshi Recruit (although really more aptly Rankin-Bass Recruit) and First-Born*. My mother an Old-School Book fan (of the 70s variety) often read aloud to us during the winters when I was a kid. When I was about 8 years old she bought us the Hobbit book and the Rankin-Bass movie for Christmas and we read it aloud together and then watched the movie afterward. It was magic. Here I am. I got the Bakshi LOTR and R-B ROTK as soon as I could, and though I always could see what was obviously wrong with them, I still enjoy them nostalgically--and frequently. And I am a firm believer that if a live-action Hobbit movie is made, I won't like it better. Stubborn* The R-B version is whimsical. Sophia __________________ The seasons fall like silver swords, the years rush ever onward; and soon I sail, to leave this world, these lands where I have wander'd. O Elbereth! O Queen who dwells beyond the Western Seas, spare me yet a little time 'ere white ships come for me!

02-22-2005, 12:05 AM	#4
Lathriel Ghost Prince of Cardolan Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Wandering through Middle-Earth (Sadly in Alberta and not ME) Posts: 612	Well, since I was born in the late 80's I read the hobbit in the nineties at about 8 or 9. I read LOTR when I was about 12 I believe or maybe I was eleven. Then I forgot about them for a while. (Partly because I was mad at Tolkien for making Frodo leave ME) Then I read it again and enjoyed it. (This time in english) Then a few years later I heard about the movies and I read the book again. Initially my family didn't like FOTR very much. I however felt this need to see the movie again. So when we saw TTT and my family approved my obsession suddenly exploded! And at aound that time I joined the Barrow Downs, got the FOTR EE and it goes on form there. __________________ Back again

02-25-2005, 03:20 PM	#6
wilwarin538 Fluttering Enchantment Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Canada Posts: 2,508	I am a Movie Recruit on my way to being a Edain New-School Book Fan. I saw FotR read all three books in about 3-4 weeks(I was completely addicted) then I read the Hobbit probably about a week after seing TTT. I'm about half way through the Sil. Too much homework not enough time to read. __________________ Comme une étoile amarante Comme un papillon de nuit C'est la lumière qui m'attire La flamme qui m'éblouit Fenris Muffin

02-25-2005, 04:11 PM	#7
ninlaith Wight Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: in my hobbit hole Posts: 204	I think I'm a mixture of the first and second. I'm not too picky but picky enough. I'm that one that would sit with you watching the movies and be like "Oh why did they leave that out!!!" "why did they add that!!" "What's going on!!" "Why would they do that!!"...something to that extent. I read the books a long time before i saw the movies. Maybe that wasn't such a good idea. __________________ "I don't know half of you half as well as I should like; and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve!"-Bilbo Baggins

08-04-2007, 01:37 PM	#9
TheGreatElvenWarrior Mighty Quill Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Walking off to look for America Posts: 2,230	I suppose I am a PJ recruit. I suppose people will look down on me now. But that was probably because the movies did not come out until I was five since I am 13 now...and I only just read the books two months ago. I read them in five days and have sorta re read them. __________________ The Party Doesn't Start Until You're Dead. Last edited by TheGreatElvenWarrior; 08-04-2007 at 01:43 PM. Reason: adding

02-16-2005, 02:38 AM	#1
Milady Revenwyn Animated Skeleton Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Racine, WI Posts: 29	First-born here. My mom had read LOtR when she was around my age currently but has since forgotten everything about it. Thus, I discovered them by myself without the aid of any movie/cartoon version. I became a hardcore LOtR addict, having read the books 76 times since my first reading in 1998. I have also read Silm, Unfinished Tales, HoME series.

02-16-2005, 12:26 PM	#2
Thinlómien Shady She-Penguin Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: In a far land beyond the Sea Posts: 8,093	I don't really understand this classification, can someone help me? What am I? To which class do I belong?: - I was born after The Sil was published - My father read me aloud the Hobbit, LotR, The Sil and The UT, beginnig from when I was 6 years old - I saw the Ralph Bakshi's animation when I was small, but I don't remember was it before or after my first touch with the book - When I was 8 years old I read LotR by myself and fell in love with it. Since that I've been a fan. - since then I've read the books mentioned before many times by myself - the movies had no influence on me

02-28-2005, 12:39 PM	#8
Shuki Guest Posts: n/a	Well, I was a fan long before the film are coming. I read the books in the 80 and from these moment on, I saw middle-earht all around me und feel a little Hobbit in my soul But also I love the films, twoo. Most everything is like in my fantasy, exspecialy the places...

08-05-2007, 12:33 PM	#10
sallkid Animated Skeleton Join Date: Jun 2007 Posts: 50	I'd like to say I'm pre-Sil by Proxy, as i was introduced to the LOTR by my father who would have read it pre-Sil and took no interest in the Sil (I likewise took no interest in the Sil until long after i'd read the Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings, and my copy of the Lord Of The Rings is a pre-Sil edition. But as age goes I'm post Sil, despite to this day not having read it. __________________ Clap! Snap! the black crack! Grip, grab! Pinch, nab! And down down to Goblin-town You go, my lad!

11-22-2007, 01:19 PM	#11
Lindale Ghost Prince of Cardolan Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: midway upon... in a forest dark Posts: 975	A literal pre-book. I saw an article comparing the movie versions of HP1 and FotR sometime during my tenth or eleventh year. And then, I pestered my parents to buy me the book. The Christmas that followed, FotR was playing. I read Silm three years later, during my high school. I wasn't even alive when the First-born thingys here were happening! __________________ The heart does things for reasons Reason itself cannot comprehend. - Blaise Pascal Legal Madness.

11-23-2007, 08:15 PM	#12
Galendor Haunting Spirit Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Mirkwood, NC Posts: 66	I'm a first-born or prodigal first-born. Read The Hobbit many times starting at age ten in 1980, then moved on to read LOTR as a teenager. Since then I have re-read them several times. However, I have never read any other works by Tolkien (a serious deficiency in my education, I know). So, like many here I went to see the movies with preconcieved notions on how characters should look and act, and approached the Jackson movies with great anxiety and trepidation (and hope!) over what Hollywood might do to the story. I loved FOTR, I felt it was very close to Tolkiens books. I was less pleased with the 2nd two movies, where deviations from the books (and silly, pointless dwarf jokes, etc) became more prominent. Like several here, I did not mind omissions of characters and events (since this is necessary to fit within a movie length) but I did not appreciate the insertion of new events, and the previosuly mentioned base humor apparently inserted in attempt to get a cheap laugh (such as: "Nobody tosses a dwarf!" Gimli. __________________ Time is the mind, the hand that makes (fingers on harpstrings, hero-swords, the acts, the eyes of queens).

11-23-2007, 09:55 PM	#13
William Cloud Hicklin Loremaster of Annúminas Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 2,330	Ah, children! I can't claim to be a genuine Old-line Bookie (that's reserved to those who read LR in the First Edition)- but I did read it in the (brand-new) paperbacks with the ghastly red-and-blue Barbara Remington covers- and again and again until they fell apart. I wrote to Christopher Tolkien two years before The Silmarillion appeared asking questions about it. I digested all of UT and HME as they came out: all, of course, well before the movies. So it's fair to say that the movies were not my introduction to Middle-earth.... __________________ The entire plot of The Lord of the Rings could be said to turn on what Sauron didn’t know, and when he didn’t know it.

11-27-2007, 09:41 AM	#14
Azaelia of Willowbottom Shade of Carn Dûm Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: By the Sea Posts: 446	I'm somewhere between a First-born and a pre-movie book fan. Not quite sure where I stand. I attempted to read LOTR first in late 2000-early 2001, between the ages of 12 and 13. I'd noticed some of my classmates were doing so, and I thought the covers were interesting. I was a big Star Wars geek, and I was looking for an action-packed story. I didn't find it, and halted only a couple pages from the end of FOTR. I did, however, have a sense that there was a larger picture, something I was failing to grasp for whatever reason, and that I should absolutely come back to LOTR. I then proceeded to mostly forget about it, until seeing the preview for FOTR in early November 2001, almost a year later. By then, I was fast approaching 14. I decided that NOW was the time to go back and attempt LOTR again. Someone expressed surprise over a 2-week read. I spent the majority of Veteran's Day weekend on the couch, reading. It took me 3 days. I was hooked. Over the course of the next few months, I read it 6 times or so, before attempting to limit myself to the traditional single read once a year. I've been here pretty much ever since. As to the comic, I believe I fit into the sword-waving category the best...hahaha. I was in full hobbit costume for both TTT and ROTK. What can I say? I'm a theater kid. Any excuse to go out in public in costume is a good one, LOTR doubly so. __________________ "Wherever I have been, I am back."

11-28-2007, 03:07 PM	#15
Sir Kohran Wight Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: England, UK Posts: 178	Definitely a movie recruit. I read the books through 2002 and early 2003. It was a life changing period. __________________ 'Dangerous!' cried Gandalf. 'And so am I, very dangerous: more dangerous than anything you will ever meet, unless you are brought alive before the seat of the Dark Lord.'

11-28-2007, 06:42 PM	#16
Alonna Animated Skeleton Join Date: Oct 2007 Posts: 33	If PJ had never made the movies, I doubt I ever would have picked up the books. I saw the Bakshi cartoon when I was young and thought it was the worst thing I'd ever seen. I refused to even consider reading the books because I assumed they were just like the cartoon. After FOTR came out, one of my friends managed to convince me to give it a chance. The film completely wiped away the memories of Bakshi and got me to read the books.