Lord of the Rings boring books

[Galadriel55]

Well, to brighten up the discussion with what I think is a fair point on the "LOTR books are boring" score, I met a person once who thought so after genuinely attempting to actually read the books. When I asked him why he didn't like the books, he said that he really enjoyed The Hobbit (book), and was looking forward to LOTR. But FOTR turned out to be a big disappointment - as he told me, it's just The Hobbit repeated, except a lot more dragged out. After that he just lost the interest in the series. And I think it is a fair point - there is a lot of similarity in the structure of the stories, even though the themes are quite different. Not an issue for those who read LOTR first, or who aren't as attached to TH, but you can't blame that guy for finding FOTR redundant.

[Zigûr]

Originally Posted by Galadriel55

Not an issue for those who read LOTR first, or who aren't as attached to TH, but you can't blame that guy for finding FOTR redundant.

Hmm. I read The Hobbit first and am very attached to it, but I must say personally I didn't find Books I and II of The Lord of the Rings redundant. It's an interesting point of view, just one I can't say I experienced myself. Personally when I first read The Lord of the Rings (at age 10) I found Book IV to be the most dry part.

I suppose I just think for some readers Professor Tolkien's style isn't much like what they're used to from fiction. I wonder if that's why children have been known to like The Lord of the Rings even though it's not much of a children's story – they might sometimes be a bit less set in their ways when it comes to reading.