Hello and welcome to ex libris (“from the library”), my monthly roundup of book discussion and recommendations. This work will be better with your contributions, so please feel free to chime in below if you’d like!
My Controversial Lord of the Rings Opinions
(Note to newcomers: usually here I supply a list of books I’ve been reading this past month. However, I’ve been reading one book this month: JRR Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings. It’s my third time through the whole thing. So instead of a list, here I offer you my opinions on this book, which may or may not lead you to unsubscribe.)
Controversial Opinion Number One: You don’t have to read The Hobbit first.
The inspiration for this essay is a conversation I had with a friend at the beginning of the month. “I’m committed to reading it this year. In what order should I read them?” I told him to start with LOTR.
I went home and told my family my answer, and most of them screamed.
There was wailing. Rending of garments.
(One person agreed with me.)
To be sure, I am a publication-order-only, don’t-be-silly purist about the Chronicles of Narnia. Here’s why I’m not that way about LOTR and The Hobbit:
The Hobbit is a lovely little stand-alone story. It’s an adventure story; it’s a middle-grade novel. It’s lovely! Charming, I say! Read it! Enjoy it with a cup of tea.
The Lord of the Rings is an outstanding accomplishment of literature. According to some, it’s the greatest novel of the twentieth century.
The writing is so completely different between these two books that it’s almost like you’re reading two different authors. The Professor was just getting started with Bilbo’s adventure. He hit his stride with Frodo and Sam.
Yes, I’m aware there’s an order here; there are callbacks and joyous tie-ins, which are a pleasure to encounter when you start with The Hobbit. But it’s not necessary in the same way it is with Narnia. All of the necessary backstory is given to you within the pages of The Lord of the Rings.
Controversial Opinion Number Two: It Might Help if You Watch the Movies First.
(I also say this about Jane Austen1.)
(Please note: I did not say “The movies are as good as the books.”)
It might help if you start with the movies. There are a lot of strange names here, both names of places and names of people. There are various races, cities, and regions. Almost all of them have either too many vowels or too many consonants.
It has always helped me in these cases to have a face with the name. At the very least, when I read about Strider/Aragorn/son of Arathorn/Elendil’s heir, I can see a face (yes, because that’s all one person).
When I read “Rohirrim,” I picture people riding horses. This is extra easy in the movies because you can see the horses.
See how that works in our favor?
I have loosened up in this way as I’ve aged. I used to be a books-first-only-and-ever person, but I’m not anymore. Some books are so great that if you get to them after the movies, you can have the pleasurable experience of (a) not being utterly confused but also (b) discovering that the book is still better (as it is, in most cases). It’s like watching bonus features for a movie you love.
OK, now it’s your turn to yell at me in the comments. Happy reading, all! I’ll be back next month with a proper Ex Libris issue. And if you’re longing for one of those, you can always scroll back through the archives.
A note on purchase links: I’m a happy supporter of independent bookshops, so the links I provide will almost always go to my affiliate link at bookshop.org. For my local readers, I heartily recommend you buy them through our favorite, Goldberry Books, but you might have a shop closer to you. Of course, you can always find these selections on That Big Website That Ships Quickly, But Not As Quickly as It Used To, and Remember How They Sucked Us All In By Being a Bookstore to Begin With? I’m also a big fan of saving money and patronizing your local library. Happy reading!
Rosings, Kent, and the home of Lady Catherine are ALL THE SAME PLACE. One person is named Elizabeth Bennet, but she is not Miss Bennet (that’s her sister, one of four sisters also named Bennet but never called Miss Bennet), and sometimes she’s Lizzy and sometimes she’s Miss Elizabeth and sometimes she’s Eliza. Crystal clear, right?!
I've also come around on the benefit of watching a movie first! I happened upon it actually, when my eldest daughter and I watched the BBC Pride & Prejudice after she'd finished the book--and her three younger sisters joined us, without ever having touched the book. And you know what? They loved it so much that my second daughter (then 11, I think? At any rate much younger than I would have expected) went off and tackled the book itself. Seeing how that miniseries gave her a love for the characters and an enthusiasm for the story that then inspired her to pick up the book helped me appreciate how good and helpful it can be to begin with the movie. So I'm with you on this one!
This is very timely for my family!