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LOTR: Order? Bookworm?
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Ds is almost 10 and chomping at the bit to read Lord of the Rings. I’ve not read them myself, so I don’t know the “correct” order. Of the many sites I’ve looked at, some recommend The Hobbit first, while others say the order doesn’t matter. I’ve been keeping him from reading the books, and now he’s carrying them around, asking when he can start. Would love to know the order you’d recommend so I can turn him loose!
Blessings,
Lindsey
The Hobbit is a great way to get into Middle Earth. It takes place a number of years BEFORE the trilogy, but you will meet several characters that turn up later on, as well as have some background on “The Ring”.
After that, the order is The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, and The Return of the King. The trilogy is a continual story, so the order here is important.
HTH.
Lindsey, I recommend The Hobbit. It’s a simpler story and much shorter. It’s so interesting, I’m sure he will love it. After that, definitely read the trilogy in order.
The Hobbit definitely. It is first in the history. It was the first written. It was also written for a younger audience.
Concur. The Hobbit DOES move a bit slowly at first though. Just a warning. But it’s where I had all mine start.
I gave ds the green light to begin The Hobbit today. I told him to read it slowly and to ask me if he had any questions or if there was something he didn’t understand. I told him that understanding the rest of the books depends on him grasping the characters, setting, and more of The Hobbit. I hope that was ok to tell him! This is going to be a free read for him, so I won’t be requiring any narrations.
Is there anything else I should know?
THE MOVIES HAVE ONLY A TANGENTIAL RELATIONSHIP TO THE ACTUAL BOOK. It has a hobbit IN it, but it is not, really, The Hobbit. I recommend saving the movies for after the book is already beloved. Of course, you must be prepared then to hear a whole lot of “But that’s not in the book!” but that is just the way it is. LOTR movies are much more satisfying although also not perfectly like the books.
We like to watch the movies and yell at them. My youngest 2 have heard the whole series twice now, but refuse to watch the movies. The oldest 2 have heard it 3 times, and watch the movies, but can get very opinionated about the changes made. And loud. But my husband is the worst! It’s more entertaining to listen to them than to actually watch the movie.
You should read them Lindsey. They are awesome!
Ditto. Hobbit movies were good entertainment, but only loosely based on the books. LOTR were more satisfying in that regard!
Our requirement is that he read the books before he watches the movie. He has wanted to see LOTR movies for a LONG time, but I wanted to wait until he was 10 before giving him the books to read. He will be 10 in a month. 😉 Dh and I are fine with him watching the movies after he’s read the books.
He really wants to see Harry Potter too, and again, we are requiring that he read the books first. He has yet to ask to read the books, and hasn’t brought up the movies in months.
Second everything said above. Also, I think the second Hobbit movie is too violent for a 10 yr old anyway, IMO. Though the dragon was AWESOME!!!
After he reads The Hobbit and then the LOTR Trilogy, he can read The Silmarillion. My son read it when he was between 11 and 12 (only downside was the vampire and werewolf in the book) and it is wonderful for foundational information of the creation of Middle Earth, it’s inhabitants and the wars. He could actually see in the book the influence of Tolkein’s faith in the myth of creation of Middle Earth especially. My son understands so much due to reading it. In fact, it makes the current Hobbit movies more understandable since he knows the background and context that JAckson is incorporating. So although he definitely took some unfortunate liberties this time around, some things are actually accurate when it comes to what was occuring holistially in Middle Earth, if that makes sense. And in that regard, we like some of his contextual additions.
Bot of my children ended rading all four books (excluding Silmarillion) several times and they are only now 12 and 13. We love them all here.
edit: there’s a lot of movie critics here too and they must always read books first.
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