Well, I think it’s safe. I’m back to reading The Lord of the Rings and I’m really enjoying it. Mainly because I’m far enough removed from the movies that they no longer ruin the real story for me. I’ve been at it a week and I’m over a third of the way through. It’s been fun. Fun enough that I don’t think I’ll ever go back to watch the movies again. I don’t need Peter Jackson telling me how I should visualize Middle Earth. I’ve got my own mind for that.
This really came to me as I read the first paragraph of the last chapter of the first book:
Aragon led them to the right arm of the River. Here upon the western side under the shadow of Tol Brander a green lawn ran down to the water from the feet of Amon Hen. Behind it rose the first gentle slopes of the hill clad with trees , and trees marched away westward along the curving shores of the lake. A little spring fell tumbling down and fed the grass.
Did the writers even consider this as they set the stage for the breaking of the fellowship? I’m not going to run to the movies to confirm it, but I would venture to guess rather confidently that they did not. The setup for the scene is probably nowhere near how the real story puts it, and while moviegoers may not care about the difference, what the book actually says matters.
Unless, of course, you don’t even care that there was a book.
I’ve given only the one example. Of course the whole book is filled with them, because the whole book has to build the world for you. Yet, the movies were indeed beautiful in their own right. I would’t want anyone to shy away from them if they enjoy a good story told on the screen. Just know that in this case — a case in which the author not only created the world, but an entire history right down to the languages for it — the book does more than enough to set the scenes for you.
In the end, The Lord of the Rings takes a great deal of dedication to conquer. Still, for most who’ve made it through the thousand or so pages, it’s well worth it. They’re really not like the movie at all.