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/lit/ - Literature

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3234211 No.3234211 [Reply] [Original]

what does /lit/ think of LOTR? Not everything has to be meaningless philosophy you know, reading can be an entertainment medium.

>> No.3234243

bump

>> No.3234247

un-bump

try harder

>> No.3234249

>>3234247
>sage is not a downvote you fucking retard

bump

>> No.3234251

>>3234211
>meaningless philosophy

Oxymoron detected.

>implying LOTR doesn't have philosophic and religious themes

>> No.3234254

>>3234251
>implying philosophy and religious themes aren't inherent in all fiction

what I'm saying is that some people just read for pleasure not to exercise the mind with some useless philiosophy

>> No.3234257

>>3234254

LOTR is the great american novel. i've read it at least 4 times and it gets better each time.

<s>the only flaw is that it is too short.</s>

>> No.3234258

>>3234257
>the only flaw is that it is too short.
>LOTR
>American

0/10

>> No.3234259

>>3234254
>what I'm saying is that some people just read for pleasure not to exercise the mind with some useless philiosophy

LOTR is about the worst novel you could pick if you want to 'read for pleasure' and not 'useless philosophy'.

>> No.3234265

>>3234259
no I'm sure that Plato or Socrates would be the worst choice

>> No.3234272

>>3234258

i realize the author is not american. my point still stands.

>> No.3234273

>>3234272
>LOTR is a cycle of novels, not a novel.
>LOTR is English, written at Oxford, by an Oxonian Englishman
>"It is still the great american novel, my point stands"

no

>> No.3234276

>>3234249
Who are you quoting?

Sage for blatant troll attempt

>> No.3234277

>>3234254
Philosophical and religious themes aren't inherent in all fiction. I'm sure a lot of children's books, young adult novels, and even adult genre fiction make no mention of or reference to either. You can't just pull shit out of your ass.

Again >implying philosophy is "useless"
You have too many unchecked assumptions in your original post, including the assumption that philosophical themes can't be entertaining. What grade are you in?

>> No.3234279

>>3234265
>implying Plato or Socrates (Socrates didn't write) wrote novels.

Dialogues aren't novels. Try harder. Also, you're assuming people can't "read for fun" with philosophical texts.

>> No.3234285

>>3234265
Plato is actually one of the more engaging and entertaining of the philosophers, Anonymous. Terrible example, you obviously haven't read him

>> No.3234365

>Fellowship of the Ring
Pretty okay.
>Two Towers
Drags on. Seriously like 4 chapters of just the 'three hunters' running across Rohan and chasing orcs, with each blade of grass being described by Tolkien.
>Return of the King
BEST. The first part, which juggled between Merry, Pippin and Aragorn preparing for the war was great. Pippin and Beregond especially. Most of the fiefdoms of Gondor arrived. DAWNLESS DAY shit, and eventually the big battle itself. THE WITCH KING breaking down the gate of Gondor and the stand off between him and Gandalf, only to be interrupted by Rohan's horsemen. The big dilemma that got me thinking for awhile was whether it was better to save Faramir or save King Theoden and have the epic fight of the century between Gandalf and the Witch King. Which didn't happen because Pippin nudged Gandalf to save Faramir instead.

The best part about it is the great transition between Book 5 and 6, switching to Sam and Frodo. The suspense literally holds on to you for several chapters as events in the background unfolds as they go, making you ponder about the different fronts and characters and what they were doing at certain moments.

All in all, sending the ring to Mordor to destroy it was something even Sauron never thought of. It was the stupidest thing anyone could ever come up with. Sauron was afraid of Gandalf, Saruman or Aragorn the whole time, thinking they might use the ring against him and overthrow him.

>> No.3234373

>>3234265
>reading Socrates
Haven't seen this gem in a while.

>> No.3234388
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3234388

>Not everything has to be meaningless philosophy you know, reading can be an entertainment medium.
pic related


By the way, "entertainment" doesn't mean "dumb fun" as people usually imply, it means "retaining attention". Just because philosophy doesn't retain your attention doesn't mean it's not entertaining to others. And just because it's entertaining doesn't mean it is made to be entertaining and nothing else. In fact, when that's implied that is quite offensive, it makes LotR and other "entertaining" things to be just "stuff that hiptnotizes you and make you not realize time has passed until the book is over" and not something that stays with you in thought and emotion, which is true to all genuinely entertaining books, philosophy, fantasy, fiction, non-fiction, textbooks or whatever.

Think of a magician on stage, doing his trick. That's entertainment for entertainment's sake. The good thing of magic is watching it. On tv, on "show business", you have to capture your audience and that's where the art of entertainment. To say that books (or some books) are like that and nothing else is just wrong.

And reading is not a medium, books are a medium.

To answer your question, I like LotR, but I prefer the beggining of the story much more than anything else. Gandalf the grey, a strange evil, nazgul on horses, Strider, etc. Later I get bored at the politics and detail of the war in Middle Earth, I like the personal suspense of the beggining.

>> No.3234400

Slightly related, but whenever "fun" novels come up, why is it that most people automatically think of high fantasy epics? Aside from Hitchhiker's Guide, all my books that I wouldn't classify as "Literature" are fantasy novels. I don't have any light-hearted slice of life books or the like.

>> No.3234409

>reading LOTR
>for entertainment

>> No.3234411

>implying LotR isn't philosophy

>> No.3234412

>>3234265
>reading Socrates

>> No.3234413

>>3234400
>I don't have any light-hearted slice of life books or the like.
John Green is the man you're looking for.

>> No.3234426
File: 110 KB, 350x377, StopLikingWhatIDontLike_9969.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
3234426

Mindless bickering aside, I've started The Hobbit a few days ago.

It's pleasant and I enjoy it, takes me back to times spent rolling new characters for DnD because my last one was killed by a falling boulder, or by being pushed off a bridge.

After that I'll be reading LOTR.

>> No.3234436

>>3234426
the hobbit was a good read. The LOTR is a different beast. My main complaint is the plot is slowed down and constanly interrupted by pointless paragraphs upon paragraphs of verbose description. Written like a professor.

>Frodo went to rivendell. The grass was green. the cloud was white/ the rock was grey. etc etc

>> No.3234440

>>3234436
I'd be willing to power through that in exchange for a good read.

I don't doubt Tolkein wrote like that though, the man created the Elvish language and a handful of dialects for it. The man was dedicated to this world of his.

>> No.3234451

>>3234413
I've read Paper Towns, Looking for Alaska, and Abundance of Catherines. They were pretty much all the same book. He's an okay author, but he tries to hard to appeal to the quirky hipsters, and I've no real desire to read his stuff again.

>> No.3234458

>>3234451
They are pretty samey. But they're the only lighthearted slice-of-life that isn't complete shit.

>> No.3234483
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3234483

the hobbit was better

also: Tolkien's ending scrapped from movies basically destroyed Tolkien's implied lesson versus Frodo, so fuck Peter Jackson.

>> No.3234489

>>3234483
God I hated the movies.. 1st was okay, but 2 and 3 sucked horsecock.

>> No.3234510

>>3234489
fuck you

>> No.3234514

>>3234489
>>3234510

>>>/tv/

>> No.3234516

>>3234489
Same. I love Fellowship, but the others are quite tiresome and uninteresting.

>> No.3234534

>>3234516
>>>/tv/

>> No.3234598

>>3234426
I second that, the Hobbit is a good book. I like how whimsical the book is, it doesn't take itself too seriously.

I hope the movie will turn out well.

>> No.3234609

Lord of the Rings is not mindless entertainment. Lord of the Rings is a great book. Lord of the Rings is literature. Chronically underrated literature, literature which is popular mostly for reasons unrelated to its literary qualities - but it is literature.

>> No.3234616

>>3234609

exactly. perhaps the greatest english literature ever written. people have closed minds because it includes drawfs and orks.

>> No.3234619

>>3234616
I wouldn't say it's the greatest English literature ever (although at a certain point that kind of ranking becomes meaningless). But it is great.

>> No.3234618

>>3234616
5/10

>> No.3234903

>>3234365
needs more edgy.

>> No.3234914

I would read the series once a year until internet porn and weed destroyed my attention span.

I remember feeling shocked by the constant switching between storylines -- Frodo then Aragorn, then Frodo. I hated that change. Right as I got used to the new characters, it would change again.

I loved that mountains and forests could think and plot. I think Tolkien was good at making magic feel real. Not superman abilities but that the world had magic in it.

>> No.3234917

>Not everything has to be meaningless philosophy you know, reading can be an entertainment medium.

Fuck you, you pretentious cunt.

>> No.3234926

>>3234534
>>3234514

who is this moron? As if discussing movies based on books were somehow problematic here. Fuck you, retard.

>> No.3234932

i bet op thinks people don't really enjoy reading philosophy

>thinking?! gross. i want elves.

>> No.3234938

>>3234926
It is, cunt

Go back to >>>/tv/

>> No.3235104

.

>> No.3235161
File: 135 KB, 685x1024, Medeival Painting.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
3235161

Captcha said: Oultmayt Bigot

>> No.3235999

>>3234917
stop taking things so seriously

>> No.3236017

>>3234211
>not everything has to be meaningless philosophy
>doesnt know LOTR is based on the greek story of the ring of gyges
>doesnt know that Plato and the Republic keep LOTR alive.

you fucking pleb.

>> No.3236055

>>3235999
If I'd taken you seriously, I would have responded seriously.

Stop being presumptious, I am the epitome of jocundity.

>> No.3236098

7/10 OP
I'm surprised at how well you crafted the tread to raise hell among these idiots.

I earnestly loved LOTR though and they are my favorite books. They are, of course, not the greatest books, but certainly worthy of very high praise.
Tolkien really knew what I desired and created a universe I love. The movies were excellent as movies and did an astoundingly good job adapting the three books, but had its flaws. I am disappointed at Jackson's understanding of vital character traits but am otherwise quite happy with how they turned out.