I saw Narnia last night

and i thought it was a bore.

Maybe im spoiled by too much LOTR....

Thats too bad, I have seen the older movie, and was excited to see that they were making a more modern version. From the previews it looks like it would be pretty close to the LOTR type, although I wasn't expecting it to be quite as good. Maybe I'll just wait for it to com out on DVD.

A bore? Well, I'll reserve judgement and see it for myself eventually. Any excitement about King Kong?

Well, I've only been until Book 2 of HARRY POTTER (Chamber of Secrets?) and have only heard of C.S. Lewis's seminal work, but really, to compare things with LOTR?

J.R.R. Tolkien created a world of modern mythology and richness of an entire reality with his books. The "War of the Ring" chronicled LOTR was just a part of it, though significant. Heck, I even had to to buy a "Companions Guide" just to understand and appreciate the vast complexity of his books. Plus his writing style gets you sometimes lost in a heady daze of images and sights, I felt more of a casual observer rather than a reader.

Speaking Sindarin and Quenya might be too much of stretch for me though. . .

the chronicals of narnia is an excellent read. they were actually the first books i read, and what got me started.

i'm not really an avid book reader, due to lack of time, but i do enjoy reading.

nothing will ever compare with tolkiens works (i'm particularly fond of the silmarillion...), but narnia is very high up there in my favorites list. the movie doesn't come out until the 9th here, and i'm not sure yet if i'll get a chance to see it in theaters. hopefully i do.

tolkien and lewis were actually fairly close friends you know...

When I was in 5th grade, I read the first two books in the Chronicles of Narnia series. I really enjoyed them immensely. Though, for some reason, I couldn't get past the 3rd one. At the time, my friend who had read all seven books told me that that one (Voyage of the Dawn Treader) was in fact long and a little bit slow. Maybe, I'll read them again and make it all the way through. I remember lending the books to my uncle who was in his mid 50's at the time and said he, too, enjoyed them. These books are also up there in my list of favorites. (although, I haven't really read that many books!)

Roth, about that book The Silmarrion.... This is the first I've heard about that one. I've read the Hobbit, and the Three LOTR books, but not that one. It's been quite a while since reading those books, and I don't really remember everything very clearly; Do you think I'd be able to pick up The Silmarrion and enjoy it without being very strong in my LOTR lore? I see you say you really like that one, and so after doing a search, I see there are many others that say it's a great book. I wonder if it'd make good sense without me having to reread the LOTR books?

Please dont get me wrong.


I am not dissing the books nor am i comparing CS Lewis's works with Tolkien's ( for the record, i have read none of them).

My thoughts were only for the movie, which i felt abit letdown because it did not connect, i did not "feel" for the characters plus i thought the child actor's role were not very convincing. Myabe I had high expectations for it, but as Ive said, when you've watched the LOTR trilogy onscreen, everything else ( within the same genre ) so far sort of pales in comparison.

my name is fake said:

Please dont get me wrong.


I am not dissing the books nor am i comparing CS Lewis's works with Tolkien's ( for the record, i have read none of them).

My thoughts were only for the movie, which i felt abit letdown because it did not connect, i did not "feel" for the characters plus i thought the child actor's role were not very convincing. Myabe I had high expectations for it, but as Ive said, when you've watched the LOTR trilogy onscreen, everything else ( within the same genre ) so far sort of pales in comparison.

Click to expand...

No worries. I got your point clearer this time. Pardon me too if I seem too "apologist" for Tolkien, hehehe.

Looking forward to watching "Narnia" as well when it shows here!

Rothrandir,

Ditto on the Chronicals of Narnia. It is one of series of books that I read seriously when I was in 5 or 6th grade, but still remain one of my most favorite of all time.

Tolkiens work is definitely a class of its own, it will continue to bring imagination and fantasy to generations to come. Yet, what I appreciate most of Narnia are the morals that could be lacking from many recent young adults/childern literatures.

And like Trashman, I too am quite curious about silmarillion. How is the story 'tempo' compared to the LOTR? Is it more adventure-like or read like a history text book?

Rothrandir said:

the chronicals of narnia is an excellent read. they were actually the first books i read, and what got me started.

i'm not really an avid book reader, due to lack of time, but i do enjoy reading.

nothing will ever compare with tolkiens works (i'm particularly fond of the silmarillion...), but narnia is very high up there in my favorites list. the movie doesn't come out until the 9th here, and i'm not sure yet if i'll get a chance to see it in theaters. hopefully i do.

tolkien and lewis were actually fairly close friends you know...

Click to expand...

I haven't read the silmarillion in a few years, but I liked it. It is completely different then the LOTR series in my opinion. If I remember correctly, I believe that the LOTR takes place at the end of the 3rd age.(each age is usually a few thousand years) And all of the events only take place in around a year.

The silmarillion on the other hand starts out from the beginning of the creation of the earth, and the gods and so forth, all the way to where LOTR starts. One thing I remember thinking about it is that the whole sauron thing was actually pretty small compared to other things that happened before. I dont think that the silmarillion even goes up to the dates of the LOTR books. It covers a lot of time, and is pretty much a collection of stories. The book that it actally reminds me the most of is the bible. Small stories over a thousands of years that are put together.

If you really want to learn more about the whole history of middle earth and the world, read it.

edited for spelling

the silmarillion can indeed be compared to the bible. it starts out with the creation of arda, and goes up through the third age, and details a little bit of the lotr history. it even goes as far as to outline some prophecy regarding the end of time.

it's more a collection of stories/history than anything else, everyone i knowt that's read it liked it, but i've also heard from a few who couldn't make it far into it.
i'm really not a history person, but i found the silm to be immensly interesting and entertaining. i would kill for someone to actually go and write full-length novels about some of the stories contained within. the stories aren't really short, like fairy tales, they're more like real stories, but told as a narrative rather than in first or third person. they are fully developed, but lack the detail and length of a "real" book.
even though the lord of the rings is a truly epic tale, it pales in comparison to some of the stories of earlier ages. beren and luthien, and the story of turin turambar will blow you out of the water. can't forget fingolfin's battle with melkor!
i did happen to find online, a story called "isuldur" written by a fan many years ago. it is a full-length book (available for free...somewhere), based on isuldur.
it was great to be able to experience that story in detail, and from all i could tell, it was extremely accurate. naturally some things were added by the author, but it all fit very well.

one of the best things is that it gives you a much greater understanding of the lord of the rings. middle earth might as well have existed, it's so well thought out and explained. tolkien created an entire universe, complete with fully functional languages, maps, songs, stories, etc etc etc.
while reading through the silm, you will constantly find bits and pieces of information tying into the lotr and everything will fit together like a puzzle.
parts of lotr that seemed trivial at first will now take on significance. you can't fully appreciate lotr without reading the silm.

if you are a lotr fan, you simply must give the silm a chance. you're doing yourself a great diservice if you don't.
it might even be fun to re-read lotr first, or afterwards so everything ties together even better.

Rothrandir gave an excellent description of Silmarillion, I'll just second that if you are an LOTR fan, you need to read it. It is mainly the history of the elves. I too enjoy the creation account and the idea that matter was created from music. The stories are grander in scope and illicit more powerful emotions from the reader. If Sauron seems a threat in LOTR, the Simarillion only gives him scant notice as the underling of the immensely evil Melkor. The enjoyment of it all is that it seems Tolkien wrote it as an alternative history to earth, LOTR leaving off right at the beginning of the Age of Man. Delightful tale.

Off topic, as it has to do with Tolkein, but you might find browsing through this to be helpful and interesting:

The Encyclopedia of Arda

BTW, C.S. Lewis wrote a sci-fi trilogy.

Out of the Silent Planet

Perelandra

That Hideous Strength

In "That Hideous Strength", Ransom and Merlin (yes, that Merlin) make several references to the civilization of Numenor/Atlantis.