Tolkien

I could add tons of things if I were not so tired.... Seriously, I can tell you that Tolkien hated to see "The Lord of the Rings" referred to as a trilogy - it was a book divided in three parts, not a series as far too many people seem to think!

I'm in two minds as concerns Christopher T.'s work. Some of what he did has been very useful indeed to Tolkien scholars, but there is too much that just smacks of an easy way to make money out of his father's name and reputation. Actually, of all the books he edited after JRRT's death, my favourite is probably "Unfinished Tales" - "The Silmarillion" should've probably looked like that, if Chris hadn't intervened quite heavily in order to string the various parts together.

I love both LotR and "The Hobbit", which is a masterpiece in its own right. Tolkien's shorter fiction is also quite interesting (I'll be writing something on the subject in the next few months). However, the best piece of work  by Tolkien besides LotR and TH is the essay "On Fairy-Stories" - probably the best defense of non-realistic literature ever written.

Personally my favourite is the Lord of the Rings but The Silmarillion and The Hobbit are also great, I've not got round to reading anything else by either JRR Tolkien or Christopher Tolkien but I intend to.

I do make a point of reading the Lord of the Rings at least once a year.

I always ensure I have time to read a good book.

I've read most of Tolkien's work and my favorite remains the classic and epic The Lord of the Rings. The Hobbit is also a masterpiece in his own right as Raffaella pointed out. I often see it as Book 1 of the Lord of the Rings. I personnally always read it before I move on to the LotR.

I also really liked the Unfinished Tales of Numenor and Middle-Earth. This is probably my favorite short book by Tolkien.

Anyways, clappies to a master fantasy writer.

Ghost Rider wrote: I could add tons of things if I were not so tired.... Seriously, I can tell you that Tolkien hated to see "The Lord of the Rings" referred to as a trilogy - it was a book divided in three parts, not a series as far too many people seem to think! I'm in two minds as concerns Christopher T.'s work. Some of what he did has been very useful indeed to Tolkien scholars, but there is too much that just smacks of an easy way to make money out of his father's name and reputation. Actually, of all the books he edited after JRRT's death, my favourite is probably "Unfinished Tales" - "The Silmarillion" should've probably looked like that, if Chris hadn't intervened quite heavily in order to string the various parts together. I love both LotR and "The Hobbit", which is a masterpiece in its own right. Tolkien's shorter fiction is also quite interesting (I'll be writing something on the subject in the next few months). However, the best piece of work  by Tolkien besides LotR and TH is the essay "On Fairy-Stories" - probably the best defense of non-realistic literature ever written.

You are so cool. Seriously. You said in the gallery thread that you were a teacher for 15 years. Did you teach english, by any chance? I hope so, and i hope you made many new tolkien fans during those 15 years. :)

Back on topic, though.. i can't vote, as i haven't read silmarillion, but LOTR is one of those books i like to read once every other year or so, and as i don't really read very much, it probably makes a good third of my usual book-diet. (i should probably read more..)

Silmarillion! Read it two times. I like it so much more than LOtR or The Hobbit. I can't explain why though, but I really recommend anyone who hasn't read it to do so!

Silmarillion... why? don't know! Tried a couple of times to start one the LOTR trilogy but never managed to get passed the first few pages.. there's something about Fellowship of the Ring that does not encourage me to read along . I've read The Hobbit as well and quite liked it (although that was a few years ago when I was still in secondary school)

The Silmarillion, hands down. Epic does not begin to describe his greatest life-long labour of love.

Niggle by Leaf is good too

andu wrote: i will not read tolkien until he gets translated in my language because i have major problems with the english language when written with artistic intent. however, i would be very interested in reading the essay you mentioned, "On Fairy-Stories", as i assume it's written in "normal" english, not long, and works as an ars poetica - i love to understand the ways of the artist. can i find it somewhere on the internet or is it only available on paper?