immortal_zeus

I'm 25 (26 next month), and I've never read The Hobbit or Lord of the Rings. I kind of have a very basic premise of what the books are supposed to be about, and I like fantasy stuff...though I've never read much of it, if any.

I think I'd enjoy reading the books when and if I ever get time, but it seems like The Hobbit is for younger readers....and maybe Lord of the Rings is for a slightly more mature reader.

I read an article in the newspaper yesterday and they interviewed some librarians, professors, and some person who founded some Hobbit club or something and they said that readers of these books are getting younger...that they're going straight from Harry Potter to these.

Anyway, I have a feeling I'm not too old to enjoy these books....but will I deem them to be too juvenile? Am I too old for them?

Your opinions are appreciated....

I can't believe I just posted in the book forum......wassup Bpup!

Groucho

You're never too young to enjoy LOTR. That said, LOTR is definately aimed at a much older (read: adult) audience than "The Hobbit." Detailed descriptions of battles, long historical speeches, and so forth.

I do recommend you read "The Hobbit" first, simply as an introduction to the world of Middle-Earth. It's a quick read.

Nefarious

I echo Groucho's remarks. Read The Hobbit for the quick background and feel. You'll definitely see that it's not geared towards adults but it's still enjoyable to you. LOTR is much different and you'll enjoy the Hell out of it.

immortal_zeus

Thanks for the input...I think I'll go ahead and buy the box set.

milo bloom

You've probably already got them and started, but I'm 27 now and I didn't read them until just a few years ago. I've also read the first Harry Potter book and didn't find it "too young" either.

renaldow

I started reading them when I was 12, and gave up halfway through the 2nd book. I couldn't take hobits any longer. I picked them up again a few months ago (I'm 31 now) and finished it entirely.

LOTR is definitely not a children's book, the reading level is much higher than Harry Potter.

The Antipodean

Damn, Zeus, when I read the title I figured you were 42 or something - I'm 30 and just read the LOTR books for the first time last year (I read the Hobbit when I was 12 or so but never got around to the others). Anyway, as everyone says here, they're quite accessible to ALL ages, the only part that might seem a bit twee to older readers is the occasional "song/verse" interruptions, but the overall plot and prose are definitely as "grown-up" as fantasy ever gets.

Scheherazade

I'm 25 (26 in January) and I just started reading LOTR... I don't think you can ever be too young to read it. Kinda like The Princess Bride... not that I'm even comparing the two in terms of quality because I would be flamed toot sweet.

I tried reading LOTR when I was 10 and couldn't get into it, I was scared away from ever trying it again till just now. I'm defenitely glad I decided to pick it up again.

~Scheherazade

immortal_zeus

I haven't ordered LOTR yet...I wouldn't be able to start reading them until a couple weeks from now anyway. I'll probably order them soon, though.

So for those of you that have recently read it, did you find it enjoyable at your age?

benedict

Well, I first read LOTR when I was 11 and greatly enjoyed it at that time. I also read Papillon the same year.

Nowadays I don't feel that I have so much time for big books but I am sure that I'll enjoy it when I next re-read it in anticipation of the film. Perhaps because of its lack of portability, the last couple of times I tried re-reading I didn't finish. The first few times I was able to read it in bed; which helped!

NB) immortal_zeus, per another thread B&N are doing a free course on the book starting November 5th. Perhaps you'll get your copy in time to enroll!!

mikehunt

what, too old?
never
I don't think they were intended for kids

immortal_zeus

Wait a second....do I look like some sort of geek? Enroll in a Barnes & Noble book club, thing?

Nah, seriously, I probably wouldn't have time for that, but I am definitely gonna buy these books as soon as I can get my lazy fingers to amazon.com.

lorenzoh

You're never too old for LOTR. And anytime is a good time for pie.

tor_greg

No matter what age you are, I'll wager you find lots of words in there that aren't in your vocab. It's NOT a children's book.

Blade

Well, I read this for the first time when I was around eleven and enjoyed them quite a lot back then. I just finished reading it again and being 20 years older had just increased my ability to appreciate the books.

This is adult fantasy, very serious, and no where near as light hearted as the Hobbit.

I actually went through Appendix A this time (histories of Man in Middle Earth). It's really amazing to see how much background he developed for this story and how well he intergrated that into his story. I just started reading George R.R. Martin's Song of Ice and Fire series, and while he's packed his with a lot of background history, it just seems so much more forced than Tolkien's work.

And Tolkien was a good storyteller too. The books read very well. Not exactly a page turner, but a very compelling read.

I have a 3 volume set for display purposes, and purchased the single book version (all 3 volumes in one thick paper back trade edition) to read. Took me exactly 3 weeks to do it. Have fun.

immortal_zeus

Well, I bought the set last week (damn Amazon is fast!) and will begin reading the books this weekend.

Nick Danger

A good indication is Tolkein's original audience. The Hobbit was written for his son Christopher. The boy was afraid of spiders, so JRR put in a chapter with really big spiders. Scared the bejesus out of him.

LOTR was written for his son Christopher when he was in the RAF, fighting WWII. It's a grim story about a small alliance fighting an implacable evil, and most of the characters think they're going to lose the war. But they fight on, regardless.

Pasolini

i just re-read it last winter (around the 3rd or 4th time i've read the trilogy) and at 30 it still holds up quite well.

I laugh when i hear people say 'its a kids book!'. I'd like to know what other kids books have mass slaughters, beheadings, disembowelments, destructions of entire races and cultures, global world wars, political back-stabbings, satanic creatures, and other such mayhem and malice.

Rox_Boseafus

Me too. I work with High School kids and most of them won't read it because of its size and those who do...most don't get it. It does take a bit to get through the first part of the book but it really kept me glued to it's pages over the years. I read it again this summer...for the 5th time.

Kelvecion

Lord of the Rings? Too old to read it?

Age is not a factor. The book works on many levels and the seams are smooth and flawless. LOTR is not only a gem of a story, it is a landmark in the writing craft.

And when you read it - you'll own it, as if the story was always there and was waiting for you to come read it, like you were the very person it was written for.....

'nuff said.

P.S. I agree that you should first read the Hobbit.

Precious

I love this book, I would read the Hobbit first. My sister-in-law bought me the BBC serialisation of the book on 13 CD's for my xmas present last year and I still love it at 40.

Alyoshka

As many have said, you can never be to old to enjoy lotr. Also, if you enjoy, check out Lewis's fantasy series (not the narnia ones but the more adult ones) and L'Engles Wrinkle in Time series. I love all of those.

Captain Harlock

I'm 30 now and I've been reading Lord Of The Rings for the past couple of months now.

What I'm disappointed in is that when I was in high school, all my English teachers knew I was into sci-fi/fantasy and comic books and NONE OF THEM EVER RECOMENDED IT. They all kept trying to ram Shakespeare and other "serious" literature down my throat.

This is why I say that the public schools often discourage reading rather than encourage it.

einTier

Captain, I actually had this conversation with my wife a few weeks back -- she was a high school English teacher.

Now, I'm not saying that kids shouldn't read Shakespeare and other "classic" works, but I think kids would learn to enjoy reading if there was at least a 50/50 mixture of contemporary literature mixed in, even if the material was not that great compared to the classics. Get them used to the idea of reading, so that they carry that throughout their lives. I know I didn't get much satisfaction out of several "classics" I had to read, Wuthering Heights and A Tale of Two Cities being prime examples. Had I not been an avid reader already, I might well have figured all "big books" were like that.

As far as LOTR is concerned, I had a bunch of friends in junior high that were obsessed with them. I had read the Hobbit years before and loved it. However, I was never able to finish LOTR. I tried several times and just gave up.

With the movie coming out last year, I decided to try one more time to read them, and this time I found them an incredibly interesting read and finished them within the week. I would say even if you're a kid and you manage to read them, you won't truely appreciate and understand them until you're older.

Captain Harlock

I remember in, I think it was 10th grade, my English class had to read Ethan Frome. Afterwards we all had to indvidually give our "impressions" of the book. A few people danced around the fact of how horrible it was. When it came my to my turn, I remember I stood up, looked around the class, looked the teacher in the eye and proudly said "This book SUCKS and I'll tell you why!!" I went into a laundry list of reasons. Needless to say that my frank assessment wasn't warmly recvieved by all.

I think that what most of academia doesn't want to accept is this; yes a book like Lord Of The Rings, and even in comic books like the X-Men and Spider-Man, may be set in a fantastic sort of world but there are still the same themes running through it as in other "serious" literature. Making the right choices, good vs. evil, right and wrong, power and corruption. It may be "pop" but it's still storytelling at it's core.

And I still contend that you can learn just as much from Lord Of The Rings and some of the Chris Claermont X-Men stories as you can Shakespeare. It's all about what you pull out of them.
::getting off soapbox now::