Ahab

When in my teens I came across the ACE paperback version of The Fellowship of the Ring. I was so engrossed I read the thing straight through while staying over at my Grandma's. She thought for sure I was sick spending so much time just sitting still with my nose in the book.
Had to wait a couple of years until the Bantam edition came out before I was able to finish off the novel. Have probable read it about 5 or 6 times since then. Unfortunately, the last reading will probably really be my last as the book no longer has that magical feeling for me that it once did.

I did watch the movie version of The Fellowship but was so disillusioned by the directors' vision of the story that I have not bothered watching the other two.

mgbfan

Hmm. To me, the author's originality is an integral part of the enjoyment. Part of what makes a novel great is that, when done right, it imparts a small bit of the author himself. Not meaning to wax poetic here, but it's a portal inside the mind and imagination of the writer.

I should hope so.

You're reading rehash regardless. But to each his own, I guess.

CaptainMarvel

I don't read books to receive "a small bit of the author." I read it for entertainment, and I get enjoyment out of interesting stories and well fleshed out characters. It really wouldn't matter to me if the original author died halfway through the story and a replacement writer finished his work, so long as that didn't create a shift in tone/style. On the other hand, even the most original writer in the world would seem like a bad author to me if I didn't enjoy his writing... which is partially where my dissatisfaction with Tolkien comes from.

If I find a character in a book entertaining (let's say Sherlock Holmes), I'd enjoy ANY good Sherlock Holmes story, regardless of who wrote the book. I'm probably going to see a rehash movie tonight (Assault on Precinct 13); I've never seen the original, so this one will be my "original." It won't make me enjoy the movie any less to know it's an original, provided the movie itself is good (which is up for debate).

If you read for a different reason, then great. Your tone sounds a little condescending, and that doesn't engender a good conversation. Just my two cents.