Answer for question 4398.
Jun. 5th, 2015 12:06 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ladybug_archive[Error: unknown template qotd]This is a hard question. I suppose the first book is probably my favorite; I love the opening that deals with the Shire and the relationship between Bilbo and Frodo. I love the interaction of Frodo and Gandalf and the forming of the Fellowship of the Ring. And I love that it followed all the characters all the way along, not dividing into two parts to follow separate sets of characters, as the other two do after the Fellowship breaks up. The division is rather irritating, story-wise. I wish he would have alternated chapters following the two groups instead of having one whole half of the books devoted to one group and the other half devoted to the other group.
Frodo has always been my favorite character. I feel for him and his tortured quest and how he becomes so bogged down and changed by it that in the end he feels he can no longer stay in the Shire he loves, the Shire he gave up everything to protect while the majority of the residents don't understand or appreciate his sacrifice and just think he was off foolishly adventuring. It must have been horrible for him, to feel that he was becoming such a burden on Sam with his wife Rosie and that he needed to get away so that Sam could devote all his time to his family.
I must say, though, I honestly prefer the films over the books. The casting is perfect, the scenery absolutely breathtaking, and the music extremely powerful and moving. And for the most part, with the exception of how they changed the Shelob's Lair segment, I feel that every one of the changes actually improved the story and eliminated things unnecessary to the main plot. I also like that they actually gave Arwen something to do. I was stunned at how little she appears in the books (including the appendix where Tolkien shows how she and Aragorn met). And I read the books before I saw the films, I should point out.
Frodo has always been my favorite character. I feel for him and his tortured quest and how he becomes so bogged down and changed by it that in the end he feels he can no longer stay in the Shire he loves, the Shire he gave up everything to protect while the majority of the residents don't understand or appreciate his sacrifice and just think he was off foolishly adventuring. It must have been horrible for him, to feel that he was becoming such a burden on Sam with his wife Rosie and that he needed to get away so that Sam could devote all his time to his family.
I must say, though, I honestly prefer the films over the books. The casting is perfect, the scenery absolutely breathtaking, and the music extremely powerful and moving. And for the most part, with the exception of how they changed the Shelob's Lair segment, I feel that every one of the changes actually improved the story and eliminated things unnecessary to the main plot. I also like that they actually gave Arwen something to do. I was stunned at how little she appears in the books (including the appendix where Tolkien shows how she and Aragorn met). And I read the books before I saw the films, I should point out.
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Date: 2015-06-06 02:59 pm (UTC)Sam is probably my favorite, what with his undying loyalty. I guess that would make me slightly partial to RotK (as you mentioned, Shelob Lair scene notwithstanding), since Sam really comes into his own there. Carrying Frodo up the mountain is definitely his best scene.
And yes, the locations and scenery and music of the movies are a perfect combination!
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Date: 2015-06-06 11:10 pm (UTC)Totally! They bring everything to life in the most amazing way.