However, I still have to question the wisdom of having a long Prologue which is basically a history lesson. Even the footnotes are dry. For example, take the following:
My question is: why should I *CARE* at this point, before the story has even begun? Tolkienites may point out that this helps set the background, which in turn will enhance the reader's enjoyment of the story. I see the purpose of setting the background, but was it really necessary to do so in such grisly historical detail?
The one bit I did enjoy was "Of The Finding of the Ring"; I had completely forgotten what had happened in The Hobbit. Even as a quick retelling, the story is engrossing, and I found myself completely absorbed for those few pages.
At last, I thought with great relief, some actual PLOT.
But then, just as things get truly interesting, Tolkien ends the Prologue with "Note On The Shire Records". Why should I care that the Red Book was kept at Great Smials (wherever that is) and written in Gondor (whatever that is) at the request of the great-grandson of Peregrin (whoever that is) and completed in S.R. 1592 (F.A. 172)?
Perhaps this opening Prologue was a sort of sadistic screening test. Any reader who managed to drag their way through the entire thing without running away screaming would deserve to read the rest of the story.
Anyway, peeking ahead at the beginning of the first chapter, I see that the opening paragraph mentions Bilbo (who was introduced in that interesting Prologue bit), and that he's having a birthday party. Yay! More PLOT!
Replies: 23 comments
Heh, John got 2 pages into the Prologue and asked, "Do I -really- need to know this stuff right now?". To which I answered, "No, go right to Chapter 1". He did so and seems none the worse for wear.
Posted by Allison @ 2001 May 01 07:02 AM EST
I also made a second stab at LotR last year, never having gotten far in it as a child. I barely made it through Fellowship and stopped about 20 pages into Two Towers. I should get back to it, but there's so much other stuff out there that I actually WANT to read that I keep putting it off. Anyhow, prepare to sit through a lot of wandering over hill and dale before getting to any real plot.
Posted by Josh @ 2001 May 01 08:46 AM EST
My two cents worth... skip the Prologue!!! I did on first reading (my brother insisted) and didn't miss it at all.
Now - Reid, you really must read it. If Deb can, surely you can, too? You must before the movie comes out!! ;)
Posted by Luisa @ 2001 May 01 09:18 AM EST
Are you a fan of LOTR, Luisa? I'm starting to feel lonely...
Posted by Allison @ 2001 May 01 09:56 AM EST
Don't feel lonely, Allison. There are still a few of us civilized Tolkein fans out here. :) I read the Hobbit and the Trilogy the first time in my late teens, and a second time about 5 years later. I'm about to start it again, just so it's fresh in my mind for the movies. Each time I've read it, I've written a song about it, so maybe I'll get another one this time! :-())
Hang in there Deb! I know you can do it!
Posted by Scott @ 2001 May 01 12:49 PM EST
If the song is as good as "Lady Of The Wood" and "The Ringbearer", I'll be waiting for it anxiously :).
Posted by Allison @ 2001 May 01 03:16 PM EST
Through out middle school and high school I read "The Hobbit," "The Lord of The Rings," and "The Silmarillion" something like thirteen times through. At least ten of those back to back. Yes, I even read the appendixes. Desiphered the Tengwa(you wouldn't beleive how long it took to find the last sound value, I have found one list to date as acomplete as the one I had) and the runes. I even wrote a journal using the Tengwa. By the way parts of it read like a history because it is presented as a history as transcribed from The Red Book of Westmarch. Tolkien had set out to creat a mythology and history of England that support his elven language.
Posted by J'nae Rae Campbell @ 2001 May 01 04:49 PM EST
I don't read long boring books, however looking at that footnote, it strikes me as important in giving one a sense of lineage.
Posted by jok @ 2001 May 01 05:35 PM EST
this is just me coming out of the closet as a non-tolkien reader. like all good geeky junior high students, i tried. i felt bad about not being able to get through it, so i watched the ralph baksi films. (big mistake.) i listened to marillion. (i briefly wanted to name my own progressive rock band galdolf, but hey, who didn't?) i even read the harvard lampoon's bored of the rings (i found it very funny, even though i hadn't read the source material--the map alone is worth the price of admission). so, any of you non-lord of the rings reading musical types want to form a band? we could call ourselves the tolkien heads. feel free to put forth better band name suggestions.
Posted by rand @ 2001 May 02 12:00 PM EST
ug. that should be bakshi and gandolf, of course. sorry.
Posted by rand @ 2001 May 02 12:02 PM EST
It's funny, but although I've never read LOTR, I recognize many of the names and places the prologue apparently mentions. I used to be addicted to a MUD (multi-user dimension), which is a text based, interactive, Internet based adventure/role-playing game, that was based in part on LOTR. So I have lived in Gondor, had whiskey in Bree, eaten with hobbits, and fought the Morgul Mages with my fellow Ithilien Rangers, but I haven't read the books. I tried the Hobbit when I was a kid, but found it too similar to reading the Bible, a practice I still avoid. ;)
Good luck on your reading...
Posted by tom @ 2001 May 02 12:30 PM EST
I think I'll try reading each book again *after* the new movie for each book is out.
Posted by Reid @ 2001 May 02 01:12 PM EST
Oh, my. Check out the lovely Tolkien artwork here for the cover of the upcoming Lord of The Rings album by Glass Hammer. I want a poster of this painting for my wall. (I suppose I should post a mild spoiler warning here, but I don't think it will give much away without a context)
http://www.glasshammer.com/midearthcoverlarge.html
Posted by Allison @ 2001 May 02 11:38 PM EST
Another gem from the Glass Hammer site- two mp3's of Tolkien songs from the new CD. "Dwarf and Orc" is a tavern drinking song and "The Last Ship" is a lovely Enya-esque ballad. Neither song provides plot spoilers for the books.
Go to http://www.glasshammer.com/index2.html, scroll down the page to where it says "Spy Report- two tracks from the new album."
Yay, it's fun to surf around sites where everyone likes Tolkien :).
Posted by Allison @ 2001 May 03 12:00 AM EST
The Prolouges are a little dry, but I enjoy them. It adds (Christopher Tolkien mentions this much in the Book of Lost Tales) Depth to the book. When reading all these references to long gone heroes and kings, places and people and battles, you feel like you are scraping the top of something much deeper, a whole world. That is the sort of thing that lead me to read the Silmarillion, The Book of Lost Tales, and Unfinished Tales. More than once. Good luck with your reading! I have read LoTR three times, and it gets better each one!
Posted by Glen @ 2001 Jun 01 11:49 AM EST
The prolouge provides the reader with an immediate sense of a "real" historical base for the story you are about to read. It doesn't have to be studied or poured over in great detail, but it does help to draw you right into the world of Middle Earth. You don't have to understand what "...Argeleb II, the twentieth of the Northern line that came to end with Arvedui three hundred years later" means in order to get the sense of depth and "solidness" that it conveys. You understand quickly that you aren't just being dropped into a story that has no connection to anything. The prolouge lets us know that a whole lotta' stuff has happened before we get to the point of the story that we are about to read.
It also allows you to experiance the joy of recognition when you run across a name or story fragment later in the book. When you first meet Peregrin Took, for instance, you might think, "ah, this must be the Peregrin who's great-grandson we read about in the prolouge." Or after reading something later on that relates to the prolouge, you're able to think, "so that's how that fits in."
The prolouge lays the foundation for the book as a "discovered history" rather than a "made-up story", and thus is a very important part of the readers introduction to the book.
Posted by Tom @ 2001 Jun 01 12:17 PM EST
I found the prologue a bit long-winded my first time through LOTR, with the exception of the recounting of Bilbo, Gollum, and The One Ring. However, I've just started re-reading the whole epic and really enjoyed the prologue. It's kind of sneaky, but it kind of functions as a postscript too - you find out what some of the characters do after their adventures. I suggest going back to re-read the prologue after you're done with the books and you've followed the hobbits in their journeys, as it can be somewhat insightful. I found I cared more about the history of Middle Earth after reading the entire books.
Posted by Kierstin @ 2001 Jun 01 12:26 PM EST
My bit of advice - avoid reading Tolkien prologues at all costs. Eventually, you'll have to, but it's best to at least try in Rings. All the various "Books of Lost Stuff" have prologues and footnotes that are actually essential to the story. And dry, dry, dry.
Posted by Nemuro @ 2001 Jun 02 01:34 AM EST
omg how can u people not "get through" the lord of the rings. it is the best trilogy and story every written or told!!! i couldnt stop reading it if i tried!!! how can u people not like it?!
Posted by david @ 2001 Jun 11 12:42 AM EST
There was a conspiracy among the teachers in my elementary school. Each year, beginning with 3rd grade, the teacher would read us one of Tolkien's books beginning with the Hobbit in 3rd grade and ending with Return of the King by the time we finished 6th grade and left for Junior High School.
I read the Hobbit for myself when I was in 4th grade, but I always had trouble getting started on the Lord of the Rings back then. It wasn't until I was older that I realized why. The Hobbit is a childrens book while the Lord of the Rings is not.
I am now 30 and I am reading the Lord of the Rings yet again. I feel kind of sad that my daughter, who is now 2, will probably get her first taste of Tolkein through the movies now in production.
Posted by Patrick @ 2001 Jun 12 10:25 AM EST
First time, skip the prologue. It's only interesting if you've already read it, but that was tolkien's style. If it wasnt like that, it wouldnt be Tolkien :)
Posted by Error1020 @ 2001 Jun 12 06:36 PM EST
The Prologue is only useful if you're wanting to get into nitty gritty detail of the book and its world. My experience is that you only need that if you're fascinated by the book...i.e. you've read it for the first time and you want more. That means you skipped the prologue first time round as well. So, that's really a circular way of saying, SKIP THE PROLOGUE!
Posted by Ruaraidh Wishart @ 2001 Jun 14 08:11 PM EST
Y'all are gonna hate me, but when I read the book for the first time when I was 10 or so, I found the prologue fascinating. I suspect it's not a reader screening test, though, but a linguistics aptitude one....
Seriously, though, forewords are never required reading. Whenever I read a 'classic', I always skipped the prologue by some supposedly learned professor until after I'd read it -- they were usually either full of spoilers or made the book sound boring. After you'd read the book, you could go back to the foreword and sneer at it.
Posted by Maureen @ 2001 Jun 15 09:34 PM EST
