Are these books essential reading?

>I like fantasy and world-building but never got into Tolkien
>prefers Tolkien imitators to actual Tolkien

This is the defining characteristic of a "D&D nerdlord".

lmao russian people have an alphabet and chinese have pinyin, what are you on about

>reading the alphabet

I bet you also exchange currency for goods, don't you you little conformist?

>The Hobbit is better in my opinion.
Kill yourself.
>The Hobbit is good reading, at least.
Kill yourself.
>Only if you read pleb shit fantasy trash.
Kill yourself.

>Are these books essential reading?
Tolkien basically invented the modern fantasy genre, so yes. He was also one of the greatest philologist to ever live so there's a tremendous amount to appreciate in his works, not that most do. The idea that these are simple fictions or meant for children is exactly the result of those with no capacity for nuance 'reading' TLotR. These are the same kinds of people who complain the passages are too long or that he is too descriptive. Posturing retards, basically.

In short, try to read them. If you are able to observe the high beauty of Middle Earth, it is worth your time, else no, and you'd be better off drooling into your usual cup.

It's considered a classic for a reason.

>B..but it's fantasy..

If you're not into fantasy you won't dig them obviously.

But the books themselves are really well written with great characters and an enthralling story.

Read the Hobbit first naturally and take yourself on a grand adventure.

Yes.

the lord of the rings is fucking garbage, as is anything else tolkian wrote

But there is still the burden of Tolkien’s style: stiff, false archaic, overwrought, and finally a real hindrance in Volume III, The Return of the King, which I have had trouble rereading. At seventy-seven, I may just be too old, but here is The Return of the King, opened pretty much at random:

>At the doors of the Houses many were already gathered to see Aragorn, and they followed after him; and when at last he had supped, men came and prayed that he would heal their kinsmen or their friends whose lives were in peril through hurt or wound, or who lay under the Black Shadow. And Aragorn arose and went out, and he sent for the sons of Elrond, and together they labored far into the night. And word went through the city: ‘The King is come again indeed.’ And they named him Elfstone, because of the green stone that he wore, and so the name which it was foretold at his birth that he should bear was chosen for him by his own people.

I am not able to understand how a skilled and mature reader can absorb about fifteen hundred pages of this quaint stuff. Why “hurt or wound”; are they not the same? What justifies the heavy King James Bible influence upon this style? Sometimes, reading Tolkien, I am reminded of the Book of Mormon. Tolkien met a need, particularly in the early days of the counterculture in the later 1960s. Whether he is an author for the duration of the twenty-first century seems to me open to some doubt.

I read the books after watching the extended cuts of the movies and I found them a bit of a chore to read. The movies basically captured most of the important plot points and I didn't dig Tolkien's writing style. Way too much description of natural landscapes desu.

...

Read the Silmarillion instead

>are they not the same
They are not.

>Why “hurt or wound”; are they not the same? What justifies the heavy King James Bible influence upon this style
Wound suggests a piercing or laceration of the flesh, hurt does not. That point is moot though as Tolkien uses both for the sake of euphony, which should hope would be apparent...

which I*

>why the fuck does Homer repeat himself so much

>And word went through the city: ‘The King is come again indeed.’

Bravo Tolkien

Go drool in your drool cup fuckhead.

10/10

>I am not able to understand how a skilled and mature reader can absorb about fifteen hundred pages of this quaint stuff.
There aren't 1,500 pages of it. The style changes as the setting changes. At this point Tolkien is mimicking the portentous tones of Homer or the Nordic sagas. Compare this to a passage set in the Shire, or Frodo's trek into Mordor.

I like how nobody on this board realises it's romanticism, and it only developed a certain image due to capitalist pop-culture retards who know nothing about literature - sonething that Tolkien was trying to avoid. Tolkien wanted the return of the more classical literature and mythology, and wanted it to gain more respect; only people did not end up being inspired by Tolkien to create romantic books, with thought into them and the world, but clone capitalistic uninspired bullshit which use the same overabundance of elves and drawves. The thing that Tolkien hates the most.

If it was written ealier, in another time, then maybe.....

It is also partially the reason why people complain about long descriptions of nature in his books, the know nothing about him despite claiming to be his number one fan - Tolkien was completly obsessed and enthralled with nature. Besides, if you see other romantatic works (like those by Byron or Blake) you could see that nature and setting takes a big role in all of them; even Gothic romances like Mysteries of Uldopho have an abundance of it, it really shows.

Tl;dr: People claim it is just a work of fantasy, but really it's more romantic.

>I like how nobody on this board realises it's romanticism,
>Tl;dr: People claim it is just a work of fantasy, but really it's more romantic.

Did you even read the thread? See...

Is the Silmarillion worth reading?

My post was an expansion inspired by that one, I just made it clear it was romantic.

>tfw Chris was so aghast from the influence the films had on his father's legacy he tried to stop all the media that followed from being made
>it ended with him losing most of the related rights
>tfw Tolkien would be woken up in the AM hours by hippy fuckers on the other side of the world who had to phone him about how 'far out man' his story was
the world of literature is a cruel joke

Yes if you like the idea of a middle earth bible, or if you liked the mythology/romantic aspect of his writing.

Kek

deal with it, nerds