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Lord of the Rings (Critique)

A critique of both the movies (Peter Jackson) and the books. I'm sure I will catch heat for not loving the books. I think they're terrible - even though I love the world and the genre he created. Here goes!

By L.C. SchäferPublished 9 months ago 1 min read
Top Story - August 2023
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Lord of the Rings (Critique)
Photo by Ergo Zakki on Unsplash

Movies: decent adaptation, wonderfully cast. A lot of detail cut to make these books fit to the screen, and yet characters gaze meaningfully for minutes on end. At least I finished them.

Books: Genre-defining, standard-setting in terms of world-building, and detailed to a fault. Love the world, but couldn't finish.

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About the Creator

L.C. Schäfer

Book-baby is available on Kindle Unlimited

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Sometimes writes under S.E.Holz

"I've read books. Well. Chewed books."

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Comments (34)

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  • Lost in Writing8 months ago

    A Finnish penpal introduced me to the first book of Lord of the Rings trilogy and I absolutely LOVED it. Then I read the whole trilogy and all the other truthful books about the world & myth: The Hobbit, Silmariklion, etc. When I finished I had THIRST for more, I found out there were several others but those were by his son and curator, but of those I was very disappointed because they were more annotations than anything else. Many years later the first movie came out. The movies are great (seen those several times) but I am glad I read all the books first. Me wants a Lord of the Rings toe ring 😂

  • Mark Graham9 months ago

    Agreed the movies were well detailed, and I have read and loved the books and read the complete series, and planning to re-read them soon.

  • Ian Read9 months ago

    Personally, I loved book Frodo better. Also, I will not forgive Jackson for cutting out Tom Bombadil (jk).

  • Manisha Dhalani9 months ago

    I had to DNF LOTR too. It was too heavy for me, but I absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE the movie series!

  • Brin J.9 months ago

    So, I've never read LOTR, but I have the book. The Delux suede hardcover version, to be exact. (If I was going to own it, I was going to own it in the best format🤣). One day I will sit down and read it.

  • Babs Iverson9 months ago

    Wonderful authentic critique!!! Congratulations on T S too!!!❤️❤️💕

  • JBaz9 months ago

    I appreciate your critique, I will be on the side of I loved the books, and yes I read them more than once. Yes, they are long and over stuffed and oh so magically wonderful. I felt the movie did a great adaptation of the books, Even adding to the story. Congratualtions.

  • Paul Stewart9 months ago

    As much as this absolutely annoys me to my core and you're doing a pee on my childhood. This is a well argued critique. I don't need to agree to enjoy the art. Well done on it getting Top Story, LC!

  • Dana Stewart9 months ago

    Absolutely loved the movies, but you are right there is a lot of wasted space. The books are the iceberg underneath the surface, so much more detail. I remember being confused a good bit when I read them but still enjoyed.

  • Caroline Jane9 months ago

    Great honest review. I struggled through the books and the movies. Not my genre, although I appreciate them for defining a veritable epoch of fantasy.

  • Mattie :)9 months ago

    I love the film franchise! Couldn't through the books either. Very different, yet that's ok. Great commentary, friend and congrats on top story :)

  • Oneg In The Arctic9 months ago

    Honest critique, and well worded-out. Congrats on TS :)

  • Kendall Defoe 9 months ago

    Honestly, I prefer the books...although I liked the films pre-Hobbit.

  • Dana Crandell9 months ago

    I love your assessment of the movies. So much wasted space and missed storyline! I still enjoyed the adventures, but the story was lacking. I did finish and enjoy the books. (I'm stubborn.) Congratulations on Top Story!

  • Alivia Varvel9 months ago

    These are my absolute favorite movies in the world, and you’re absolutely right. What’s up with all the looking off at nothing in these near 4-hour movies? 😆

  • well done on top story! 🥰😁✨👌

  • Mariann Carroll9 months ago

    Congratulations on Top Story 💕🥳🥳🥳🥳

  • Hannah Moore9 months ago

    Ha ha, I hear you! I spoke about the hobbit as my life changing book, eguchbi love, but these were... It was like reading a linguist and word builder pleasuring himself. I'm sure he enjoyed making it greatly, but perhaps didn't need to be joined on the journey.

  • Rachael MacDonald9 months ago

    Great choice of topic! While I'll agree to disagree respectfully, you really can't go wrong with Tolkien 😁

  • Matthew Fromm9 months ago

    Really need to finish my WIPs so I can turn my intention to a full review of the books now.....congrats on the top story! My critique entry here: https://vocal.media/critique/the-lord-of-the-rings-b53780fwt

  • Lynn Fenske9 months ago

    Again you've written a brilliantly concise review. Kudos to Vocal curation team for recognizing your talent. As for Lord of the Rings, I tried reading the book and gave up after three attempts. So why watch the movie?

  • Cathy holmes9 months ago

    I've not seen, nor read them. But, yeah you might be in trouble for this one. 😁

  • The Dani Writer9 months ago

    Lord of the Rings!!! All YEAH!!! I'm still biased, so all the 'hype vibes!' 😁

  • Characters gaze meaningfully 🤣🤣🤣 I've never read or watched LOTR. But I loved your review!

  • Grz Colm9 months ago

    I’m honestly struggling with the first book fellowship! Use to love the films though.. ☺️

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