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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Raven Crowking" data-source="post: 1881729" data-attributes="member: 18280">The first time I tried to read the novel, TTT bored me to tears.  Then I couldn't get through all the Mordor stuf in RotK.  Now, I've read the book over 30 times, and each time I notice how something that didn't seem important weaves into the story.  It has become my favorite book.Yes, but Tolkein, like all creators, was somewhat conflicted about his work.  He denied the relationship between the War of the Ring and WWII, for example, despite the fact that he wrote the Mordor bits and sent them off to his son who was fighting in the trenches at that time. Tolkein was also adamantly opposed to ending a film version of TTT where Jackson did.  And, he was opposed to Disney having anything to do with a film version.Tolkein would often refer to LotR as a simple adventure story, but there were also times that he talked about the themes and what was going on behind the scenes.  For example, one major theme in the book that makes no appearance in the movies is that Sauron's great sin is trying to order creation to his liking.  It was also the great sin of the elves, who were not meant to go to Middle Earth in the first place, and who tried to stay time through the creation of the Three Rings.  In the books, this is why Lothlorien seems so timeless.  In fact, time explicitly flows differently there, and Sam is "off his reckoning" when the moon is in the wrong phase after they leave.  Rivendell is also always described as having a rather timeless quality.From this standpoint, having the Three Rings fade with the passing of the One Ruling Ring, and having the elves pass from Middle Earth, is actually a correction in the grand scheme of things.  Sad for those left behind, certainly, but a correction nonetheless.Boromir is seduced by the Ring because he does not know his place.  He was to be Steward of Gondor; like his father, he preferred to be King.  His brother, Faramir, was chosen for the Quest, but Boromir took it upon himself (again, reference the books, not the movie).Frodo is able to succeed largely because he does not try to do more than his part.  He is Ring Bearer, not Ring Destroyer.  Likewise, Sam is able to return the Ring to Frodo because Sam does not desire to be a hero, or to be anything more than he is.  They do not share the sin of Sauron.Of course, it goes without saying that all of this stuff wouldn't work in a movie.  There have been really great movies that have dealt with philosophical themes, but no movie could deal with all of the material in LotR and still be watchable.  Even the poetry, as often as it is criticized, is actually integral to the overall vision of the book (and Middle Earth).RC</blockquote>

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