Does nobody read the Lord of the Rings any more?

[DoomYoshi]

Apparently they are still discussing it at the LHC:
https://supchina.com/2021/01/29/some-of-us-did-not-die

(warning: long and painfully liberal article)

[Zieborn]

If you could be any character from Middle Earth, who would you be?

Sauron. I'd put a locked door on Mount Doom.

[Dukasaur]

If you could be any character from Middle Earth, who would you be?

Sauron. I'd put a locked door on Mount Doom.

Lol, yeah!

[jusplay4fun]

I think that for me (and, therefore, many others) that seeing the movies and getting a condensed version takes away the incentive to spend ALL that time reading. Human nature (imo) says "Give me what I want NOW, and be sure it is the best. Do not make me wait for it!"

At this point, I still plan to read the books.

One other note, I got into a discussion about LoR with someone recently and we discussed the first movie. She was reluctant to even see the first one. After watching, she was ready for the second movie. I asked if she had read the books......

No, she did not. BUT she really enjoyed the movies.

I think that there are a few really good stories. Those often get copied and re-told and re-written in different ways. I think LoR is one of those great stories and ideas for a grand saga and great adventure. I think Star Wars is like that, although George Lucas gives credit to a few inspirational works. (I quoted that somewhere.) I think that Duk or someone mentioned The Iliad and King Arthur sagas as other very interesting stories. I will add that Gene Roddenberry's optimistic vision of the future is a great start to wonderful stories, too.

It used to be you could go anywhere, anytime, and if you didn't know anybody you could start a conversation about Lord of the Rings and soon everybody would be jumping in. Even after society moved from the pubs to Usenet, still there was always a thread about LotR, and even if there wasn't one, you could still get one going without much effort.

Then came the movies. For a while there was a big rise in interest, but it didn't last long, and when it went, it took everything with it. I haven't seen any conversations about LotR in years, and when I try to start one, it falls dead.

In a way, I see this like the life and death of a sun. For billions of years it gives light and heat. Then for a little while it bursts out in a nova, brighter than ever before, but afterwards it falls dead, a crushingly lifeless dark ember.

Did the movies kill the books? Or is the making of a movie the natural tragic ending in the life cycle of a book?

[jusplay4fun]

Inspiration for Star Wars:

Many different influences have been suggested for the Star Wars films by fans, critics, and George Lucas himself. Lucas has said that the plot and characters in the 1958 Japanese film The Hidden Fortress, directed by Akira Kurosawa, was a major inspiration. Additionally, the film influenced Lucas to tell the story of Star Wars from the viewpoint of the humble droids, rather than a major player. It also played a role in the conception of Darth Vader, whose trademark black helmet intentionally resembles a samurai helmet.

https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Star_Wars#:~:text=Lucas%20has%20said%20that%20the,rather%20than%20a%20major%20player.

for the quote below, here is the source:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Wars_sources_and_analogues

The Star Wars science fiction media franchise is acknowledged to have been inspired by many sources. These include southern and eastern Asian religions, Qigong, philosophy, classical mythology, Roman history, Zoroastrianism, parts of the Abrahamic religions, Confucianism, Shintō and Taoism, and countless cinematic precursors. Creator George Lucas stated "Most of the spiritual reality in the movie[s] is based on a synthesis of all religions. A synthesis through history; the way man has perceived the unknown and the great mystery and tried to deal with that or dealing with it".[1]

It is also speculated that Star Wars also takes inspirations from pre-Roman Celtic folklore (Arthurian legends are post-Roman, set around the third century AD).[2]

Lucas has also said that chivalry, knighthood, paladinism and related institutions in feudal societies inspired some concepts in the Star Wars movies, most notably the Jedi Knights. The work of the mythologist Joseph Campbell, especially his book The Hero with a Thousand Faces, directly influenced Lucas,[3] and is what drove him to create the "modern myth" of Star Wars. The natural flow of energy known as the Force is believed to have originated from the concept of qi/chi/ki, "the all-pervading vital energy of the universe".