Rarely Seen Paintings by J.R.R. Tolkien • Hacker News Board

Re: Rarely Seen Paintings by J.R.R. Tolkien

#61

Post by eicossa » Fri, Jun 17, 2022, 2:41 AM UTC

metroholografix wrote: post #26

jonnycomputer wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm a fan of Jackson's LOTR, but his Hobbit was almost a complete failure (in my opinion). Radical departures from feel, and yes, plot, of the book.

I found the LOTR movies completely missed the essence and magic of the books and I see them as little more than cliche-ridden hollywood garbage. I can't possibly imagine Tolkien being happy about such depraved debasement of his life's work. The only adaptation of Tolkien's work that I think does justice to it and captures part of Tolkien's spark, are the albums of the Austrian black metal band "Summoning".

Finally somebody other than me who is aware of Summoning. They are awesome. "The Passing of the Grey Company", "Land of the Dead", "Mirdautas Vras", "Nightshade Forests" and "Kor" all evoke specific scenes from the books for me.

Re: Rarely Seen Paintings by J.R.R. Tolkien

#62

Post by incanus77 » Fri, Jun 17, 2022, 5:28 PM UTC

rightbyte wrote: post #49

dasil003 wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I first read the Silmarillion 20 years ago and then re-read it last year. What struck me is how short it actually is, compared to the sense of scale that I remembered. Of course the Silmarillion is cherrypicked from decades of manuscripts, so I guess it shouldn't be surprising that it conveys a sense of mythological world-building depth beyond its page count.

Do you recommend reading it or is there a risk it "destroys the mysticism"? Usually I find the worst thing to do in fantasy is to read up on the lore.

Oh no, it's definitely enhances! It's not merely descriptive of what happened, and it doesn't break the fourth wall or step out of the story. As much as LOTR was the tale of the Ring collected, compiled, and related essentially by Bilbo and Frodo, The Silmarillion is the creation stories assembled by the elves and first men. It's very in-world.

Re: Rarely Seen Paintings by J.R.R. Tolkien

#63

Post by rightbyte » Sat, Jun 18, 2022, 11:48 AM UTC

incanus77 wrote: post #62

rightbyte wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you recommend reading it or is there a risk it "destroys the mysticism"? Usually I find the worst thing to do in fantasy is to read up on the lore.

Oh no, it's definitely enhances! It's not merely descriptive of what happened, and it doesn't break the fourth wall or step out of the story. As much as LOTR was the tale of the Ring collected, compiled, and related essentially by Bilbo and Frodo, The Silmarillion is the creation stories assembled by the elves and first men. It's very in-world.

> It's very in-world.

Thanks that is what I wanted to hear.

Re: Rarely Seen Paintings by J.R.R. Tolkien

#64

Post by [deleted] » Mon, Jun 20, 2022, 11:37 PM UTC

rightbyte wrote: post #49

dasil003 wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I first read the Silmarillion 20 years ago and then re-read it last year. What struck me is how short it actually is, compared to the sense of scale that I remembered. Of course the Silmarillion is cherrypicked from decades of manuscripts, so I guess it shouldn't be surprising that it conveys a sense of mythological world-building depth beyond its page count.

Do you recommend reading it or is there a risk it "destroys the mysticism"? Usually I find the worst thing to do in fantasy is to read up on the lore.

[deleted]