Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter?

[MinervasCat]

I'd chose the HP books because they are an easier read. I really enjoy them. I found the LotR books a bit dragging at times. I've read the HP series several times. LotR just once.

As far as the movies go, though, I'm not sure when there will ever be another trilogy of movies like the LotR. What a magnificent job they did with everything: the casting, the filming, editing, music, special effects, they were about as close to perfection as you can get.

[Melisa]

I'm afraid I'll go for Tolkien, I just find his work fascinating, so vast, so utterly detailed...
I love HP, of course, but my love for Tolkien knows no boundaries...

[koston]

I'd go with harry potter because i find Rowling's writing more interesting than Tolkien's imo

[Sorafune]

I chose the LotR movies but I find the books hard to read and I get bored pretty quick and that's the reason I prefer to read the Harry Potter books, they're just easier to read.

I might have answered this question before but I can't really remember

[sllagnire]

Originally Posted by koston

I'd go with harry potter because i find Rowling's writing more interesting than Tolkien's imo

I totally agree. Both put a whole lot of detail in the books, but when I read LOTR (which I admit was probably about 8 years ago), it seemed like he would spend pages describing a door or a wall, and it just didn't keep my interest very well.

I also have to admit that LOTR movies are way better, IMO, but that could just be because I don't nitpick every little scene like I do with HP.

[Tonks_Animagus]

Originally Posted by sllagnire

I totally agree. Both put a whole lot of detail in the books, but when I read LOTR (which I admit was probably about 8 years ago), it seemed like he would spend pages describing a door or a wall, and it just didn't keep my interest very well.

I agree. I have seen this in many books, not only LOTR, and it's pretty tiring. While Rowling manages to skip big and needless descriptions but however keeps us in this magical world too.

Originally Posted by sllagnire

I also have to admit that LOTR movies are way better, IMO, but that could just be because I don't nitpick every little scene like I do with HP.

Indeed they are. Although I found them a bit tiring, the special effects, dialogues and also acting were brilliant. While HP movies may be some good movie but don't really go with the books and their "quality"(?).

[Carlynm79]

I have read all of the Harry Potter and the Lord of the Rings books several times. I'm addicted to them both for very different reasons. I don't think that they can be compared. Myself, I couldn't choose between the two if I had to. I think they'd both win....tie for me.

[MC2456]

Tolkien is a good writer. His works and the English are just a reflection of his time. I'm sure a hundred years down the road, kids would Harry Potter weird (The lingo would have completely changed by then!). No offense to anyone, okay?

[captain Sparrow]

I do like HP more as a serie. But still, they are quite different...in my opinnion at least. The LOTR movies are way better than the books (for me there are too many details in the books). And HP books are much better than the movies. you could see it as a tie(I love both series) but I still prefer Harry Potter...

[ccollinsmith]

Both.

[GinnyPotter15]

I read the Hobbit before I read LOTR. The hobbit is known to be a children's book and it is indeed very easy. I then started on the Fellowship of the Ring, and it felt like I was only reading letters, instead of complete sentences. I was reading but I didn't know exactly what I was reading, why I was reading, I didn't see the point. So I have to admit, I sort of gave up..
I think that makes Harry Potter automatically better in my opinion. I will try LOTR again soon, because I was younger when I tried. Maybe i'll find out it's brilliant and change my opinion. However, I have read a lot of books in my life, and not one has ever beaten Harry Potter on my list!

[EvelynSnape1073]

Definetly Harry Potter. I tried to read Lord of the Rings, but I quite the first few pages. there was too much detail and it took two chapters to cover five minutes in a scene.

[merry18]

I used to prefer to read Harry Potter because I found them easier reads than LotR, but I posted that after only having read LotR once when I was 13.

I'm now 20 and finally re-reading LotR, and I must say I no longer find them to be hard reads. The descriptions weren't as long-winded as I'd remembered them, and I'm old enough to fully appreciate the beauty of Tolkien's writing style. It truly is a style that only those who study language can master.

Don't get me wrong, LotR is still not the easy page turner that HP is, but I don't think it warrents the reputation it has for being incredibly hard to read. I used to think so and thought I was a freakin' genius for finishing them, but not anymore.

That being said, I could no longer pick between HP and LotR. They are completely different and thus incomparable, IMO.

[jnette]

Harry Potter, of course. But, Lord of the Rings is still very good,..but there is no Snape character!!!!

[NumberEight]

I've started reading The Lord of the Rings for the first time. I've read four chapters of Fellowship and I already like it more than the first two Potter books.

[FleurduJardin]

Originally Posted by NumberEight

I've started reading The Lord of the Rings for the first time. I've read four chapters of Fellowship and I already like it more than the first two Potter books.

That's great! I love that series, it's a higher quality of writing than the HP books, though some people find JRR Tolkien's style too stiff, and some find the first few chapters (especially Bilbo's 111th birthday party) so boring they never got any further, thus missing one of the most satisfying reading experiences ever!

If you like the first four chapters, wait until you get to the second and third books!

It seems you and I have the same tastes in many things.

[NumberEight]

Originally Posted by FleurduJardin

That's great! I love that series, it's a higher quality of writing than the HP books, though some people find JRR Tolkien's style too stiff, and some find the first few chapters (especially Bilbo's 111th birthday party) so boring they never got any further, thus missing one of the most satisfying reading experiences ever!

If you like the first four chapters, wait until you get to the second and third books!

It seems you and I have the same tastes in many things.

I actually love Bilbo's birthday party. His "like you half as much" line is great. So far I like "The Shadow of the Past" chapter the most.

[Pearl_Took]

Originally Posted by merry18

Don't get me wrong, LotR is still not the easy page turner that HP is, but I don't think it warrents the reputation it has for being incredibly hard to read.

I agree. It's not hard to read, not for a mature reader anyway. I tried reading LotR when I was eleven and that was just too young. I tried again, when I was 21, and that was the charm ... I couldn't put the book down.

There are far more challenging authors than Tolkien out there! The challenge about Tolkien's writing is his info dumps. You know, that great vast history of Middle-earth which significant characters allude to ... often. Which, personally, I think he handles with great skill. In the hands of a lesser writer, The Council of Elrond would be a snooze-fest, but Tolkien makes it all really fascinating, IMO, because of the device of using multiple voices and perspectives in that chapter.

He's a Victorian sort of writer, IMO, but his actual prose style is crisp and clean and far less turgid than other Victorian writers can be.

I love strong stories and narratives, and HP satisfies on that account.

So does LotR, obviously ... and I love the world it takes me into.

[Melisa]

Originally Posted by NumberEight

I've started reading The Lord of the Rings for the first time. I've read four chapters of Fellowship and I already like it more than the first two Potter books.

I really hope you continue enjoying it! And as someone said before in this thread, I don't hink HP and LotR are comparable, particularly considering that LotR is only a fragment of Tolkien's vast work.
Also, I do agree that LotR might result a bit hard to read, particularly for younger readers, since descriptions (which I love) are lengthy and action is slow in some passages.

[FleurduJardin]

Originally Posted by NumberEight

I actually love Bilbo's birthday party. His "like you half as much" line is great. So far I like "The Shadow of the Past" chapter the most.

Yes, "The Shadow of the Past" is the first really captivating chapter. The birthday party is just fun, especially Bilbo's speech but it mostly doesn't have much to do with the story itself, I mean the Frodo's Mission and the great war between good and evil.

I did tell one of my friends who found the beginning of LotR boring to skip the first 100 pages and to start with "The Shadow of the Past" but with her it was hopeless. Even the story of Bilbo finding the Ring failed to entrance her. Mind you that friend is not a HP fan either, and the only science-fiction or fantasy she likes seems to be the "take me down to the depth of misery" social commentary kind, like for example Kazuo Ishiguro's "Never Let Me Go", which I found to be one of the most depressing books I've ever read. Ah well you can't account for taste...

Anyway, please keep us appraised of your progress in reading the series. Do you plan to read "The Silmarillion" after that? - That one I could never get through, whereas I've read the Trilogy at least five times each, in English and in French.