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The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Anticipation

Meredith Quill
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rmontro

rmontro

This summer PBS was promoting a Great American Read program, where they presented 100 classic novels and put them up for a vote to see who would win.  

Lord of the Rings came in fifth, which is not bad (I would place it #1, of course).  I was a little surprised by the top five:

5)  Lord of the Rings

4)  Pride and Prejudice

3)  Harry Potter

2)  Outlander

1)  To Kill a Mockingbird

 

I take comfort because I was expecting Harry Potter to win.  I'm surprised Outlander finished so highly.  To Kill a Mockingbird s a great book, but a book centering on racism at #1 surprises me because it's a depressing topic.  The one novel I thought was missing from the top 100 was Lolita.  I could name a few others, but I thought that was the main omission.

Here's the top 100:

https://www.pbs.org/the-great-american-read/books/#/

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kickingnames

kickingnames

48 minutes ago, rmontro said:

To Kill a Mockingbird s a great book, but a book centering on racism at #1 surprises me because it's a depressing topic.

TKAM is about racism, yes, but also about more than that. And while racism is a depressing topic (and the racism in the book is not treated lightly), the book itself is not depressing - at least, it wasn't for me. I really loved it.

I'm glad LOTR is in the top five -- that's really great. The list as a whole is very interesting; a few of those books I'm quite surprised to see make the list.

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rmontro

rmontro

3 hours ago, kickingnames said:

TKAM is about racism, yes, but also about more than that. And while racism is a depressing topic (and the racism in the book is not treated lightly), the book itself is not depressing

Yeah, many people said they found hope in the Atticus Finch character and others.  Even though the story doesn't have a happy ending.  This is one of those books I read in school.

I would have liked to have seen The Lord of the Rings at #1 of course, but I can't complain about top five.  It's nice to know that a lot of people still appreciate it.  There have been many top 100 lists like this over the years, and the real value of them is if they inspire to read some books that you might not have otherwise considered.   

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peacheslatour

peacheslatour

Quote

To Kill a Mockingbird s a great book, but a book centering on racism at #1 surprises me because it's a depressing topic. 

Yes but it's beautifully written.

Quote

 take comfort because I was expecting Harry Potter to win. 

Not so beautifully written.

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Sandman

Sandman

(edited)
On ‎2‎/‎16‎/‎2019 at 7:19 PM, raven said:

"I wisely started with a map" - Tolkien

If you say so, Professor. But, really -- I think the language(s) came first, before everything else.*

ETA: I have a very bad feeling about this series. I fear it will be tarted up to attract the Game of Thrones audience, out of all recognition. The overall feeling of Tolkien's work, it seems to me, wasn't fully present in Jackson's version -- though it was hinted at, occasionally  -- and that is sadness. Not the triumphalist teenaged thirst in Martin's world, where the sole purpose of every single thing is to be wrecked, killed, eaten, or fucked. An elegiac, sorrowing sense of decay and decline. There's no way that's preserved in a television series. 

(It's probably not coincidence that my avatar here is a version of my name in one of the Professor's invented languages. /nerd)

Edited by Sandman
*Suck it, George R. R. Martin
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MissLucas

MissLucas

(edited)

So, it looks as if we're stuck with the Second Age (damn it, I wanted to see Gondolin*) and there's a lot of speculation about the focus being on Númenor. But I'd rather think they will condense Númenórian history a bit and devote equal time to whatever goes on in Beleriand while the Númenóreans are frolicking their way into ultimate hubris. 

*Although this means that I have minor chance to finally see Queen Berúthiel and her cats, yay!

Edited by MissLucas
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rmontro

rmontro

According to this article, the show will probably air sometime in 2021.  Seems like a long wait.

There was also this quote:

"There’s potentially scope for a crossover with the movies, too, as Warner Bros executives were brought in to finalise the deal thanks to that very possibility."

Honestly, that doesn't thrill me since I don't see the movies as telling the actual story.  Not saying it was a bad adaptation, but the real story is in the book, not in the movie changes. 

Not sure how it would crossover with the movies though, if it's set in the Second Age.

https://www.gamesradar.com/lord-of-the-rings-tv-show-release-date-trailer-news/

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rmontro

rmontro

2 hours ago, Anduin said:

Galadriel was around in the second age.

Would they really need Warner Brothers approval to sign Cate Blanchett to play Galadriel?  If that's what they want to do.  I don't see why they would have to tie any appearance of Galadriel to the movies.

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Anduin

Anduin

1 hour ago, rmontro said:

Would they really need Warner Brothers approval to sign Cate Blanchett to play Galadriel?  If that's what they want to do.  I don't see why they would have to tie any appearance of Galadriel to the movies.

I dunno. But if they wanted a flash-forward, to the end of the story, Galadriel is the best one to have been involved all that time. I checked, Elrond was around then too. Yeah, Celeborn or Círdan could pop up. But if they can get Cate Blanchett, they should.

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rmontro

rmontro

54 minutes ago, Anduin said:

if they can get Cate Blanchett, they should.

She did a good job as Galadriel, I have no qualms with her.  But I would prefer that they tie everything back to the books, as opposed to the movies.  Just like the new Watchmen series on HBO follows the comics as the source material, not the movie.

I'd like to see Tom Bombadil pop up, he was around in the Second Age.  I know he's something of a controversial figure for some people, but he always gets the short shrift in these adaptations.

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Anduin

Anduin

1 hour ago, rmontro said:

She did a good job as Galadriel, I have no qualms with her.  But I would prefer that they tie everything back to the books, as opposed to the movies.  Just like the new Watchmen series on HBO follows the comics as the source material, not the movie.

I'd like to see Tom Bombadil pop up, he was around in the Second Age.  I know he's something of a controversial figure for some people, but he always gets the short shrift in these adaptations.

Ooh, Bombadil! Yeah, he'd be an interesting figure to explore. As long as they never reveal his nature. Some things should stay a mystery.

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joliefaire

joliefaire

I like the title - finally, we have a name for the series and way more importantly, we have a timeline to reference--the lead-up to, then the forging of, then the aftermath of the forging of the Rings.  And, given that timeline (presumably spread out over a minimum 5-seasons as guaranteed in the contract with the Tolkien estate) I'd say its nearly a 100% certainty that our POV character will be Galadriel.  Can't wait, bring it on, Amazon.  Bring it ON!

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