Curse
him, root and branch! Many of those trees were my friends creatures I
had known from nut and acorn; many had voices of their own that are lost
for ever now. And there are wastes of stump and bramble where once
there were singing groves. I have been idle. I have let things slip. It
must stop!
Welcome back everyone to the Lord of the Rings Read-A-Long. We(as a group) started reading the first section of The Two Towers.
I do think that Tolkien did capture both humor and being serious in
the same event. Below are the discussion question that your truly
decided to ask for the whole group to answer with their thoughts. You
can also add other remaining thoughts after the questions as well.
What Other Bloggers Thought:
Andrea
Carl
Kailana
The Blue Fairy’s Bookshelf
Lynn’s book blog
Book Den
Remember
to post your discussions no earlier than this Saturday, and if you're
on twitter use #LOTRreadalong. Here are this week's questions:
What is your favorite part of The Two Towers, thus far into the book?
I
would like to say the entire section was my favorite part of the book,
but I know technically that is not a part par say. If I do have to
choose a favorite part it would be the Treebeard chapter. I found it
great that Merry and Pippin helped thew cause of more nations to face
off against the power of Saruman.
In
the chapter, Treebeard convinced his fellow Ents to join the forces of
Gandalf in the battle against Saruman, whom have been killing his fellow
Ents.
What were your thoughts of Boromir trying to defend Merry and Pippin from Orc archers?
I
was with Little Red Reviewer not able to trust Boromir fully especially
after his confrontation with Frodo after the FOTR. After reading that
he gave his life trying to protect Pippin and Merry with the invading
Orcs was something to be said. In my opinion, he did rectify what he
tried to do at the end of the FOTR.
I thought that he did a great job trying with all his might to fend off the Orcs as long as he could until help did appear.
What thoughts would have been going through your mind if you were approached by Treebeard?
What
would be going through my mind...hmmm. Something like a tree is
approaching and asking me what I am doing in his forest. With Treebeard
being 14 feet tall and looks like a tree would get me to wonder, “Did I
eat some kind of strange and hallucinogenic mushroom. A tree is talking
to me now...well it is better than smurfs I guess.
After
getting that out of my heard, I tell him that I just escaped from some
disorganized Orcs. I am on a quest, but were separated from the company.
What were your thoughts and reactions of the battle at the Hornburg?
I
thought that Jackson did a good job with adaptation of this scene in
the movie. I thought it was hiarious that Gimli and Legolas were
competing on how many Orcs that they killed throughout this battle.
This section of this book was very compelling how the Riders of Rohan and the reamining Company set out to defend Helm's Deep. With how the company(Gandalf) did save the King of Rohan to continue to being poisoned by Wormtail.
Do
you like it that Tolkien has split the Company into three mini-quests?
Do you wonder if the company will be together throughout the quest
again?
I think that it is great on how Tolkien does have the Company split up into three different quests within the Company. It shows that everyone in the Company does in fact have something to offer and have a variety of skills. We(as readers) did learn so much more about Pippin and Merry with how they escaped from the Orcs and how they handled Treebeard and the Ents. I do think that we will be learning more about Sam before this journey to Middle Earth is finished.
As it stands at this moment, I do not think that Frodo and Sam will join the party at the end of the journey. As much as I want to see it, just do not see it happening. Other Thoughts:
With the amount of surprises we had in the first section of The Two Towers. It will be interesting to se what will be popping next in the next two section,lus we have an entire to read.
The Company found that Gandalf is alive He is now Galdalf the White is here to help finish the quest to Middle earth.
I also thought that it was something about Eowyn being named to be hier to the throne if something does happen to the King and his son Éomer.
I would like to thank everyone for joining the LOTR Read-A-Long to Middle Earth with Andrea, Carl V and myself.
Lol, I was thinking nearly the same thing about if I'd been approached by Treebeard, am I totally stoned? And I also loved the little competition between Gimli and Legolas during the battle. All this time, I'd thought they put that into the movie just to give those actors more lines. I was laughing my head off when it showed up in the book!
ReplyDeleteI continually surprised at the humor in these books. For some reason I'd always expected them to be super formal and super serious. Nice to know that Tolkien had a sense of humor.
I agree, the thread of humor in these books does give them an added dimension.
ReplyDeleteLove the image of Treebeard that you included at the beginning of this post.
You said what I mentioned in another comment, only you said it so much better, about how the splitting of the company allows others to really shine. That wouldn't have happened with the same impact had the fellowship remained together throughout the journey.
I like how Pippen and Merry, who showed flashes of bravery in FOTR, are able to really begin to step out and get involved because of the things that happen to them in The Two Towers. Tolkien doesn't waste his characters nor does he allow them to remain one dimensional. Instead we see them grow and change because of what happens to them, or at least we see latent characteristics rise to the top.
Treebeard and the ents was my favorite part as well. I agree about us being able to see the value of each character more with them being separated. I love seeing each one of them grow in the story.
ReplyDeleteIt's pretty amazing the level of humor Tolkien has inserted in the middle of battle.
I think one of the biggest eye openers for me was the use of dialogue in the film that has been directly lifted from the book and your example above of the little competition between Legolas and Gimli is an excellent example. It manages to demonstrate the level their friendship is starting to reach in that they can bait each other and it also manages to inject a bit of humour in an otherwise dire situation. I think that the reading this time has done a lot to make Gimli shine out as a character - even his scenes in the battle saving Eomer.
ReplyDeleteI know what you mean as well about wanting to say the whole section read so far is your favourite. I really struggled to pick my favourite part, Treebeard is just so excellent, plus the introduction to the Riders of Rohan - but I guess you have to make your choice and I've gone with the battle - I think the ending is so uplifting.
Thanks
Lynn
:D
My favorite parts of this book, so far, is of Rohan and Helm's Deep. I keep hearing everyone sing praises for how Jackson portrayed Helm's Deep in the movie. It is starting to make me excited to see the movie.
ReplyDeleteI liked the part about Eowyn named heir if the King and Eomer meet their demise.
I am intrigued with Eowyn - of course, I have not watched all the movies and am only reading the series for the first time right now so I really do not know what her role is and will be.
Hi, I like the comment about Eomer from ibeeeg - it makes me think about it again and realise that this is one area where the book and film diverge. Hadn't really considered that before.
ReplyDeleteThanks
Lynn :D
Hey, love your Treebeard picture - hadn't spotted it before :D
ReplyDeleteLynn
I am glad that everyone is enjoying the first part to The Two Towers as much as I have. SO many people do not realize how deep Tolkiens books are until one finally picks them up and starts reading his storytelling masterpiece.
ReplyDeleteWait, wait! Ibeeeg, you haven't seen the LOTR films?!?!
ReplyDeleteOh, you are so in for something cool.
Do Not rent the theatrical versions when you do so, get the extended editions and check them out. You can actually buy them used for little or nothing now that the blu rays are out. The extended editions are more faithful to the books and are in my opinion just better versions of the films.
Carl - we own them. I think all three but at least the first two. We bought them for my oldest son. He loved the movies when they first came out. He read the books too, and he is not a reader. I will look to see if we did get the extended version. But, you can say, this is truly my first experience with this story and not influenced by the movies beyond Fellowship.
ReplyDeleteWow, it will be fun to chat with you after you've seen the films as well.
ReplyDelete