Lord of the Rings

Okay, people, don't everybody jump on me at once, please.

Here's the thing: I read The Hobbit many long years ago, in a lovely three-volume boxed set, which I still have (and read all of back then). It is, however, in a packing box (one of thirteen) that I have no room to unpack, as yet.

I remember loving the books when I read them, all those years ago, but never read them again, and simply cannot remember the names of all three of the volumes. (Shortly after I read them, I bought a beautiful oval locket--about three inches long--at a garage sale. It had a raised scene on it that made me think of Middle Earth. I still have it. Yes, I realize this bit has nothing to do with anything.)

I want to buy a Kindle copy of Lord of the Rings, which was NOT a trilogy, but was published in 3 volumes (not the same as a trilogy). When I try to figure out what to buy, I get the impression that LOTR is being published (now) as a trilogy, and The Hobbit is part of that, and then there is another volume titled LOTR part 2.

Somebody help me out, and tell me what I'm supposed to buy, in order to get the correct thing, as in all of it.

Also forgive my ignorance on this topic. I hope I don't get kicked out of the Green Dragon group.

the Hobbit is not more than one volume, but a single book.Lord of the Rings can be found in a three volume set or single volume at basically any price. I have two sets, on handed down to me from my mother that is a well loved second edition, the second, a paperback set. There are also other sets of histories, stories, etc, that Tolkien wrote (he was, after all, creating a world and its history) but these really can't be confused for tLotR. Really, its more about how much you're willing to spend than getting a specific edition or something. Unless, of course, I'm completely misunderstanding your question.

Yes, The Hobbit is a single volume that you could call a prequel to the three volume set of The Lord of the Rings (LOTR). It sets the stage for LOTR with the finding of the one ring. The 3 volumes of LOTR in order are: The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, and The Return of the King. I can't tell from your post what you actually read, but definitely start again with "The Hobbit" and continue with the 3 volumes of the LOTR. There are so many editions of the LOTR, boxed or not. Most used bookstores will have them. I envy you the delight of starting new. Enjoy.

Kasey

Please understand that The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings have very different tones. The former was written as a children's book and is about going off on an adventure and coming back happy; the latter is not a children's book, and has an underlying theme of 'scarred world, that is changing for the worse, recovering from attacks of evil, as best it can, at a horrible loss to a few'.

Please understand that The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings have very different tones. The former was written as a children's book and is about going off on an adventure and coming back happy; the latter is not a children's book, and has an underlying theme of 'scarred world, that is changing for the worse, recovering from attacks of evil, as best it can, at a horrible loss to a few'.

I have heard it said that The Hobbit is not a prequel to The Lord of the Rings books. I agree it is nice to read it first as it is a gentle entrance into the world, but there are many people who jump right into LoTR.

Loving The Hobbit does not mean you will love LotR, nor visa versa, but if you love Middle Earth, you will probably love both.

Should we even mention The Silmarillion at this point? :)

#8-Let's not scare them off yet! 8^)

>8 drneutron: Probably not. My teenage son finally picked up The Lord of the Rings over spring break, and then the Hobbit. He gave up halfway throught The Silmarillion. I don't know if it was too difficult a read for him, or rather just Middle Earth overload.

If you love Middle-Earth, you will like them all. I prefer LoTR to the Hobbit, but that's just me. And you won't get kicked out, we're just trying to lure you in!

I just unpacked my copy of The Lord of the Rings from one of my moving boxes!!!! Must keep up this unpacking, there is "gold in them thar" boxes.

I probably read LOTR at least once every two years...The Hobbit slightly less.

Love 'em.

>10 RitaFaye: I bought The Silmarillion when it first came out. I didn't actually read it all the way through untill quite some time afterward. I probably made at least 4-5 tries at it before I was able to read it completely.

I loved the Hobbit when I was 7, but can't say it survived. LoTR, on the other hand, I loved as a 7 yo kind when my dad read it to me, enough to pick it up on my own as soon as I read well enough to do it, and I still read it with pleasure. Coincidentally, I chose it as my first real English language read, when I was 13. The reasoning behind this was I was so familiar with the text the reading experience wouldn't be hindered by my poor vocabulary ;-)

The rest - I love Middle Earth, as of LoTR, but just couldn't get through any of the other volumes.

But the real issue here is "how to buy these books", I think. Originally LoTR was written as ONE book, with the publisher breaking it in three parts, due to how publishing worked, back in those days. So I would think it just fine if the Kindle version is an all-in-one edition.

#14 - LoTR was written in 6 sections, but yes 1 book. Each of the current 3 is subdivided in 2. I think was still a publisher based decision.

Probably depends on where you buy it from. An offical Amazon copy should be fine, but some of the 'resellers' you ought to be careful that what you think you're getting is actually the case. You do want the Appendix as well which makes up at least a third of the paper in Return of the King. If you find it fascinating, then, and only then, should you dare the Silmarillion and any of Christopher Tolkein's other works.

#15 - Yes, but it wouldn't make sense to publish them as these six separate "books". I heard an interview with the man who did the original decision to break it in three books, or at least that is my memory, it can be off, it has been a handful of years since. My memory informs me he said something like "no one would buy such a huge book" or something like that.

Of course, this was before word-processing software, back when books were hand typed and hand set ;-)

As I recall, back in the late '60s when I bought my copy, you could get a single-volume fat paperback LoTR which lacked the appendices, or the three-volume hardcover which had every word. Mine is the latter.

You can also buy a seven volume boxed set (1-6 and appendices), which is what I've got. But it is more usual to get three volumes.

Went through boxes, and found NOT The Hobbit, but the 3 volume boxed set of *drum roll* The Lord of the Rings! I haven't found my copy of The Hobbit, yet, but I will.

Thanks everybody.

As a Lord of the Rings collector of sorts, here are the various publishing options, some of which have been mentioned above, all of which deal with the complicated nature of how the story was broken into 'parts'

Background: The LotR is ONE STORY TO BE READ, originally broken by Tolkien into six 'books' (not meant to be published that way, or read separately, with long gaps between, but to break out the different points of reference, and major narrative events - a level of grouping above 'chapter' and below 'story').

1: The Rd three volumes we have today, that influenced the movie names asing Sets Out (hobbity, rural, slow discovery of the true nature of the ring; the wraiths, and true depths of the evil are not really understood, etc.)

2: The Ring Goes South (Council; start moving it as a group; then, the real point: break the fellowship up so there are two tracks: The intimate story of Frodo/Sam, and the 'rouse the army' story of Merry/Pippin/Aragorn)

3: The Treason of Isengard (From the vantage point of Merry/Pippin)

4: The Ring Goes East (From the Vantage point of Frodo/Sam)

5: The War of the Ring (Merry/Pippin again)

6: The End of the Third Age (Frodo/Sam alone, followed by them all together again)

For PUBLICATION, Tolkien was asked to break it into smaller pieces (esp. because of a post-WW2 paper shortage in the UK) - creating the publisher-name well: FotR, tTT, RotK.

Now, various volumes 'deal' with all of this differently:

MOST people, until the past few years, read the 3 volumes, but many came from slightly different versions over the years.

ONE set was published, the millenium edition, which contains things broken into the six books. I have it, but it is an odd break-out, never meant by Tolkien to be read that way.

A NUMBER of single-volumes were published over the years. Indeed, the current 'authoritative' edition, with the most recent fixes to spelling, punctuation, and Christopher Tolkien-approved fixes to mistakes, is this one: Edition with the most recent edits.

The is built off the new 'unified text' being used by all major publishers going forward, so you want to make sure that WHATEVER edition you purchase, it's based off the unified text.

Again: The summary is, get an edition based off the unified text, and you will have the 'best' edition. The rest is all how much you want to pay for packaging. I do NOT know if the Kindle editions are this most recent edition or not.

WOW, Thanks!