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Tolkien Fans? C.s. Lewis?


Velox

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Okay, so, I have the following books by J.R.R. Tolkien:

 

-The Hobbit

-The Lord of the Rings

-The Children of Hurin

-The Silmarillion

-Unfinished Tales

-A Tolkien Miscellany [smith of Wootton Major, Farmer Giles of Ham, Tree and Leaf, The Adventures of Tom Bombadil, and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight]

 

I've read the Hobbit a few times, though the only thing I remember from it is Smaug with his gold. =P I'm pretty sure I've read LotR at least once, but I'm not sure if I actually ever got through them completely. The rest I haven't read at all.

 

So. I'm wondering in what order should I read everything?

 

According to this one site, it seems like I should do:

 

-The Silmarillion

-The Children of Hurin

-Unfinished Tales

-The Hobbit

-LotR

 

Though it doesn't mention the stories in A Tolkien Miscellany [and I'm almost positive he's written other things, too], so yeah.

 

Anyone read all [or most] of the above and have an opinion of what order they should be read?

 

On the subject of books, I just finished Extreme Measures by Vince Flynn. Which means I only have Pursuit of Honor to read until I've read all of his works. I want to read them again, lol, but I'm going to read other stuff that I haven't read first, Tolkien's stuff being one of those things.

 

Also! What do you guys think of the Chronicles of Narnia? This is the second thing I want to know. The only book I remember reading the whole thing [though I barely remember it] is the Magician's Nephew, though I think I read up to The Horse and His Boy, but don't remember. Anyway, I know there's a couple different orders for those as well, so once again your thoughts will be appreciated.

 

Though I do wonder if I should even bother reading them? I've been seeing mixed thoughts -- some people say they're children's books, and that I liked them when I read them, but probably wouldn't like them now. Yet some people say they're great works and I'd still like them, so yeah.

 

Has anyone read the Screwtape Letters, too? I'll definitely be reading that, but I just wanted to know if anyone's read it and if they liked it or not.

 

Aaand that's about it [i hope I didn't scare people away with this long entry -- I'd really like some replies lol].

 

Thanks, all.

 

- Velox

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The only part that I bothered reading replying to is the part about the Screwtape Letters, and all I have to say about those is that I want you to tell me if they're any good when/if you read them. =l

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Seeing as I've only read The Hobbit and LotR (in that order, which is correct), I can't really advise of that.

 

For Narnia, the chronological order goes such as: The Magician's Nephew; The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe; The Horse and His Boy; Prince Caspian; The Voyage of the Dawn Treader; The Silver Chair; Last Battle. I think they're most definitely worth reading, and in the words of C.S. Lewis's step-son, "Sometimes I enjoy children's books when I'm older, seeing as I can put more into them, and therefore get more out of them." I might've misquoted, but yeah. Anyhow...

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I read the Narnia books in Narnian order - that is, the order that ToD provided.

 

I've only read the first chapter of the Hobbit.

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I would read The Hobbit first, then The Lord of the Rings, then read the others in whatever order you want. They're not as interesting if you haven't read LoTR first, IMO.

 

-JB

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For Chronicles of Narnia, the chronological order is the one Toa of Dancing, a.k.a. Gnicnad fo Aot, posted. However, the way you should read them (and how I read them) is the order in which C.S. Lewis wrote them:

 

-The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe

-Prince Caspian

-The Voyage of the Dawn Treader

-The Silver Chair

-The Horse and His Boy

-The Magician's Nephew

-The Last Battle

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Read The Hobbit before The Lord of the Rings. I have The Silmarillion, but I haven't read it--I remember it being extremely boring, but I think I made that opinion back when I was in sixth grade.

 

The Screwtape Letters was good; I read it a few months ago. Also, the order you read The Chronicles of Narnia depends on whether you want to read them in chronilogical order or the order they came out. I usually prefer reading them in the order they came out-- The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, Prince Caspian, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, The Silver Chair, The Horse and His Boy, The Magician's Nephew, then The Last Battle.

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The Narnia series is definitely worth re-reading. They're like children's books you never grow out of.

Screwtape letters is a great book, possibly my favorite one ever. So read that one.

Another lesser know series by C. S. Lewis, is the Space Trilogy. Great if you're into Sci-Fi, but it's about as hard to read as LOTR.

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The only part that I bothered reading replying to is the part about the Screwtape Letters, and all I have to say about those is that I want you to tell me if they're any good when/if you read them. =l

 

Yeah, sure. It may be a while before I get around to it though, lol.

 

Read The Hobbit before The Lord of the Rings. I have The Silmarillion, but I haven't read it--I remember it being extremely boring, but I think I made that opinion back when I was in sixth grade.

 

The Screwtape Letters was good; I read it a few months ago. Also, the order you read The Chronicles of Narnia depends on whether you want to read them in chronilogical order or the order they came out. I usually prefer reading them in the order they came out-- The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, Prince Caspian, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, The Silver Chair, The Horse and His Boy, The Magician's Nephew, then The Last Battle.

 

Yeah, I heard the Silmarillion is the most boring book he's written, but I still want to read it just 'cause.

 

As for the order . . . I'm still debating which one to use. I'll probably do the chronological way, just so I get a straight story, but we'll see.

 

The Narnia series is definitely worth re-reading. They're like children's books you never grow out of.

Screwtape letters is a great book, possibly my favorite one ever. So read that one.

Another lesser know series by C. S. Lewis, is the Space Trilogy. Great if you're into Sci-Fi, but it's about as hard to read as LOTR.

 

Yeah, I have those as well, but I probably won't read them for a while. The two main series I want to read are Tolkien's stuff and the Chronicles of Narnia, but then I also want to read a bunch of other books, and then I'll probably read Space Trilogy and some other Sci-Fi stuff some time.

 

But good to hear about Narnia/Screwtape -- I look forward to reading those, then.

 

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Read Narnia. Probably in the order they were written.

 

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

Prince Caspian: The Return to Narnia

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader

The Silver Chair

The Magician's Nephew

The Last Battle

 

The Horse and His Boy (Read this whenever. Don't skip it though, it's good. I recommend saving it to read after the Last Battle.)

 

As for Tolkien I'm not sure. I've read LotR, the Hobbit (<One of the best books ever booked), and the Silmarillion. The Silmarillion gives you tons of info about the beginning of the Middle Earth universe, Morgoth, Sauron's beginnings, the early history of Middle Earth, and stuff like that. Some people think it's really boring. Tolkien didn't even want it published, he just had it for his own reference. But it definitely has good parts.

 

Igh. I'd say read the Silmarillion after LotR. Never read those other Tolkien books.

 

 

EDIT: My bro says to read the Children of Hurin before the Silmarillion. Because the Silmarillion has a much shorter version of the Children of Hurin in it.

 

> 55555

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Oh hi thar. I was just scanning the blogs (once in a blue moon thing now) and the name "C. S. Lewis" jumped out at me; I'm a huge fan. :)

 

In answer to your question about the Narnia series being for kids, the answer is yes and no. Lewis originally wrote them as kids' books, but they really transcend ages and are wonderful for any and everyone. Lewis packs alot of truth into his works, and each one is really a work of art. So yes, be sure to read them.

 

As to the order, the only thing I would say would be to be sure to start with The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe first, followed by Prince Caspian, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, The Silver Chair, and The Last Battle. The Magician's Nephew is a prequel of sorts, telling the history of Narnia, and The Horse and his Boy aren't part of the main storyline—it takes place sortof in the middle and is more of a side adventure. So as long as you start with The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe and read those first five in order, you're good to go.

 

Eeko mentioned Lewis' Space Trilogy; I'm actually half way through them myself (got the books for Christmas), and thus far all I've had to say is "wow." The pure creative genius Lewis exhibits is extraordinary—he creates whole worlds from (what seems to be) scratch. Truly marvelous.

 

And as to The Screwtape Letters: all I have to say is yes, Yes, Yes! This work is one of his best by far—so insightful about the Christian walk and how demons/temptation relate to us. Wonderful stuff here. :)

 

Keep up the good reading! :D

 

Also man, please take a look at my latest MoC if you like: clicketh ^_^

 

GBG

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Oh hi thar. I was just scanning the blogs (once in a blue moon thing now) and the name "C. S. Lewis" jumped out at me; I'm a huge fan. :)

Dude, it's been a long, long time. I'm glad this title did catch your eye. =P What's up?

 

In answer to your question about the Narnia series being for kids, the answer is yes and no. Lewis originally wrote them as kids' books, but they really transcend ages and are wonderful for any and everyone. Lewis packs alot of truth into his works, and each one is really a work of art. So yes, be sure to read them.

 

Yeah, that's what I thought. I mean, Tolkien wrote The Lord of the Rings for his children, yet those are by no means just children's books [and are probably moreso adult books, lol]. But awesome; I look forward to reading them, then!

 

As to the order, the only thing I would say would be to be sure to start with The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe first, followed by Prince Caspian, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, The Silver Chair, and The Last Battle. The Magician's Nephew is a prequel of sorts, telling the history of Narnia, and The Horse and his Boy aren't part of the main storyline—it takes place sortof in the middle and is more of a side adventure. So as long as you start with The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe and read those first five in order, you're good to go.

Yeah, 5 5's persuaded me to read it in that order [with the exception of TMN, but it makes sense to read that after TLB]. But that just makes me even more want to read them that way.

 

Eeko mentioned Lewis' Space Trilogy; I'm actually half way through them myself (got the books for Christmas), and thus far all I've had to say is "wow." The pure creative genius Lewis exhibits is extraordinary—he creates whole worlds from (what seems to be) scratch. Truly marvelous.

 

Ah, awesome -- I look forward to reading those some time, too, then.

 

And as to The Screwtape Letters: all I have to say is yes, Yes, Yes! This work is one of his best by far—so insightful about the Christian walk and how demons/temptation relate to us. Wonderful stuff here. :)

 

Keep up the good reading! :D

 

Awesome again. Another thing to look forward to!

 

And yes, I definitely will! I don't really get why, but it seems as though most people [outside of BZP] don't really like reading that much. At least, people at my school. Me, I love it.

 

Also man, please take a look at my latest MoC if you like: clicketh ^_^

 

GBG

 

Dude, that is amazing. I'll definitely try to write up a review some time. Seriously, I haven't seen an MOC that good in a while. Well done!

 

@ 5 5's ~ Alright, thanks. I think I'll read The Children of Hurin first, then LotR/The Hobbit, and then the Silmarillion. Just because I've never read TCOH before and I heard it's good.

 

newso1.png

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Thought I'd throw some ideas into the mix:

 

Personally, I'd suggest reading The Hobbit, followed by LotR, and then move on to The Silmarillion, tCoH, etc. afterward. While The Sil. recounts all the history of Middle-Earth, it also occurs millennia before LotR, so you shouldn't have any problems with continuity. Also, I'd suggest reading tCoH last, since it's basically an expanded prose version of the same story in The Sil., and I think you can appreciate it better if you understand the overall context of the story beforehand.

 

I'd definitely suggest The Screwtape Letters. Lewis's perspective on such things is simply brilliant, in addition to being extremely entertaining. His Space Trilogy is also excellent. The psuedo-mythological/sci-fi style approaches Tolkien in many places (although you may find the last book pretty drastically different than the first two). The allegorical aspects are also fascinating.

 

JRRT

 

 

 

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Oh hi thar. I was just scanning the blogs (once in a blue moon thing now) and the name "C. S. Lewis" jumped out at me; I'm a huge fan. :)

Dude, it's been a long, long time. I'm glad this title did catch your eye. =P What's up?

newso1.png[/color]

Weeeell.... plenty of stuff, including school (wrapping up my last semester of High-school this Spring, then off to college!), reading great books (including Lewis' Space Trilogy), and various other projects (including my non-profit) Also random video games and the like. ;) What about you?

 

GBG

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Thought I'd throw some ideas into the mix:

 

Personally, I'd suggest reading The Hobbit, followed by LotR, and then move on to The Silmarillion, tCoH, etc. afterward. While The Sil. recounts all the history of Middle-Earth, it also occurs millennia before LotR, so you shouldn't have any problems with continuity. Also, I'd suggest reading tCoH last, since it's basically an expanded prose version of the same story in The Sil., and I think you can appreciate it better if you understand the overall context of the story beforehand.

 

I'd definitely suggest The Screwtape Letters. Lewis's perspective on such things is simply brilliant, in addition to being extremely entertaining. His Space Trilogy is also excellent. The psuedo-mythological/sci-fi style approaches Tolkien in many places (although you may find the last book pretty drastically different than the first two). The allegorical aspects are also fascinating.

 

JRRT

 

What about Tolkien's other stuff? Should I read those after tCoH, too, or does it not matter? Anyway, thanks, though! I was actually hoping you'd see this entry, lol.

 

Alright, cool. I'll definitely plan on reading that, then.

 

Weeeell.... plenty of stuff, including school (wrapping up my last semester of High-school this Spring, then off to college!), reading great books (including Lewis' Space Trilogy), and various other projects (including my non-profit) Also random video games and the like. ;) What about you?

 

GBG

 

Ah, sounds good [and busy]! It's good to know that your non-profit project is still going on; I love the idea of it.

 

I've been doing alright; busier than usual, but I'm enjoying it, and I prefer keeping busy than the alternative. I'm just trying to write more, as I haven't been able to write in a while, unfortunately.

 

newso1.png

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What about Tolkien's other stuff? Should I read those after tCoH, too, or does it not matter?

Basically, once you've got The Silmarillion under your belt, everything else branches off of the central history. The Sil. is sort of written in a "summary" form, with other stories from The Book of Lost Tales (I and II), Unfinished Tales, tCoH, etc. providing more and more detail on various cycles. The Children of Húrin is the story of Túrin Turambar and is one of several major stories in The Sil..

 

Then, if you really get into it, the twelve History of Middle Earth volumes compiled by Christopher Tolkien delve into the creative process and development of Tolkien's mythology--all the variants and extraneous stories and poems, explanations of the different races, languages, etc.

 

That covers pretty much all your bases Middle-Earth-wise. A Tolkien Miscellany is a collection of Tolkien's short stories, poems and Middle-English translations. I'd especially recommend "Farmer Giles of Ham" and "Leaf by Niggle". :)

 

JRRT

 

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Basically, once you've got The Silmarillion under your belt, everything else branches off of the central history. The Sil. is sort of written in a "summary" form, with other stories from The Book of Lost Tales (I and II), Unfinished Tales, tCoH, etc. providing more and more detail on various cycles. The Children of Húrin is the story of Túrin Turambar and is one of several major stories in The Sil..

 

Then, if you really get into it, the twelve History of Middle Earth volumes compiled by Christopher Tolkien delve into the creative process and development of Tolkien's mythology--all the variants and extraneous stories and poems, explanations of the different races, languages, etc.

 

That covers pretty much all your bases Middle-Earth-wise. A Tolkien Miscellany is a collection of Tolkien's short stories, poems and Middle-English translations. I'd especially recommend "Farmer Giles of Ham" and "Leaf by Niggle". :)

 

JRRT

Ah, that makes sense; thanks.

 

And man that would be awesome to get some day, but who knows. =P

 

Alright, thanks -- I'll definitely read those.

 

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