Holts Reads The Fellowship Of The Ring

Sun Sep 11, 2011 1:27 pm

This year marks the 10th anniversary of the release of the Lord of the Rings movie trilogy in cinemas. This was something huge for Tolkien fans all around the world. The movies had taken many years to create and people were very anxious to see if Peter Jackson had managed to capture the feel and the magic of the books when they were transferred to the silver screen.

I thought this would be a good time to re-experience the first part of the adventure - the original adventure. That's right, we're not going to watch the movie (although I won't stop you from doing that if you want to) - we're going to read the book! This is a chance for the book fans to re-read it and discuss it along the way with member of the HOLTS, and a chance for movie fans (who've never read the books) to get the original story for the first time.

This activity won't start until the beginning of October and more information will be posted closer to the start date. However, I wanted to give everyone a chance to get their hands on the book in time. We will then read one chapter each 1-2 weeks (as the chapters are pretty long and I want everyone to have enough time to read them) and the activity will end in June next year.

That's all for now! Go get your copy of The Fellowship of the Ring and we'll get started in the first week of October!

September 26:

It's time for some more information on this activity!

"HOLTS Reads The Fellowship of the Ring" will officially start on October 3, that's in one week!, with the first round of questions to discuss being posted on October 6. Each chapter will be given roughly 10 days for reading, and the discussions for each chapter will be posted with the same time interval.

Edit: I forgot to mention one thing! All official HOLTS members will be awarded 5 silmarils for each post they write when we're discussing the chapters!

Here's the reading schedule:
10.03-10.12: Prologue
10.13-10.23: Chapter 1
10.24-11.02: Chapter 2
11.03-11.13: Chapter 3
11.14-11.23: Chapter 4
11.24-12.04: Chapter 5
12.05-12.14: Chapter 6
12.15-12.25: Chapter 7
12.26-01.04: Chapter 8
01.05-01.15: Chapter 9
01.16-01.25: Chapter 10
01.26-02.05: Chapter 11
02.06-02.15: Chapter 12
02.16-02.26: Chapter 13
02.27-03.07: Chapter 14
03.08-03.18: Chapter 15
03.19-03.28: Chapter 16
03.29-04.08: Chapter 17
04.09-04.18: Chapter 18
04.19-04.29: Chapter 19
04.30-05.09: Chapter 20
05.10-05.20: Chapter 21
05.21-05.30: Chapter 22

Sun Sep 11, 2011 8:49 pm

YAY!

I love the books of the Lord of the Rings. I totally love the books.

The movies are good, sure, they are great. Especially Aragorn ... and oh MY GOLLY SHADOWFAX.

But the movies aren't exactly canon - even if they do follow the 'feel' of the books.

Post by **Prof. Rilla White** » Mon Sep 12, 2011 8:15 pm

I will be starting The Fellowship of the Ring in the next few months for the very first time. I have never read any of the books or seen any of the movies. *waits for outcrys and throwing of things* However, I joined Rorey's Magical Literature to Muggle Cinema class and The Fellowship of the Ring is on her reading list. Thusly, I will be trying the series for the very first time. Who knows maybe I shall love it as much as the rest of you. The novel is not on the syllabus until December but the other three (HP1, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, and The Field Guide) are all quite sort comparitively so it will not take me long to get to The Fellowship of the Ring.

Mon Sep 26, 2011 4:09 pm

I hope everyone has found a copy of The Fellowship of the Ring, because we'll (officially) start reading in one week - Monday, October 3rd! My first post in this topic has been edited with the complete reading schedule.

Post by **Ceri McHawk** » Mon Sep 26, 2011 4:56 pm

Got my copy at hand already, there is nothing like re-reading the book with you all! ^-^

Post by **Rayne Devereaux** » Mon Sep 26, 2011 5:44 pm

I just recently joined HOLTS and I can't wait to start reading The Fellowship of the Ring! I found my copy on my bookshelf but had to dust it off a little. >.> Its been a long time since Iâ€™ve read it and Iâ€™m excited to delve into the chapters with everyone.

Post by **Eia Donne** » Wed Sep 28, 2011 3:38 pm

Really looking forward to this but I might have to jump in later on. My beloved copy is back home (aka: in another state) and I don't want to ask my mom to ship it up on it's own as she's already sent several packages my way. If she sends me a Halloween care package like she did in college though, I can ask her to throw it in.

So I was going to borrow it from my uncle...but apparentaly he has the Hobbit, RotK, and a few other Tolkien books, but now Fellowship! Library's another option, but as this is a long term thing, I don't think I can be constantly renewing the same book as often as I would need to

Wed Sep 28, 2011 10:03 pm

You can jump in at any time.

If you want to, and remember what's in the chapters, you can still join the discussions without having the book. And you could borrow the book from the library in the beginning, until you get your own copy sent to you?

Post by **Ceri McHawk** » Sun Oct 02, 2011 10:39 pm

Can't wait until tomorrow *.* !!!!!!!

Mon Oct 03, 2011 11:09 am

Aaand we're starting!!!

For these first 10 days we're reading the prologue. I will post some discussion topics within a few days.

Happy reading!

Thu Oct 06, 2011 12:31 pm

This week we are reading and discussing the Prologue.

Since this chapter is more of an introduction to the world and races of Middle-earth than an actual story, obviously not much is happening. But I thought we could talk a little about these things:

First off, a simple and kind of obvious question: Have you read The Fellowship of the Ring before, or is this the first time for you?

If you have read FotR before - then, have you read the Prologue before, or did you jump right into the first chapter? If you skipped the Prologue, why?

I know that many LotR fans love the Elves - but I also know fans who just love the Hobbits! (Vene, where are you?

*g*) What about you? Do you like the Hobbits, in general or based on what you read about this week?

The Shire sounds like a wonderful country, don't you think? It's green and peaceful, the inhabitants mostly care about food, drink, smoking pipe-weed, and spending time with family and friends. Would this be a perfect place for you? Or do you think it's just plain boring?

Is there anything else you'd like to say about the Prologue?

I will join the discussion later this week, I'll let you start.

Every post in the discussion is worth 5 silmarils for HOLTS members! Not a member yet? Read here how to become one!

Thu Oct 06, 2011 7:21 pm

If I post more than once, for this topic, do I earn more silmarils?

First off, a simple and kind of obvious question: Have you read The Fellowship of the Ring before, or is this the first time for you?

I have read The Fellowship of the Ring before. I read it after I read The Hobbit. Oddly enough, I had 'tried' to read The Hobbit because some folks really were enthused about it, but I couldn't get into it. Then, one fine day I gave it another go and sort of devoured it -- 'GEE, WHAT A GREAT BOOK!'

If you have read FotR before - then, have you read the Prologue before, or did you jump right into the first chapter? If you skipped the Prologue, why?

That was a long time ago that I read it! At least a couple of months years ... *cg* Um, I probably read it straight through, starting with the Prologue. Sort of like reading the Wheel of Time books, which sometimes have a Prologue which is longer than the first chapter. The Prologue gives a history; it's there because the author of the book thought it 'required reading', right?

I know that many LotR fans love the Elves - but I also know fans who just love the Hobbits! (Vene, where are you? *g*) What about you? Do you like the Hobbits, in general or based on what you read about this week?

The Hobbits .... without the Hobbits, there would be no Lord of the Rings. History is written by the victor, right? Well, without a brave Hobbit to cast the Ring into the fires of Mount Doom (and his stalwart companion who was the means by which he was able to do so), we wouldn't even have this history!

The Shire sounds like a wonderful country, don't you think? It's green and peaceful, the inhabitants mostly care about food, drink, smoking pipe-weed, and spending time with family and friends. Would this be a perfect place for you? Or do you think it's just plain boring?

*g*
What's wrong with food, drink, smoking pipe-weed and spending time with family and friends? I think, though, if I was a Hobbit, somehow I'd gain a reputation for being one of those Hobbits who go off and have adventures ....

Is there anything else you'd like to say about the Prologue?

Gee, you mean I have to actually go READ it again?

Oh, right, there it is. I like reading histories. I like having 'facts' set out clear and straight. (Sort of hobbit-ish, isn't it!) So a history of Hobbits, in general, and a summation of 'There and Back Again' (corrected version) -- and also, a little sneak preview of the 'end' of the tale, is rather wonderful.

Thu Oct 06, 2011 8:21 pm

Prof. Tarma Amelia Black wrote:QUOTE (Prof. Tarma Amelia Black @ Oct 6 2011, 08:21 PM) If I post more than once, for this topic, do I earn more silmarils?

Yes, 5 silmarils for each post you write.

So you might choose to post once for each chapter (= 5 silmarils for each chapter) or more than once for each chapter (= more than 5 silmarils for each chapter). Just make sure that you add something to the discussion if you do post more than once on the same chapter.

MY HOL Profile · Post by **Brighid Katz** » Fri Oct 07, 2011 4:07 am

First off, a simple and kind of obvious question: Have you read The Fellowship of the Ring before, or is this the first time for you?
I've read it before, twice... Once when I was really young [I had a boxed set of the hobbit + LOTR in I think elementary school] and then again before the movie came out.

If you have read FotR before - then, have you read the Prologue before, or did you jump right into the first chapter? If you skipped the Prologue, why?

I can't even remember... I think I probably did the same thing I did this time around, kind of skimming and making mental notes of the bits that are fascinating that I didn't remember from the last read all those years ago. As for why I skim, Tolkien's "Historical Writing" tends to be a bit on the dry side for me [this was actually why even though I own one of the versions of The Silmarillion, it never made my "favorite books" list even though I liked The Hobbit and all of the trilogy].

I know that many LotR fans love the Elves - but I also know fans who just love the Hobbits! (Vene, where are you?

*g*) What about you? Do you like the Hobbits, in general or based on what you read about this week?
I like both. I like the Hobbits generally because they're small and I love their very cozy yet complex housing. And I think personality-wise I share a lot of the comfort values with the Hobbits.

The Shire sounds like a wonderful country, don't you think? It's green and peaceful, the inhabitants mostly care about food, drink, smoking pipe-weed, and spending time with family and friends. Would this be a perfect place for you? Or do you think it's just plain boring?
I think I'd like being there... It's laidback and relaxed and kind-of a safe and cozy, comfortable place?

Is there anything else you'd like to say about the Prologue?
Not sure why I didn't notice the notes about the pipe-weed and the history of the book in my last re-read, this time around that's what I was more fascinated by. Though I did remember the notes about the housing style from prior re-reads. (Apparently I like their houses a lot because I remembered that information very fondly).

Post by **Eia Donne** » Sat Oct 08, 2011 4:03 am

Hey, questions I can reply to without the book! Yayness!

First off, a simple and kind of obvious question: Have you read The Fellowship of the Ring before, or is this the first time for you?
I have read FotR before, although it took me a few tries to get going (as will be discussed below) but I was able to finish before the movie came out, with TTT and RotK finished shortly afterwards. I'm sad to admit that my brother (younger and not as much of a fan as I am) actually beat me on the later two DX

If you have read FotR before - then, have you read the Prologue before, or did you jump right into the first chapter? If you skipped the Prologue, why?
When I was in...oh...I want to say 3rd or 4th grade, my mother bought me the complete LotR collection + the Hobbit. She had really enjoyed the Hobbit when she was a girl and thought I would too, and since I'm an avid reader it made sense that I would want to read the books that came afterwards. Well...she was right on the Hobbit, but when I tried to get started on FotR I couldn't do it. The Prologue was daunting and well...rather uninteresting to me at the time. Fastforward to 7th grade and the trailers for the trilogy are starting to pop up. I get excited and realize I need to get these books read and pick up my long abandoned copy of FotR...and still can't get past the Prologue! I'm about to give up hope when a new friend of mine, who's a MASSIVE LotR fan suggests, "Why don't you just skip the prologue?" The thought had never occurred to me before since the idea of skipping ahead in a book was scandalous! But she reassured me I wouldn't be missing much, and if I could get through the rest of the book I could just come back to the beginning later. Lo and behold her suggestion worked!

Although...I can't remember if I actualy went back and read what I skipped over...I know I've used it for reference, but I'll have to see what all seems familiar when I get access to a copy.

I know that many LotR fans love the Elves - but I also know fans who just love the Hobbits! (Vene, where are you?

*g*) What about you? Do you like the Hobbits, in general or based on what you read about this week?
*twiddles fingers as she's Rohirrim* I guess I'm neutral on Hobbits? I neither love them nor hate them as a race, but I do absolutely adore Bilbo and Sam as individual characters. Plus my favorite songs on my two LotR inspired CDs are hobbit provided/inspired XD

The Shire sounds like a wonderful country, don't you think? It's green and peaceful, the inhabitants mostly care about food, drink, smoking pipe-weed, and spending time with family and friends. Would this be a perfect place for you? Or do you think it's just plain boring?
I know I would love to visit and spend a long vacation there, but I'm not 100% on living there. It would all depend on what Middle Earth's pest problem is like (

Fri Oct 14, 2011 7:32 am

And we're continuing with Chapter 1! Topics for discussion will be posted within a few days, until then feel free to keep discussing the Prologue.

I'm throwing in my own answers here:

First off, a simple and kind of obvious question: Have you read The Fellowship of the Ring before, or is this the first time for you?

*lol* Yeah, I have read it before. I've lost count of how many times... Certainly more than 10, it might even be more than 20. *yikes that's a lot of times!!*

If you have read FotR before - then, have you read the Prologue before, or did you jump right into the first chapter? If you skipped the Prologue, why?

I read the Prologue the first times I read the book, so maybe two or three times. After that I skipped it and started with Chapter 1... Why? Because I knew what was said in the Prologue and just wanted the adventure, not the history (at that particular time).

I know that many LotR fans love the Elves - but I also know fans who just love the Hobbits! (Vene, where are you?

*g*) What about you? Do you like the Hobbits, in general or based on what you read about this week?

Yes, I do like the Hobbits. They are small and cute and cuddly. *g* Just kidding. Seriously though, even though I personally like the Elves the best, I find the courage and the joy of living among the Hobbits to be most admirable and inspiring. And just like Eia, I adore Sam! He's one of my favourite characters in the whole story.

The Shire sounds like a wonderful country, don't you think? It's green and peaceful, the inhabitants mostly care about food, drink, smoking pipe-weed, and spending time with family and friends. Would this be a perfect place for you? Or do you think it's just plain boring?

I would say this sounds like the perfect place for me to spend a week or two on vacation. But I couldn't live there permanently. Sure, living a peaceful life with the persons you care about the most is really something nice - but I need more to happen. If I was a Hobbit, I would be one of the rebellious, adventurous ones...

Is there anything else you'd like to say about the Prologue?

Yes. I'm ashamed of the fact that I had forgotten half of what was written in there...

I love history, especially background history for fictional works like LotR. When I was in highschool I was blessed to have one of my best friends being as fanatic about LotR as I was, and we could talk for weeks about the family trees of the Elves and the stories in the Silmarillion, and everything else. I was very happy to re-learn stuff about the history of the Hobbits this week.

Post by **Aili Raja** » Wed Oct 19, 2011 11:07 pm

Finally I remembered that we were supposed to read the Fellowship. I did make a mental note to myself sometime in September, but the birth of my third child on October 10th (mainly "patiently" waiting since the end of September) somehow managed to keep my thoughts from this thread

.

I do have to confess that I have not started to read yet but I promise to do that tomorrow. I believe that I can answer the questions about the Prologue now.

First off, a simple and kind of obvious question: Have you read The Fellowship of the Ring before, or is this the first time for you?

I have read it before and I believe the count is somewhere between 10 and 20

If you have read FotR before - then, have you read the Prologue before, or did you jump right into the first chapter? If you skipped the Prologue, why?

Yes I have read the Prolouge before, probably every time because I like the way Tolkien writes and like to enjoy it as much as possible (as it has been said - there is only one major flaw with the trilogy, it is too short

)

I know that many LotR fans love the Elves - but I also know fans who just love the Hobbits! (Vene, where are you? *g*) What about you? Do you like the Hobbits, in general or based on what you read about this week?

I do love the elves but hobbits are adorable too. The elves and hobbits are so different and the reasons why I like them are also very different. Elves are mysterious, have deeper knowledge and make me feel some kind of longing to flow above everyday life but hobbits are very down to earth and sweet and all about every day life. So in some way they compliment each other to me, they are like the two sides of the same life.

The Shire sounds like a wonderful country, don't you think? It's green and peaceful, the inhabitants mostly care about food, drink, smoking pipe-weed, and spending time with family and friends. Would this be a perfect place for you? Or do you think it's just plain boring?

I would love to live in the Shire, to only be worried about what goes on around you and have somebody else worry about your safety (like rangers keeping shire safe without hobbits even knowing about it). Even now I try to keep myself away from the bad things in the world - meaning I don't watch the news as they are mostly negative, but the news still seem to find their way to me thorough my friends who want to discuss them with me

I would love to live in my house, rise my children and grow my own food without the world outside interfering so much.

Is there anything else you'd like to say about the Prologue?

I will definitely read it tomorrow

Mon Oct 24, 2011 11:30 pm

Congratulations on your child, Aili!

This week we're reading Chapter 2!

And here are some things to discuss about Chapter 1 (feel free to jump in at any time in the reading/discussions).

One curious thing is how hobbits talk about age. Bilbo's age is most often mentioned as "eleventy-one" instead of "one hundred and eleven" - do you have any theories about this (just for fun)?

What do you think about the system that the person having birthday gives presents to the guests, instead of the other way around?

On the day after the party, some hobbits were given things along with messages from Bilbo. Maybe not everyone was happy about their gifts (those first few mentioned) - I'm thinking of how they would be interpreted... Still, they are pretty good things. Which gift would you have liked the most to get?

This is for those of you who have also watched the movie: What is your opinion on the joke/trick by Bilbo at the end of his party? Do you prefer the book version or the movie version, and why?

What was your favourite part of this chapter?

What did you think about the chapter in general?

Tue Oct 25, 2011 5:32 pm

One curious thing is how hobbits talk about age. Bilbo's age is most often mentioned as "eleventy-one" instead of "one hundred and eleven" - do you have any theories about this (just for fun)?

I just figured it was a regional and/or 'people' thing of the Hobbits. So very few people actually attained that age that they wanted to say it as a 'special' thing?

What do you think about the system that the person having birthday gives presents to the guests, instead of the other way around?

HA! Nooooo. I like my presents. I also like unbirthday presents. *cg*

On the day after the party, some hobbits were given things along with messages from Bilbo. Maybe not everyone was happy about their gifts (those first few mentioned) - I'm thinking of how they would be interpreted... Still, they are pretty good things. Which gift would you have liked the most to get?

A title to Bags End.

This is for those of you who have also watched the movie: What is your opinion on the joke/trick by Bilbo at the end of his party? Do you prefer the book version or the movie version, and why?

The movie version was totally inaccurate. I much prefer the book version because there is NO WAY that Gandalf would have been unprepared and failed to do a 'cover-up' in the form of a flash of light or something like that.

What was your favourite part of this chapter?

Pippin and Merry - the two trouble-makers forerunners to Fred and George Weasley.

What did you think about the chapter in general?

I think it was a very good re-introduction to Hobbits and Hobbiton. This is the background for someone like Frodo, Sam, Merry and Pippin -- 4 Hobbits who go off on an adventure, not for the sake of adventure, but for loyalty, love and a desire to preserve what is good in Life.

Post by **Rayne Devereaux** » Thu Nov 03, 2011 5:12 pm

I forgot to post my discussion questions from the prologue.. how dumb is that? xD Oh well.. here they are. :3

First off, a simple and kind of obvious question: Have you read The Fellowship of the Ring before, or is this the first time for you?

I read FotR for the first time about.. seven years ago. The first time I tried reading the book, I couldn't get through it. I tried a second time and managed to get through the entire thing in a few days. I think the last time I read the book was probably in... 2007. So this might be like reading it for the first time. haha.

If you have read FotR before - then, have you read the Prologue before, or did you jump right into the first chapter? If you skipped the Prologue, why?

I'll admit to being guilty in the act of skipping the prologue the first time I read the book. I don't why to be honest. Sometimes prologues will kill any and all want to read said book. Now its just a habit to skip them. Around the third time I read FotR I finally sat down and read the prologue.

I know that many LotR fans love the Elves - but I also know fans who just love the Hobbits! (Vene, where are you? *g*) What about you? Do you like the Hobbits, in general or based on what you read about this week?

I like them both for different reasons. I'm envious of the Hobbits because of their carefree lifestyles and yet I love the Elves for their mysterious nature and their knowledge. Hobbits just have this joy for living life and they remind me that happiness can come from the simplest of things. They don't need anything flashy to find happiness when they have family and friendship.

The Shire sounds like a wonderful country, don't you think? It's green and peaceful, the inhabitants mostly care about food, drink, smoking pipe-weed, and spending time with family and friends. Would this be a perfect place for you? Or do you think it's just plain boring?

It really depends. If you were born and raised in The Shire, you wouldn't know any better. So there is a possibility that this would be the perfect place for me. On the other hand, given the way I really am, If I was a hobbit, I would want more than living there. The Shire seems like the perfect place to go back to after a long time away. So I would go off on an adventure and experience other things and then come home to the Shire where I could relax and be with friends. The carefree lifestyle would be perfect after being out and about on an adventure. :3

Is there anything else you'd like to say about the Prologue?

I really liked the prologue because it helps to understand the story better. Even the small notes about things help to understand the way people live and why they have certain amusements. I just can't believe how much of this I forgot. Haha. xD