Megan Mabee has been filling notebooks with her story ideas and favorite book quotes since she first began reading. She enjoys board gaming, rewatching Miyazaki movies, and building Legos with her preschooler. Megan holds a Master of Library and Information Studies degree from UNC Greensboro and a Public Librarian Certification. Megan has worked in a college bookstore and high school library, and she now loves talking books in the public library where she works and as a Bibliologist at TBR: Tailored Book Recommendations.
People love the expression “The book is always better than the movie.” Reflecting on the book-to-film adaptations I’ve seen over the years, I have always felt inclined to agree. Even if the movie was incredible, could you really say it was better than the book? It seems like a rare case indeed when that happens. However, there has long been one prominent exception to the rule for me. Ever since I saw the Lord of the Rings movies and then read The Fellowship of the Ring in seventh grade, I’ve been willing to die on the hill that the movies are better than the books. It wasn’t until I challenged myself this summer to read the entire Lord of the Rings trilogy that I felt my perspective shift.
My Original Stance on the LOTR Books vs. Films
If you’d asked me at the beginning of last summer if the movies were better than the books, I’d still wholeheartedly agree. The movies are so well done, and the cast and acting are exceptional. I could wax poetic forever about Gandalf’s magnetism, Aragorn’s sex appeal, and Legolas’s and Gimli’s banter. When midterms and finals came around in high school, I’d encircle myself with textbooks, notes, and index cards on the floor in my basement, creating a little nest of study materials, and pop in a VHS of one of The Lord of the Rings movies as my studying backdrop. Watching them on repeat brought me such comfort during those stressful times. They still do today.
Seventh grade me loved these films, but despised the books. During sustained silent reading in class, I staggered my way through The Fellowship of the Ring, including all of Tom Bombadil’s singing. I started The Two Towers next, only to give up while Merry and Pippin were putzing around with the Ents.
All Access members, read on for why I revisited The Lord of the Rings books as an adult and what I found there.
Megan Mabee has been filling notebooks with her story ideas and favorite book quotes since she first began reading. She enjoys board gaming, rewatching Miyazaki movies, and building Legos with her preschooler. Megan holds a Master of Library and Information Studies degree from UNC Greensboro and a Public Librarian Certification. Megan has worked in a college bookstore and high school library, and she now loves talking books in the public library where she works and as a Bibliologist at TBR: Tailored Book Recommendations.
A few years ago, another Rioter wrote a great piece digging into when (if ever) The Lord of the Rings books get interesting, and I chimed in to the discussion at the time, agreeing that they don’t, in fact, get interesting. I loved scoffing about Tom Bombadil in particular. Ever since then, though, this topic has been on my mind. As a loyal books are better than movies kind of reader, as well as a LOTR fan, I felt a little guilty choosing a film over the book. Yet still, I remained firm in my take.
Revisiting The LOTR Books As An Adult
It’s been twenty years now since I first tried reading the books. My boyfriend, on the other hand, loves them. He’ll listen to the trilogy on audio, then start back at the beginning and listen to them all over again. After hearing him insist the books are better, I decided to attempt reading the series again. Since I have a bit of a commute to work, I opted to listen to them on audiobook. In preparation for this, I quickly fell down an entertaining Reddit rabbit hole on which narrator performs them best, Rob Inglis or Andy Serkis. I tested out both versions and chose Serkis because his character voices and accents were excellent. As the voice actor for Gollum from the LOTR films, he captures the sound of the film actors so well, and I felt this movie similarity could help draw me into the books.
After listening to all three Lord of the Rings audiobooks this summer, I can say my stance has changed. Much to my surprise, I’ve joined the books are better than the movies camp. As you’d expect, the lore of the world gets so much more airtime in the books. Some of the neat things we learn more about include stories about the love between the mortal man Beren and the elf woman Lúthien and their Silmarils heist, the eerie Barrow-downs, and the spider Shelob’s horrifying backstory. Characters like Faramir get fleshed out with much more depth. His strength of character really stood out to me in the books, and I found his love story with Éowyn more moving and relatable than Aragorn and Arwyn’s.
The brave and selfless actions of all four hobbits, Frodo, Sam, Pippin, and Merry, were also more developed in the books. There was even a whole extra Shire rebellion at the end that the movies skipped. While I still love the movies, the books have drawn me deeper into the world and characters of Middle-earth in ways that have left a lasting impression. I’ve even come around to Tom Bombadil! He’s quite the mysterious and awe-inspiring guy! But like Tolkien is wont to do, I digress.
Frodo’s Remarks on Change
As I approached the end of The Return of the King audiobook, I thought about how to articulate why I felt differently now about the books than I did all those years ago. Just as I was pondering this, Frodo shared a poignant quote with Gandalf. As they return to The Prancing Pony at the end of their long journey, Gandalf notices Frodo in pain. The pair talks about his shoulder wound from the Witch-king of Angmar that may never fully heal. Frodo then says, “Though I may come to the Shire, it will not seem the same; for I shall not be the same.”
Frodo’s words resonated with me. They gave voice to the thoughts I hadn’t been able to express yet myself. When we return to something after a long time, it might be the same, but it won’t feel that way. It may not have changed, but we have. The words of the books hadn’t changed since I last tried to read them, but I had.
How I’ve Changed
I’ve lived through twenty years of new books, experiences, and moments in life that have shaped me into a different person than who I was in seventh grade. In many ways, I’m still that seventh-grade girl: studious, hard-working, floating between chatty and reserved, nervous to make new friends, excited about fandoms, and daydreaming stories in my head. In other ways, though, I can sense how I’ve changed. I can slow down and appreciate world-building and lore in a way I may not have been able to before. Where once I shied away from sorrow and darker themes in books, now I look for stories that make me feel and characters that have depth. I don’t want a book just to entertain me; I seek books that make me think.
Frodo’s got it right. As time goes by, we change. Things we once knew may not always feel the same. While I miss the days of seventh-grade me, I’m also excited for what lies ahead for future me.
For fellow Lord of the Rings book skeptics out there, I hope you have a there and back again experience like I did. I hope you give the books another chance.
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