Melissa’s Comments (group member since May 08, 2013)

Melissa’s comments from the Tolkien's T.C.B.S group.

i'm from Lebanon a middle-eastern country . i read the book in english and in my country you can find the french version too .
i discovered the books after watching the movies.i loved the movies so much that i wanted to read the original story behind these masterpieces :)

this topic is for our members to say from which country they are originally and in what language they read The Hobbit and The Lord Of The Rings and how did they discover those amazing books :)

in the hobbit the addition of azog gave enough edge and speed for a hollywood production . when i first read the book the journey itself was ok (even if sometimes i asked myself why was it so lacking in action compared to the journey of frodo)so as far as the plot of the story it didn t change much with the presence of azog. the dwarves are very funny and this fact was not described fully in the book so i liked this addition. the cast was perfect and as wolfie said the elves and especially elrond were more involved in the course of the events i didnt think the appearance of galadriel had a lot of effect so it was better to leave her out of it

Sue wrote: "Interesting idea. The most obviously different I think is Arwen, or not so much different as more active rather than a rather passive love interest figure."

as for arwen you are quite right her presence is omniscient in the books while she had a major role in motivating aragorn in the movies. their love is so pure . and the actress liv tyler was perfect for this role because her beauty is other wordly :) i loved when she returned to rivendell after she saw the vision of her son

i can understand the doubts that aragorn had since he was the heir of isildur . i think it was a nice touch. in my opinion the movies are great because they contain every human emotion a person can feel : love envy courage self-doubt the thirst for power friendship devotion..... so i think the script gave a new edge to the books :)

i posted a thread about the characters check it under the film section :)

as for the 2nd book i loved the suspense PJ added to the movies : several times during the viewing the spectator felt down and then BAM hope is restored:
1st when aragorn is thrown off the cliff and returns to the keep
2nd the arrival of the elves at the hour of dispair to help increase the number of fighters
3nd when eomer and his riders are banished from Rohan and they return at the right moment in the Battle of Healm's Deep . the timing was perfect in the chronology of the movie.
then there was the introduction of a new powerful female eowyn. she's such a gentle and caring person plus she's courageous.
the worry theoden felt is very human character felt by the ruling monarch or president so it was nice touch to the book
as usual gimli and legolas are funny especially when gimli tells aragorn "don't tell the elf" befor being tossed :p
i liked that the ents originally didn t want to go to war but when the saw the destruction they decided to take part. a lot of people nowadays stand by watching and don't help unless they're involved personally so it was like a wake up call
i didn t really like the part where sam and frodo continue the quest i usually skip these parts to get to the more interesting stuff like the battle :)

this discussion is to compare between the characters in the books and the characters of the movies

i liked the first movie even if the pacing was slow at first . the hobbits are funny especially pippin and merry :p i m not going to mention the addition / omission in the movie but i ll focus on the movie itself . the setting is very beautiful and hobbiton is a very cute village . rivendell's architecture was amazing and the elve's clothing were gorgeous :) i liked the sarcasm between legolas and gimli . and at the end when gandalf died it was a very emotional moment for me when i first saw the movie. i remembered that i actually felt very sad and tears were in my eyes ( i haven t read the books back then ) because gandalf was a very essential character in the fellowship and the actor ian was perfect for the role i can t picture anyone else playing gandalf and succeding in this role. the reaction of boromir towards the ring is a very human reaction toward any item of power so it was a very good point to develop in order to highlight how the human race is always searching for means to increase its power even at the price of destroying its moral code and honor . nonetheless boromir had the death of a hero :)

Lucinda wrote: "Another special welcome to Melissa, whose Elvish name is 'Glídan' (Sindarin), who is now a member of the fellowship."
thank youuuu
as for my fellow partners in this quest it s a great honor to meet people sharing my passion of these amazing books :)

Marc wrote: "Lucinda wrote: "Marc wrote: "Thanks for the invite Lucinda - I look forward to having some fun and interesting times here..."

Your most welcome, and thank you for joining.

"...I give you the lig..."

hey there :)
i m actually watching game of thrones but i postponed reading the books till summer since i have my final exams :) but is it me or did the author introduce several plots in the story ???it s a bit hard to follow and establish a relationship between the several issues :p

i have to disagree with you keri because i liked the twist Peter Jackson added to The Hobbit like Azog the pale Orc. he was already dead in the book but his presence in the movie added danger to the adventure undertaken by the company . but so far the script is almost identical to the book with the addition of the skepticism that Thorin harbors towards the abilities of Bilbo. in the book i noticed that the human emotion involved and the motive were a bit lacking in bilbo's case while in the movie when Bilbo told them that he was helping them regain their home it demonstrated courage and motivation
as for what A.K luthien's comment: your comment was perfect because you said everything i wanted to say and your minute analysis of the characters is true.the movies were a great hit and they provided the fantasy world Tolkien created even with a bit of a twist

it's true in the books the character of Arwen is practically non existent while in the movie she has a purpose for giving Aragorn the motivation and courage to fulfill his role as the King to be. and Gangalf was very forgiving to allow Saruman to live eventhough Saruman tortured him so yeah the battle of bywater would've been interesting to include in the movies

in my opinion the movies were great even if some parts are missing but in his defense if peter jackson did adapt all the facts and events of the books i think that movies would've been made in 6 parts at least but i liked how he changed a bit in the story like when eomer left with his riders and came back to help at the battle of healm's deep
and let's not forget that the movies introduced the new generation to the work of Tolkien. for exemple english is not my first language nor the first language in my country and therefore i didn't read english literature in my childhood so when i saw the movies i was mesmerized by this fantasy world and that encouraged me to read the books and it was the best experience ever :)