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James · #1

OK, here's my problem; There are a lot of fucking books for Tolkein's Middle Earth books. Meaning, there are various publications for the same stories.

So I'm really confused here. What should I be looking for when it comes to buying these books? What should I avoid? Is there really any difference between these books, and I just get whichever ones look the prettiest?

It's just really fucking confusing. I've been wanting to buy a bunch of the books since the movies were over, but every time I look, I worry I'll fuck myself over by choosing the wrong printings or something.

Emu · #2

The only good ones besides the original LOTR are The Silmarillion and The Hobbit. All of the other ones aren't worth getting.

Pub Lover · #3

Unless you're a nerd & like knowing what the tiny little references mean.

James · #4

Yeah hey, thanks for the super help, guys.

Pub Lover · #5

Get a library card. :/

James · #6

I have one. But the library doesn't have a huge selection of every different version of Fellowship of the Ring, you know?

kellychaos · #7

Does the library share an on-line database with other libraries in the county? Our local library even has a sharing program with certain other counties.

James · #8

So in other words, none of you even own any books.

Emu · #9

I own a bunch of Tolkien books I bought on whims. The only books he wrote that I like are The Hobbit and the first two LotRs. I couldn't get into the third one because I was just praying for it to end because he's boring as hell to read.

James · #10

OK, let me try to explain this again.

There are like 50 different publications of the SAME book. I wanted to know which versions are worth getting.

You don't need to tell me which STORIES are good. I'm just wondering what the differences are between all these different fucking printings.

Do I buy The Fellowship of the Ring in the big brown book? The medium blue book? The gigantic book with all three stories put together? The books with the pretty pictures on them?

Emu · #11

It's the same story no matter which one you get. Just get the cheapest one. It's not like they cut stuff out.

James · #12

Well that's why I was asking. :/

It just seems really weird to have so many different variations on the same book, so I thought some books had something different to offer.

AChimp · #13

The words of the story should be the same in each printing, if that's what you mean. There's lots of special editions, but they don't really add anything other than extra appendices with essays by Middle-Earth experts. If some books seem thicker or thinner than others, it's most likely due to the physical size of the type and paper thickness than any kind of editing of the story.

The new paperbacks with the solid black covers should be fine and pretty cheap. I own the early 90's printing with the gold foil and runes on the top and bottom of the covers.

The all-in-one vs 3 separate books is just a matter of preference. Do you want a phonebook or something small that you can read on the bus?

Blaber66 · #14

Don't get the bigass one that's a hardback. I know someone who's selling it, and it sucks. Get the one I'm getting from the library. It's really fucking old, in really fucking bad condition, and it falls apart everytime I read it. It's really fun!

liquid-dookie · #15

Quote:

Originally Posted by James

Well that's why I was asking. :/

It just seems really weird to have so many different variations on the same book, so I thought some books had something different to offer.

The words will all be the same but some will have the Appendices at the end and some may not i don't know. The main difference is the cover. Unless you desperately want to read all the Appendices (which are definately at the end of the one big The Lord of the Rings book, i don't kow about the rest) it doesn't matter which you buy.

Although there is the 50th aniversary editions with the white covers which apparently have been edited my Christopher Tolkien and contain Tolkien's original notes.