J.R.R. Tolkien is one of the greatest writers ever. I think the movies did a good job of capturing as much of Tolkien's intent as possibly in the limited (yes i know the movies are 3 hours long) time frame. The thing is there is so much more to be had in the books. So in my opinion the books are definitely better, as they almost always are.
I'm probably the biggest Tolkien nut on here, so let me give my story.
Hmm, dang I was 10 when the first movie came out, that just seems to long ago...anyway I saw the movies and they made me want to read the books so badly. When I read the books I had no problem visioning anything, and that is because of the movies. So my tip is to watch the movies first (the extended ones preferably)and then read the books. It will be just like watching the movies in your head with about 100 hours of extra scenes .
Well, actually you might want to read the Hobbit, first, do NOT read the Silmarillion, it is an awesome book but it might just be a little difficult to understand at first. Another great read is the Children of Hurin, very easy to read. Ummm don't bother reading the History of Middle-Earth unless you really just want to know what the writing process of the LOTR was.
Other great Tolkien reads are Smith of Wootton Major and Farmer Giles of Ham and the Adventures of Tom Bombadil. I personaly need to read Leaf by Niggle, Roverandom, and a couple more of his short stories but they all fricken cost about 18 dollars! (apiece) There is also a new one called The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrun that I need to check out.
It was a well written triology and the movies did well to uphold the essence of the story. I would recommend reading the books first, so you can sit an enjoy the cinematography and action. I look forward to the making of the Hobbit.
The books were awesome! The Hobbit was the best book and I am dieing to see the movie. I have all the Lord of the Rings movies and I am whating for the Hbbit to come out.
Thanks goumas13 for telling us when the Hobbit would come out. I was wondering about that. Peace.
