Weirdly, I found both incredibly difficult to get into reading, but when it finally clicked, absolutely worth it.
I started Dune probably 30+ times and read 5-15 pages, then got distracted and moved on. I kept trying it, because people whose taste I trust kept recommending it to me. Eventually, I got hooked, then read the entire book before going to bed that night. Fellowship was about the same.
I don’t know what exactly made these so hard to get into, because I have no problem with Herman Melville, for example.
I read dune when I was 14 and though it required taking notes (vocab lookups mostly) I tore through it in a couple days. Then a year later I re-read it and holy shit, there were all kinds of things I didn’t pick up on. Read it again when I was 24 and there were whole subplots I found (tho this was after reading all the FH books).
All this is to say: great books deliver multiple messages if you take the time to read them, then pause to reflect on what the author is saying. And I recommend his other stuff, especially the Dosadi Experiment (WILD PREMISE for a protagonist!), it’s sequel Whipping Star, and (unrelated) The White Plague, they’re worth your time. Probably. I don’t know how much time you have. But they’re rather good.
Weirdly, I found both incredibly difficult to get into reading, but when it finally clicked, absolutely worth it.
I started Dune probably 30+ times and read 5-15 pages, then got distracted and moved on. I kept trying it, because people whose taste I trust kept recommending it to me. Eventually, I got hooked, then read the entire book before going to bed that night. Fellowship was about the same.
I don’t know what exactly made these so hard to get into, because I have no problem with Herman Melville, for example.
I read dune when I was 14 and though it required taking notes (vocab lookups mostly) I tore through it in a couple days. Then a year later I re-read it and holy shit, there were all kinds of things I didn’t pick up on. Read it again when I was 24 and there were whole subplots I found (tho this was after reading all the FH books).
All this is to say: great books deliver multiple messages if you take the time to read them, then pause to reflect on what the author is saying. And I recommend his other stuff, especially the Dosadi Experiment (WILD PREMISE for a protagonist!), it’s sequel Whipping Star, and (unrelated) The White Plague, they’re worth your time. Probably. I don’t know how much time you have. But they’re rather good.