Originality Overrated?
One of my favorite books of all time is J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings. I read the first book just in time to see The Fellowship of the Ring in theaters opening night, and devoured the remaining two volumes within a month. The movies are the best book adaptations I have ever seen, and I thoroughly enjoy them even though they are no substitution for the original work.
While watching The Return of the King recently, however, I found myself unsure anymore about which pieces of the movie are accurate to the book, and which elements are added to the story by Peter Jackson. I have watched the movies numerous times, and I was ashamed to discover how they had eroded my once clear division between Tolkien-fact and Jackson-fiction. Immediately convinced of the need to re-consult the texts and sort out the “truth” of the story, I realized a parallel.
Awestruck Wonder 