[stanz]

No, I haven't read "Lord of the Rings." But, then again, I didn't read "Harry Potter" either and immensely enjoyed that film.
My daughter has read the first book of the trilogy and loved it. I picked it up and could not get past the 5th page or so. As for fantasies, the Ann Rice novels (Taltos, etc.)concerning the Mayfair witches are more interesting because they deal with actual Celtic lore.

[My2Cents]

One thing I found fascinating about Tolkien's tale is that he created his own lore.