Letting go of the books is a key, otherwise you are comparing apples to oranges. While one becomes the basis for the other, each has to accomplish different things.

I remember when I was in high school I read the book M*A*S*H* before I saw the movie or the TV show.   While it may not have been great literature, the book had a profound effect on me. Maybe because I was going through my high school years, but the way the characters actions were used as a method to cope with the situation struck a chord in me. Then I saw the film, which was a great anti-war movie, but that was not the theme of the book.   Then came the TV show, which carried on the anti-war theme but altered the characters where they became unrecognizable from the book and film.   IF I were to let my preconceived notions of the book become my benchmark, I would never have appreciated the genius of Altman's film, nor would I have recognized the importance of that TV series in changing the television landscape.

The same with LOTR.   Sure, the characters in the film are saying different words and reacting in different ways then the book said they would, but so what?   This isn't a documentary, this is Jackson's INTERPETATION OF THE BOOK.   I give him a great deal of credit for recongized elements that would have turned the story into something that wouldn't translate to the cinema and altering them to produce a story that would. 99% of the audience that sees the film will never have read the books, and they won't care if Arwen's role is expanded, or the Rohirim were nobler, Tom Bombadill did not appear, or Frodo had a mole on his left butt cheek.   These elements are what make Tolkien's books a fine read, but they won't necessarily make a great movie that will appeal to more than just Tolkien fans.

Jacksons role is as a storyteller. Like any good story, it will take on a new personality from the point of view of the teller. Jackson recognized his medium and dealt with it in a way that makes MOST Tolkien fans happy, and more importantly will draw MORE people into the world that Tolkien created.

Ron