Like many people I suspect I watched the films before I read the books. I absolutely loved the films and wasn't a big reader till a couple of years ago so only just got round to reading the original.

I'm amazed even more now how well done the film adaptation was, the books phenomenal but the tweaks made for the film are great. It's not to say I prefer the film to the book, just that the editing was great, the structure shift makes perfect sense for a film and now when I read the book I have a new appreciation for the untainted world

 The characters in the book are brilliantly written and the way the relationships form between them throughout the story is very different. 

The writing style is of its time but still easier to read than a lot of the same era. At the end of the day the world building is just so great it's hard to have any negatives to say about this book. Having already watched the films it did give me a vision of the characters in my minds eye which I suspect helped it greatly and I also knew certain plot points along the way. I revelled in the parts which were new like I was watching a directors cut when I was a child. To be objective I have to give it a little less than a 5 but I really loved reading this. I can't wait to pick up the two towers and continue, I always thought that was the best film so I'll see if I think the same of the books.