To LM
You're not alone. I also quit about halfway in to the Two Towers. I can't stand Tolkien. I find Tolkien completely unbearable. He's the only author I have ever read that can spend an entire chapter where absolutely nothing happens. Even Robert Jordan has something happen each chapter. Tolkien takes chapters just to describe the setting. Very pretty. Very boring.

I have always said about Tolkien that he doesn't just tell you that the characters are walking in the forest. He describe the trees, the moss on the trees, the leaves, the caterpillars, the rocks, the trees, the birds, the mushrooms, the trees, the twigs, the road, the trees, and on and on..... I know what a forest looks like and I am perfectly capable of imagining a tree. I didn't need him to describe one for me.

On the other hand, I was really looking forward to the movies since I heard they were coming out. I knew that no director would dare make a bad Lord of the Rings movie (and risk getting lynched by the fans) and any good fantasy movie is worth getting excited over. Plus, I always suspected there was a decent story in between all the chapters on elven language and hobbit music.