Book Three and Book Four

[Eomer of the Rohirrim]

I am interested in your thoughts regarding Jackson's decision to put the three storylines in The Two Towers along one big chronological line.<P>The film started at one date and finished at the end. Thus, we kept changing between the three storylines. I have to admit, this bothered me. The most telling example was whenever we got a little clip of Merry and Pippin featuring the Ents. In the book, we got two chapters, (The Uruk-hai and Treebeard) which dealt exclusively with their story.<P>However, in the film, it was extremely hard to get into their storyline, because we kept flitting between them and the other two storylines. This also affected Sam and Frodo's adventure. They were constantly (in my opinion) being overshadowed by the events in Rohan. In the book, as we are all aware, Tolkien bracketed off the adventures, allowing the reader to get fully immersed in what was happening.<P>My question is this. Do any of you think that the way the story unfolded in the book would have worked on screen? As I write this I am thinking of Tarantino's Pulp Fiction, which I think is a great film and a sublime example of chopping up the chronology.<P>I am also thinking of a couple of fellow Downers in particular who are no doubt going to visit this thread and stick an axe through it. Go on, I welcome you!