shes 15 and her best attribute is NOT her brain. Anyway my bro the says now u can buy the Trilogy with a glossary in the back so as not to get confused, and it IS a confusing book, esp after u see the movie b/c the movie had some big differences.
yeah i read it before the the film and unless you constantly referred to the maps and had a great memory for names it can get a tad confusing - who is doing what with who and where, but what a stonking great set of books, i loved it
Have you read the Silmarillion? Now that's tough. I tackled it at the beginning of the summer, very interesting but confusing with a million names.