Sadly, I was 2 when the Fellowship came out, so not much chance of reading the books before seeing the movies ( although I grew up on those)...But I know what you mean. I hate movie adaptations, most of the time. I avoid watching movies before I've read the book, because I feel it spoils everything.
To this day, I haven't seen Trainspotting because I haven't read the book yet. I'm very strict like that and for good reason.
Well yeah, that's why we're not encouraged to read anymore...to destroy our imagination :(
Way to make people feel really, really old ;)
I haven't generally read fiction for a decade or two so movies were a guilty escape. I rarely watch them anymore either :) Now, I write and see what my imagination has to offer.