| Product: |
The Lord of the Rings - J.R.R. Tolkien |
| Date: |
28/09/05 (147 review reads) |
| Rating: |
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Advantages: An epic tale, a classic book, a joy to read.
Disadvantages: Sadly some people never read the book.
Introduction
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I have been longing to review this book for some time now, but was put off by the fact that it’s been reviewed so many times. So what can I add that is new to any former reviews? The answer lies simply in the fact that this is, and will continue to be my favourite book of my lifetime. If this sounds a sweeping statement so be it, but I have read the book about fifteen times, possibly more, I get my old copy down at least every two years since the first time I read it some thirty years ago. I have three copies of the book, two much battered and worn by constant reading, one is the centenary version to commemorate the anniversary of Tolkiens’ birth with fifty full colour illustrations by the artist Alan Lee who worked on the epic film with Peter Jackson.
This was given to me as a Christmas present and at £50 will be rarely read as I intend to pass this down through my family. You could offer me £1000 for the book and I would keep it despite being short of money, such is the value I place on it.
I first read the book in December 1975 and it took me a week to read it, only pausing because I was working full time and had a baby daughter to bring up on my own. It completely captured my imagination, which as an avid reader was saying a lot about the book.
Over the years since then I have taken it out to read for many reasons. The first few times were because I was so enthralled that I felt I had missed many of the meanings of the whole book. After that it became a familiar journey in times of trouble, depression and a longing to escape into fantasy.
I have championed the book when people put it down as a mere “fairy tale”, this is unlike myself as I rarely enter into debates on any issue but those that stir up my feelings, such is the power of the book.
Overview
To get the most from the book you really need to get a feeling for the realm in which Tolkien placed the setting. I am oversimplifying this because there are many supporting books, which even I found heavy going to read.
Tolkien started to write the background long before he wrote the book itself. “The Hobbit” had delighted so many people when it was first published in 1937 that he was asked to write more about “Hobbits”. At that time he was working on a deep study of “Middle-earth “ and the elfish language.
Middle-earth is the setting for both “The Hobbit” and “Lord of the Rings”, it’s people consisted of “High Elves”(the ones which had come from across the sea), The race of Numenor (Men with long lives), dwarves, hobbits, and wizards. On the dark side were Sauron (a bit like the devil) orcs, creatures that existed before the new races arrived and some surprising forces for both good and evil.
The Storyline
It would be confusing to describe this as a “plot” because even Tolkien himself found that as the story developed he found he was going deeper into the “Elder Days” which had been his original idea for a sequel to “The Hobbit”. In his forward to LOTR he quotes the immortal lines “The tale grew in the telling”, referring to how the story took a form of it’s own.
At the start of LOTR the world of middle-earth is beginning to face a war of such proportions that had never been seen since the days when Sauron, the dark force of evil, had been temporarily banished when an army of elves and men had beaten him back in the hope of killing him forever. However, the one ring that Sauron forged secretly to take over the people of middle-earth had not been destroyed as the Elves had begged Isludor, the king of Gondor to cast into the “Mount of Doom” where it had been forged with most of Sauron’s might. Instead he had taken the ring as an heirloom for his family, an act that was to betray him to his death.
By unhappy chance it had been found afterwards by Smeagol, later to be called Gollum, a sad tale of a young man not so very different than hobbits, who was consumed by the power of the ring to corrupt any good to evil.
The ring eventually passed to Bilbo, the main character in “The Hobbit”. When Bilbo had celebrated his eleventy-first birthday he gave the ring to Frodo his adopted heir.
Gandalf, the wizard has many misgivings over the ring but it’s not for many years that he finally discovers this is the “One ring”, lost by Sauron who is now gathering armies of fell creatures to end the world of men and elves.
Frodo escapes the very same day when Sauron’s “Ringwraithes”, undead men, finally visit “The Shire” to bring the ring back to their master.
On the long journey from the “Shire” Frodo and his companions escape the clutches of the Ringwraithes and eventually arrive at the house of Elrond a high elf that was at the battle when Sauron’s defeat was halted.
At the council of Elrond many races come together, men, elves, a dwarf and the hobbits. Thus becomes the “Fellowship of the Ring”, when Frodo sets out with eight companions to take the ring to Mount Doom in the land of Mordor where Sauron dwells. Only by casting the ring into the fiery depths will Sauron be defeated.
There follows a tale with many setbacks, heroic actions and above all the power of the “one ring” to corrupt the owner.
The reader is introduced to each character and their background.
The “Hobbits” are small people about half the size of men, they live in rural harmony and appear the last type of folk that would enjoy or participate in any “heroics”. But in the heart of the meekest of Hobbits lies a seed of courage that will prevail.
“Aragorn” is the last in line of the heirs of Gondor, now a ranger that roams throughout the land keeping trouble at bay.
“Boromir” is the son of the steward of Gondor, a man with his own agenda. Proud and haughty but with the blood of the ancient kings in his veins.
Legolas is an elf from the realms of the ancient forests and a prince in his own right,
Gimli is the son of Gloin, a dwarf that also has ancient blood-ties.
Gandalf is a wizard, known mostly for his expertise with fireworks, but once again a force to be reckoned with.
The rest of the fellowship is made up of hobbits, Sam, the loyal friend to Frodo, Merry and Pippin, two little hobbits that feel out of their depth but in the end are called upon to heroic deeds.
We follow the fellowship as their journey begins, firstly through many adventures until the fellowship goes their separate ways. Frodo and Sam take on the task of casting the ring into the very heart of the enemy’s stronghold.
Merry and Pippin are captured by orcs and are pursued by Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli.
Gandalf’s task is one that takes him to brink of death and beyond.
The reader meets new people and races all in a race against time to halt the defeat of middle-earth against all odds.
There are many battles fought that stir the blood and keep the reader in constant suspense. Following through the story is the love interest between Aragorn, the last king and Arwen, the elf and the glory of her people.
However the story turns out the elves are a race that soon will leave middle-earth for the ancient shores from where they originally came. To say more would spoil the book for the few who may not have read it, Tolkein kept all options open when he was writing the book, he had a good idea of the ending but the journey there took him and his readers through many a dark passage until the end.
My own Thoughts.
If the book had not been made into a blockbuster film this would be my conclusion not my own thoughts. Many people have seen the film by now and yet have not read the book, so this is my own musings on the book itself.
If you have seen the film and not read the book then you are missing out on the best book that has ever been written. The films themselves kept fairly faithful to the book, but if you want to know more about the characters, the story or the setting than you should really read the book.
I won’t say it is an easy read, at over a thousand pages many readers would be daunted by such a long book, so why should you read it?
Despite being a distinguished academic, Tolkein wrote an epic fantasy story in the simplest of terms. The characters are believable and not once does the author make the reader feel that he/she is beyond their depth in reading the book. There are times when Tolkien writes long songs and tales about the elfish “waking dreams, “ this is a part of the book that many may skip, but to me the folk law was an essential part of the elves characters, they are above the mortal realm and that is one point that stands out as a counterpoint to the simple way of the hobbit lifestyle.
Hobbits have their roots in the earth; they are ordinary people, much like the peasants of olden times but without the poverty and poor health. Tolkien paints a picture of rural life at it’s best when people lived simply off the land and enjoyed a lifestyle of ordinary pleasures such as eating, drinking and idly gossiping. Bilbo and Frodo were considered odd because they could both read and write and sometimes met with elves.
In contrast you find the friendship with Gandalf, a rather special bond that sets the two hobbits apart, in this I see the sometimes vision of trying to aspire to something more than the background of peasant farmers. Sam is one such character, a gardener to Bilbo and later to Frodo, but a faithful companion to the end despite his “humble “ background.
It’s never hard to identify with such folk, you can picture yourself as an elf, a hobbit, a wizard, a man with destiny in ever fibre of his being.
Each time I read the book I can be a different person and escape the life I’m living for a short while, for me this is the ultimate in being carried away with my imagination.
The book will stand the test of time whether or not you are interested in ancient tales there is something here for everyone to enjoy.
The idea of good against evil is not a new one, but Tolkien wrote about many things in the book, some that pass you by on a first reading.
The Ring of Power seduced many to their deaths that is one point that has rarely been raised before modern times and Tolkien started the book in 1936, a year before “The Hobbit” had been published. At the time when he first started writing it there was not the emphasis on corruption of power that holds true in this day and age.
Many critics have suggested that Tolkein was writing about the war years when, in fact, he started the book before the war. The war only held up the completion of the book.
One thing that comes through is the advance of industry that the author was aware of from the age of ten. It’s in the book in some part but never takes away the grandiose theme of the “smallest of people “ making a huge difference in the larger scheme of things, a thought to ponder on when this world of ours is getting more and more battered by freak weather, the decline of the rain forests, the advance made of recycling. It almost seems like Tolkin was a prophet in his own way.
If Tolkien meant a message behind the book it doesn’t really detract from the book, this is a simple tale that anyone with an ounce of romance in their soul can read simply as a tale of courage against all odds, the everlasting truth that man can overcome anything with a will to do good.
I’ve read it as a story, I’ve read it when everything seemed bleak and too much effort, it uplifts me, it inspires me, above all it entertains me in an age when entertainment is about which celebrity has the highest profile, I know which one I prefer, do you?
Prices: - For an ordinary copy of LOTR you can expect to pay between £10 and £ 20, depending on the version. My own copy is on offer at £35, a bargain for those that want a copy to hold on to.
Despite the glowing review I’ve given the book I have not said how much I enjoy it, so for those that in any doubt, do you want to know more about the characters? Have you seen the film but hesitate because the book seems too long?
You can buy it in three books that seem easier to read, but it’s false economy for once you start to get into the book there will be no hesitation, you will feel compelled to read until your eyes ache.
I love the book, in his forward Tolkien says that many people found some chapters dull others found the same chapters to be the highlight of the story, each to their own I say.
I would not miss out any chapter as each reveals a little more about either the characters or Tolkiens’ amazing world. At the risk of boring you to death I will leave you with the rings’ message and ask, ‘can you really not be stirred by such a book?’
“Three rings for the Elven-kings under the sky
Seven for the Dwarf-lords in their halls of stone
Nine for Mortal men doomed to die,
One for the Dark Lord on his dark throne
In the land of Mordor where the shadows lie.
One ring to rule them, One ring to find them.
One ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them,
In the land of Mordor where the shadows lie. ‘
Thanks for indulging me.
Lisa.
Summary: The best book of all-time.
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