| Product: |
The Lord of the Rings - J.R.R. Tolkien |
| Date: |
19/01/01 (698 review reads) |
| Rating: |
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Advantages: An amazing journey, a great read
Disadvantages: Bag under the eyes!
The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, and its prequel The Hobbit should have a place in the library of every home. These are books you will read again and again. First introduced to the world of Middle-Earth in my teens, I must have read the trilogy 20 times at least. Every read brings out more surprises - sentences you skimmed over, or just missed completely, passages that suddenly make sense, and characters that come to life.
In The Hobbit, we are introduced to the main characters, Hobbits, and the scene is well and truly set for the start of The Lord of the Rings. The Hobbit story follows Bilbo Baggins and his travelling companions as they quest to defeat the evil dragon Smaug and claim the legendary treasure. It is also the story of how The Ring - the one Ring to rule them all - was won by Bilbo from Gollum in a game of riddles, and borne by him for many years. Guided by Gandalf the wizard, their journey through Middle-Earth is beset by adventure - trolls, giant spiders and evil orcs all feature. Also in this book we meet the character Gollum, who has a huge part to play in the following novels.
But this review is not of The Hobbit I hear you cry - okay then - on to the trilogy . . .
Written by JRR Tolkein over a period of 10 years, and first published in 1954, this book is a triumph of story-telling. Set in the fictional world of Middle-Earth, inhabited by all sorts of strange creatures from elves to goblins, men to ents, and dragons to wizards, it follows on from The Hobbit and traces the long and often complicated journey of Bilbo's nephew Frodo as he becomes the Bearer of the Ring, and is sent out by Gandalf to destroy it, or die in the attempt. For fear of giving anything away, I will not reveal the plot further, you'll have to read and find out for yourself. Suffice it to say it is a fantastic, incredible, wholly-believable story, which will have the reader in turns horrified, amused, relieved or just plain frightened for t
he characters.
The book is in fact a trilogy, the three parts entitled 'The Fellowship of the Ring', 'The Two Towers', and 'The Return of the King'. Each book is divided into 2 parts, making it easy for the reader to follow each section of the story as it unfolds.
It is very easy to get involved with the characters and the story, as the whole thing is so well written.
On reading it for the first time, I am sure you will find yourself hooked, and unable to tear yourself away. Even on subsequent readings, when you already know what's coming next, you will find it hard to put this down. The descriptions of the various characters encountered on the quest, the places visited, and the power of magic are just wonderful. My particular favourites are the 'farmer' Tom Bombadil and his lady Goldberry, the beautiful Lady Galadriel, and the comic antics of Frodo's trusty hobbit companion Sam Gamgee. The creeping, fawning Gollum is brought to life in words brilliantly - you can almost see him padding along as you read about him. The whole of Middle-Earth is described in minute detail, and as most editions contain maps, you can actually trace the journey of Frodo and his party as they make their treacherous way to Mordor - the part of Middle-Earth where the evil began, and where Frodo must confront his greatest fears. The book contains vivid descriptions of the different people that inhabit Middle-Earth, from Elves to Dwarves, various communities, and of course Hobbits. Care has been taken by Tolkein to be as 'factual' as possible, while still leaving the writing accessible to younger readers. In addition, the books are liberally sprinkled with songs and poetry, which add to the general flavour.
There is not an aspect of human life that goes uncovered. There is truly something for everyone here - for example love interests, heros and heroines, very nasty bad guys, some great battle episodes, gory
deaths, deceit, jealousy, magic in vast quantities, pyrotechnics, courage, kindness, lots of laughter and good times, and the eventual triumph of good over evil.
Nearly 50 years after its first publication, this is still considered as a literary masterpiece in the genre of fantasy, and has been re-printed many many times. Illustrated hardback copies can be fairly expensive, but you can buy a paperback version quite cheaply. Rest assured it will never be relegated to the back of the bookshelf.
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