Tag Archives: j.r.r. tolkien

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King: Book Review

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Book Review #13: The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

Author: J.R.R. Tolkien

Genre: Fantasy

Days to Read: 30-ish days

Synopsis (taken from Waterstones.ca): Concluding the story begun in The Hobbit, this is the final part of Tolkien’s epic masterpiece, The Lord of the Rings. The armies of the Dark Lord are massing as his evil shadow spreads ever wider. Men, Dwarves, Elves and Ents unite forces to do battle agains the Dark. Meanwhile, Frodo and Sam struggle further into Mordor in their heroic quest to destroy the One Ring.

My Thoughts: You have no idea how excited I was at the thought of nearing the end of this trilogy. I have lived and breathed The Lord of the Rings for four months now, and couldn’t wait to finally say I had completed it. This last novel was everything I thought it would be: fast-paced (at least Book 5 was, the story following Aragorn), interesting and, oddly enough, romantic. I absolutely loved seeing the relationship between Eowyn and Faramir unfold before my eyes, but was slightly disappointed when Tolkien merely thrust the love between Aragorn and Arwen at my feet without any prior inclination of a romance between them. On the whole, though, I thought this was the best book of them all.

What irks me about Tolkien, however, is the fact that he always builds up to the battles with endless pages of journeys and discussions; but when it comes right down to the battle itself, he only writes about a page on it. The battle scenes always fall flat. But in the epic battle between the Black Rider and Eowyn, it was written with more description than any other battle. I could see her courage, her greatness and her love for her family and people and was rooting for her from start to finish. I grew to love Eowyn more than any other person (other than Sam) in the novel, and wanted nothing but happiness for her at the end. She was the fearless character the trilogy needed. But more interestingly, I was intrigued by the fact that she couldn’t save her people without dressing up as a man first, as if being a woman wasn’t good enough. In today’s society, feminism and female power is almost second-nature to us. We’re used to seeing female leaders now and figureheads; so it was cool to see how Tolkien’s world viewed women differently. I don’t blame Tolkien for creating a story where men were the primary characters (as some people do); instead, I thank him for showing the strength women can have in times of trouble. We’re not all damsels in distress.

Anyways, I’m digressing.

Simply put, I liked The Return of the King a lot more than I thought I would. After The Two Towers, finishing this series seemed like an impossible task — and I admit, a few times throughout the last novel I thought I would just give up altogether. Many people did give up, so why should I feel bad? But the important thing is that I didn’t. I kept reading and when Frodo and Sam finally reached Mount Doom, I couldn’t have been happier. Gollum played his part well, and while I did think his ending was a little anti-climatic, he did provide a reasonable and satisfying end to the One Ring. The part of The Shire in turmoil caught me by surprise because it wasn’t in the movie, but I liked how it wasn’t just a perfect ending for the hobbits. Nothing in life is perfect, and I liked how The Shire wasn’t perfect throughout the various wars and battles. Saruman saw to that. His death was a little strange and abrupt… I would have preferred if he had lived but withered away.

On the whole, I was pleased by this concluding novel and I am beyond thrilled to say I have, once and for all, completed The Lord of the Rings series!

Rating: 8/10

To view this book, click here.

The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers: Book Review

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Book Review #12: The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

Author: J.R.R. Tolkien

Genre: Fantasy

Days to Read: Around a month? Give or take a few days.

Synopsis (taken from Waterstones.com): Building on the story begun in The Hobbit, this is the second part of Tolkien’s epic masterpiece, The Lord of the Rings. Frodo and the Companions of the Ring have been beset by danger during their quest to prevent the Ruling Ring from falling into the hands of the Dark Lord by destroying it in the Cracks of Doom. They have lost the wizard, Gandalf, in the battle with an evil spirit in the Mines of Moria; and at the Falls of Rauros, Boromir, seduced by the power of the Ring, tried to seize it by force. While Frodo and Sam made their escape the rest of the company were attacked by Orcs. Now they continue their journey alone down the great River Anduin — alone, that is, save for the mysterious creeping figure that follows wherever they go.

My Thoughts: Okay, so I realize it took me a long time to get through this story, once again. But to be fair, I had school and a bunch of other things that took up a lot of my time. On the whole, I enjoyed The Two Towers a lot more than I enjoyed The Fellowship of the Ring — it was a shorter story, to be sure, but it also flowed nicer too. I was really excited to get to Gollum’s entrance and I wasn’t disappointed. He was just as manipulative and creepy as the one in the movies. This wasn’t my favourite movie of the series, but I was greatly surprised by the plot of this novel — boy, did Peter Jackson change and shift some things! I’m not sure yet if I liked Tolkien’s choice in having Boromir die in the first chapter of The Two Towers versus Jackson’s idea of killing him off at the end of The Fellowship of the Ring. For Jackson, it was a nice way to tie up some ends and get the movie ready for its sequel. For Tolkien, it provided a way for the reader to get back into the swing of things — and what better way to remind the reader of all the horrors that had ensued than by killing off Boromir?

While this wasn’t my favourite novel in the series (yes, I’m almost done The Return of the King now), I did enjoy it. I loved the chapter when Frodo and Sam get tricked into entering Shelob’s lair. It was descriptive and made me feel as if I was right there with them (which I thankfully wasn’t, seeing as how I’m deathly afraid of spiders). I was, however, mega-disappointed with Tolkien’s description of the battle at Helm’s Deep; it wasn’t as extravagant or interesting as I had expected it to be. However, there was a greater emphasis on the Ents’ war on Isengard which I enjoyed. I was introduced to new characters that I loved in the movie (Faramir, Eowyn, Theoden, the Ents and Gollum) and I was interested in getting to their parts in this saga. Eowyn was less memorable than I had expected her to be — but then I remembered that Tolkien wasn’t a fan of making females a bigger character than he needed them to be. It was an intriguing start though to the figures of Rohan and I began looking forward to reading the last book to getting a fuller development. I think the thing I loved most about this novel was that at the end in Shelob’s lair, Sam was given total control and took centre stage. He’s always been my favourite character in the series and I was proud to see him make a stand and rescue Frodo in every way possible. All in all, this second novel could still have been tighter (a common complaint with this trilogy) but it wasn’t as boring as The Fellowship of the Ring.

My Rating: 7.5/10

To view this book, click here.

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring: Book Review

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Book Review #11: The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

Author: J.R.R. Tolkien

Genre: Fantasy

Days to Read: 30

Synopsis (taken from Waterstones.com): Continuing the story of The Hobbit, this is the first part of Tolkien’s epic masterpiece, The Lord of the Rings, featuring a striking black cover based on Tolkien’s own design, the definitive text, and a detailed map of Middle-earth. Sauron, the Dark Lord, has gathered to him all the Rings of Power — the means by which he intends to rule Middle-earth. All he lacks in his plans for dominion is the One Ring — the ring that rules them all — which has fallen into the hands of the hobbit, Bilbo Baggins. In a sleepy village in the Shire, young Frodo Baggins finds himself faced with an immense task, as his elderly cousin Bilbo entrusts the Ring to his care. Frodo must leave his home and make a perilous journey across Middle-earth to the Cracks of Doom, there to destroy the Ring and foil the Dark Lord in his evil purpose. Now published again in B format, J.R.R. Tolkien’s great work of imaginative fiction has been labelled both a heroic romance and a classic fantasy fiction. By turns comic and homely, epic and diabolic, the narrative moves through countless changes of scene and character in an imaginary world which is totally convincing in its detail.

My Thoughts: This is probably the longest it’s ever taken me to read a novel, but it’s The Lord of the Rings so it’s understandable. As much as I loved The Hobbit, I just could not get into The Fellowship of the Ring. It was probably due to a combination of things… the pages-long songs, the ridiculous amount of detail and the fact that the story dragged down to the pace of a snail at the beginning. I’ve heard warnings about the first book before, so I shouldn’t have been surprised. But despite my first impressions during the first half of the novel, I did enjoy it. If it wasn’t for my class, I probably wouldn’t have picked the book up — but I’m glad I can say I’ve completed it! The Lord of the Rings is just one of those series that any literature-obsessed person should try. It’s like climbing a mountain — sure, you might not be able to reach the top the first time you try, but with persistence and further tries, you will make it to the top. I had many days when I couldn’t possibly imagine reaching the last page, but after 30 days I did! The novel didn’t change my life, nor did it make me feel like I had wasted my time. I enjoyed my time with this first novel and, as unbelievable as it sounds, I actually couldn’t wait to start reading The Two Towers after I had finished it.

The idea of an epic quest to destroy the One Ring is original in itself, and I’m so thankful Tolkien put his ideas to print because without this saga, fantasy wouldn’t be the same today. But while the idea is fantastic, I did think the first novel that set up the story could have been tighter. The writing seemed to drone on and I couldn’t wait to get to Rivendell. The characters were all captivating in their own ways, and I found I really did care about what happened to them. But what really made me love the novel was the fact that Tolkien put so much love and passion into it. This was his life for so many years and he focused so much time into making this a novel unlike any other. The idea that he created his own languages for the novel and developed so many intriguing sets of characters (from Elves to Hobbits, Wizards to Orcs), is awe-inspiring! While I cannot say, as much as I wish I could, that this is one of my favourite novels, I can say that I have a new appreciation for Tolkien and can look at the saga with better eyes.

My Rating: 6/10

Ahhh!

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I’ve got books coming out of my ears! I’ve never had to read so many books in one weekend for school, but alas, my teachers have bested me. Want to know what I’ve got to read by today and this coming week that’s the reason for keeping me from updating this blog?

Today I have to finish a large illustrated book called Tolkien’s Ring, which is basically an analysis of Tolkien’s mind and the many myths and historical events that Tolkien’s saga was inspired from. I’m a little over half done but what I’ve read has been fascinating. I love learning about the many myths from around the world, so this book is perfect for that. I need to write a review on this book for class today, so when I’m done, I’ll post it on here to share with you all.

On Tuesday, I have to be completely finished Nineteen Eighty-Four (which I’ve barely started) to write a short quiz on the characters, plot, setting, etc. Yes, I’m well aware that if I don’t get it done, I can just Sparksnotes what I don’t know. But I’d really like to finish it so I can move on to the next novel on my to-read list.

Then by Friday, I need to have finished  The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring and get considerably into The Two Towers. I’m only halfway through The Fellowship of the Ring, so you can tell I have a lot of reading to do. 

Wish me luck because the reading gods know I need it!

Challenge: Day 29

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At the moment, I am reading The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton. It’s taking me simply forever to go through it, and that’s not because I don’t like it. On the contrary, it’s a fabulously written story. I started it in December, then chose to read The Hobbit halfway through, which made me stop reading The Forgotten Garden altogether. And then while I was reading The Hobbit, my grandfather passed away, which just put a stop to everything that I was doing in my life. A few weeks ago I finished The Hobbit, and so now I’m back to finishing The Forgotten Garden. Hopefully I’ll be done soon so I can get a review up for you all.

(Sorry for that very long-winded explanation).

What book are you reading at the moment?

The Hobbit: Book Review

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Book Review #7 Book: The Hobbit

Author: J.R.R. Tolkien

Genre: Fiction/Fantasy

Synopsis: (as taken from Chapters.Indigo.ca)  The Hobbit is a tale of high adventure, undertaken by a company of dwarves in search of dragon-guarded gold. A reluctant partner in this perilous quest is Bilbo Baggins, a comfort-loving unambitious hobbit, who surprises even himself by his resourcefulness and skill as a burglar. Encounters with trolls, goblins, dwarves, elves and giant spiders, conversations with the dragon, Smaug, and a rather unwilling presence at the Battle of Five Armies are just some of the adventures that befall Bilbo. Bilbo Baggins has taken his place among the ranks of the immortals of children’s fiction. Written by Professor Tolkien for his own children, The Hobbit met with instant critical acclaim when published.

Days to read: 30 (But bear in mind, I had exams, essays, Christmas and my grandfather’s death while reading it)

Rating: 4/5

My thoughts:  It has taken me many years to pick this novel off my bookshelf. Back in Grade 6, I tried reading the first Lord of the Rings book, and I thought it was terrible. At that age, the songs were too boring and the descriptions were too long, so I stopped reading it 10 chapters in. Since then, I’ve just had no desire to read The Lord of the Rings or The Hobbit, even when I fell in love with the movies. When I heard that they were making The Hobbit into a movie, I decided I needed to forget my old feelings and start anew. So I read The Hobbit. And it was incredible. Of course, it’s much shorter than The Lord of the Rings books, but that doesn’t mean it’s any easier or less interesting. On the contrary, it’s one of the best books I’ve read in a long time. It gripped me from the start, and I couldn’t believe how perfectly paced Tolkien had written it. He made it seem like I was on the journey with the group. One death in particular seemed a bit less extravagant than I thought it should have been, but Tolkien was probably saving up for the final battle. Nonetheless, I am so glad I read The Hobbit. Bilbo Baggins is one of the most agreeable characters in a long while, but despite the fact that he is not a Man, he is still inflicted with many of the feelings, decisions and sorrows any great Man must face in life. I cannot wait until the movie comes out in December because I’m not at all worried that Peter Jackson will mess it up. He did The Lord of the Rings justice, so I know he’ll do this the same. To anyone who hasn’t picked up The Hobbit, I urge that you pick up this timeless tale and just devour it!