Goodreads | El Señor de los Anillos - Apéndices by J.R.R. Tolkien

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William rated it:

(review of isbn 0618640150)

03/17/08

bookshelves: fantasy

Read in June, 1972

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

This book changed my life. Before it I was a spotty 14 year old hooked on my science studies. Then I read LOTR, and, at the same time, discovered women existed and.....but thats enough of that. You want to hear about the book.

By now there are few people who haven't at least heard of LOTR, and most of them have an opinion. There are the fans, almost fanatics, and there are the people who have read fifty pages or so, sometimes five or six times, but just can't get it, and don't understand wha...more

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Natalie rated it:

(review of isbn 0618640150)

12/01/07

bookshelves: couldn-t-finish, epic-fantasy, fantasy

Everything that people like about these books is pretty much what I dislike.

There's a cool story here, it's just a chore to actually get to it. I personally find Tolkien's writing to be agonizingly bland, and he is terrible at exposition -- he's always just dumping history lessons in the middle of things where they serve little purpose. Good fantasy writers drop these in unobtrusively. I don't mean to discount Tolkien's contribution to the fantasy genre -- although to be honest, I have n...more

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Dolly rated it:

(review of isbn 0618346244)

07/18/08

bookshelves: fantasy, thought-provoking

Read in October, 1986

recommends it for: people who read fantasy and/or philosophy

I read Lord of the Rings first when I was about eleven or so, and then stayed up all night at a hip boy/girl party in the bathroom with Nathan O. ... talking about ents and elves and whether Tom Bombadil was God. Yes, I was a geeky child. However, all these years later, the story has stuck with me.

First a warning: Don't read Tolkien if you don't appreciate true-omnicient-narrator-style epics. Tolkien isn't ...more I read Lord of the Rings first when I was about eleven or so, and then stayed up all night at a hip boy/girl party in the bathroom with Nathan O. ... talking about ents and elves and whether Tom Bombadil was God. Yes, I was a geeky child. However, all these years later, the story has stuck with me.

First a warning: Don't read Tolkien if you don't appreciate true-omnicient-narrator-style epics. Tolkien isn't a master character builder: he leaves all that to the reader's imagination. The agony in the Aragorn/Arwen romance -- so blatant and operatic in the movies -- was a longing look on Strider's face at Rivendell, an odd comment from Bilbo, and a short no-nonsense Appendix. As with many of the themes in this work, the romance and deep character relationships must be picked from between the lines.

And there is so much between the lines here. The world of Middle-earth lives, utterly lives. Instead of tugging on what-ifs, this fantasy forces readers to imagine. Tolkien's work is the fullest realization of literary world building ever penned.

It is also sophisticated writing, drawing on older forms (epic, romance, tragedy). Tolkien doesn't waste time writing snappy dialogue: the story is too epic to dwindle to individual persons. However, voice shifts subtly depending on point of view: chapters dealing with hobbits contain much more dialogue and detail; chapters dealing with Rohirrim have a poetic rhythm reminiscent of extant Middle English works; chapters dealing with elves are magic and blurry and hard to wrap a mind around. These shifts in style, far from being a novice writer's oops, are intentional and serve as mass characterisation of races and groups. So, what Tolkien foregoes in terms of dialogue he replaces with style and action: a classic example of show not tell.

Having just spouted all that praise, I have to admit that all the criticisms are true: the story does resound with Luddite anti-industrial metaphors, overt Christian themes of salvation and spirit, a structural decision to include songs that doesn't quite work, and fantasy tropes that are now cliche ... now that everyone else has copied them, that is. The thing to remember is that this book started the genre: everything fantasy, from Philip Pullman to George RR Martin, exists in the shadow of this opus.

So, no, it isn't a popcorn read. Get over it. If you invest the time and spirit to read this work, you will be glad you did....less

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Wes rated it:

(review of isbn 0618640150)

01/19/08

Read in September, 1989

recommended to Wes by: my Dad
recommends it for: anybody

It's nice to have favorites. When you have a favorite -- a favorite menu item, a favorite car, a favorite shirt -- you can enter at least one corner of the maelstrom of subjective choices that life presents to you and evaluate the choices in that corner not with respect to some external criteria, but rather with respect to one specific thing.

For example, when asking oneself what the greatest book of all time is, one might first have to ask, "what makes a book great?" -- which is...more

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Werner rated it:

(review of isbn 0618517650)

04/26/08

bookshelves: classics, fantasy

Read in January, 1980

recommends it for: Anyone who appreciates fantasy

Actually, I read Tolkien's masterful Middle Earth fantasy corpus, beginning with The Hobbit in the early 70's and finishing the Lord of the Rings trilogy almost a decade later, before this anniversary edition came out. (I also read all four books to my wife in the early 80's; she loved them too!)

This body of work is, of course, the genre-defining classic of modern fantasy --especially epic, or "high" fantasy -- which popularized the genre as the publishing market for...more

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Phil rated it:

(review of isbn 0618346244)

02/24/08

recommends it for: Fantasy fans, people with a fondness for language.

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

I'm still a bit ambiguous about The Lord of the Rings. On the one hand, it's set in a very detailed universe, without so much as an atom out of place (apart from Tom Bombadil, who was meant to be an anomaly). Everything's thought through in exhaustive detail and there is a terrific sense of time and place about the whole thing. On the other hand, it's long. I could almost say it's overlong, but then my version of this book is an enormous one-volume paperback and that could easily influ...more

I'm still a bit ambiguous about The Lord of the Rings. On the one hand, it's set in a very detailed universe, without so much as an atom out of place (apart from Tom Bombadil, who was meant to be an anomaly). Everything's thought through in exhaustive detail and there is a terrific sense of time and place about the whole thing. On the other hand, it's long. I could almost say it's overlong, but then my version of this book is an enormous one-volume paperback and that could easily influence my opinion. Although it's an exaggeration to say that Tolkien will spend a page describing a rock, there are times when that exaggeration doesn't seem all that drastic.

The books have plenty of high points. The encounters with the Ringwraiths, Saruman, Gríma and Gollum are among my favourites. The Fellowship's arduous journey through Moria is very dear to this old dungeon-crawler's heart. But at the same time there's stuff that makes me cringe.

The religious imagery might not be immediately obvious, but once you're clued into it (lembas wafers / Eucharist, Gandalf's resurrection, Gandalf calling on Théoden to cast aside his stick) it does grate a little. This might be my own personal prejudice getting in the way again, though: don't let that put you off.

Similarly, the hobbits themselves aren't really to my liking. Don't get me wrong, I like the bits of characterisation that Frodo, Merry, Pippin, Ted Sandyman and arguably Gollum get, but the rest of them? What was it Moorcock said? The only good hobbit is a roast hobbit. I'm inclined to agree. With a few brush strokes, most of them are painted as stereotypical stolid yokels who 'don't hold with wearing ironmongery, whether it wears well or no'. It's a nice line, but it's so cheesy that I could grate it up and serve it on a baked potato.

All the same, it's not a bad read. Tolkien was determined to get his vision across, took his time, and tied up all the loose ends he could. He was a man very much in love with language. It shows. Pace yourself and you may well find something to enjoy.

If you haven't the patience, though, pick up the 1981 BBC Radio adaptation. It's wonderfully acted and the late Michael Hordern is the definitive Gandalf. I'd rate it over the movies any day.

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Darin rated it:

(review of isbn 0618640150)

12/11/07

bookshelves: good-literature-and-fun-to-read, my-top-20

The Lord of the Rings dominant theme (for me) is attempting the impossible, feeling the anguish of defeat, but continuing to try anyway. And in the end, when all is dark and gloomy, finally the happy moment arrives when you finish the task, overcome the trial, arrive at the destination. But there are many other inspiring messages and themes in this great book. Each reader will find their own.

Aside from the Mormon cannon of scripture, I have found this trilogy to be the most enlightening, ...more The Lord of the Rings dominant theme (for me) is attempting the impossible, feeling the anguish of defeat, but continuing to try anyway. And in the end, when all is dark and gloomy, finally the happy moment arrives when you finish the task, overcome the trial, arrive at the destination. But there are many other inspiring messages and themes in this great book. Each reader will find their own.

Aside from the Mormon cannon of scripture, I have found this trilogy to be the most enlightening, the most inspiring, the most faith promoting book (it really is one book) I have ever read. And it contains no explicit references to religion at all! But Tolkien’s masterpiece (although he might himself claim the Silmarillion to be his masterpiece) is full of religious themes—although they are wrapped in fairy tale. Tolkien did not like allegory. But Tolkien did believe his works were ‘applicable’ to life. That’s how I read The Lord of the Rings, and I find all sorts of ways to apply the major themes to my own life.

I read The Lord of the Rings at least once a year and sometimes twice. Maybe some day I will find a new favorite.

Here are some of my favorite passages:

"All that is gold does not glitter, not all those who wander are lost; the old that is strong does not wither, deep roots are not reached by the frost. From the ashes a fire shall be woken, a light from the shadows shall spring; renenwed shall be blade that was broken, the crownless again shall be king." A poem about Aragorn, but it presents strong imagery of another "crownless" who will come and be king.

"Fair speech may hide a foul heart." good advice in times when even the very elect are deceived.

"You can only come to the morning through the shadows."...The morning brings light and hope!

"It must often be so, Sam, when things are in danger: someone has to give them up, lose them, so that others may keep them." Frodo to Sam. But for me, it applies to losing your life in service so that others may have life and enjoy life also (especially in my family.)

"It's like things are in the world. Hopes fail. An end comes. We have only a little time to wait now." This is spoken after the ring has been destroyed and Sam and Frodo are left to die on the side of Mount Doom. However, they are rescued at the last moment by Gandalph and the eagles. Professor Tolkien referred to such moments with a new word he penned: "euchatastrophy".

"Far above the Ephel Dúath in the West the night-sky was still dim and pale. There, peeping among the cloud-wrack above a dark tor high up in the mountains, Sam saw a white star twinkle for a while. The beauty of it smote his heart, as he looked up out of the forsaken land, and hope returned to him. For like a shaft, clear and cold, the thought pierced him that in the end the Shadow was only a small and passing thing: there was light and high beauty for ever beyond its reach." This happens to Sam in Mordor. It is my experience that the Lord sends these 'tender mercy' moments to each of us in time of trial.

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Joe rated it:

(review of isbn 0618640150)

11/03/07

Read in January, 1985

1985-First read when I was about 12. Thoroughly enjoyed it then.

7/97-Although the battle scenes were difficult to follow, the Elven stuff sentimental and dialog of less developed characters (Legolas, Gimli) sometimes melodramatic, there were plenty of tense moments that made up for at all. The black riders in the 1st book, the tenuous alliance with Gollum and the horrifying scene with Shelob were the most exciting parts of the trilogy. The cleansing of the shire was triumphant.

2001--[...more

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Jon rated it:

(review of isbn 0618346244)

06/29/07

Read in January, 1985

recommends it for: Everyone

LOTR has its faults, yes: it can be excessively descriptive; female characters (even the important ones) aren't as fully fleshed-out and realized as male characters (Arwen spends most of the books making a flag); Gandalf annoyingly and constantly points out how everyone else's decisions are wrong; the refusal to interweave chapter-by-chapter the stories of Frodo & Sam with the stories of everyone else results in literally hundreds of pages going by without mention of the majority of t...more

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Kristin rated it:

(review of isbn 0618346244)

05/27/07

Read in January, 2006

recommends it for: People who like walking and indecipherable poetry.

Save time... watch the movies. This book can appeal only to a linguist. The underlying story is great, but it is buried under an avalance of horribly annoying songs and poems that do nothing to advance the story. They just take up space. I diligently read every last one, hoping that they held some deep meaning in relation to the story, but if there is one, it is so obscure that it serves no purpose. Also, the book is all about walking. Yes, I know they are on an epic quest, and there has to be s...more

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Barbarossa rated it:

(review of isbn 0618640150)

10/27/08

OK, first of all I know some folk love this and I'm not saying they shouldn't. Everyone has different tastes.
I read this on my second attempt. I tried first when I was in my teens and found it dull, I gave up around page 100 or so. I finally read it years back in my early 30s, but although it was still dull I gave it the benefit of the doubt and finished it. My opinion changed from dull to dull and not that big a deal.
It seems to be full of: long descriptions of folk walking about (dull); el...more

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Daniel rated it:

(review of isbn 0618129022)

10/22/08

Read in October, 2008

I was finally able to read all of The Lord of the Rings. Once, when the movies were first released, I had started the so-called trilogy (Tolkien thought of it as one novel in three parts, six books) and only got as far as the beginning of The Return of the King before I went on to other things…as I often did back in the days of when I was too tired. This time I decided to read the whole thing through, and it was lovely. It really is a beautiful story full of history, sadness, hardship, friends...more I was finally able to read all of The Lord of the Rings. Once, when the movies were first released, I had started the so-called trilogy (Tolkien thought of it as one novel in three parts, six books) and only got as far as the beginning of The Return of the King before I went on to other things…as I often did back in the days of when I was too tired. This time I decided to read the whole thing through, and it was lovely. It really is a beautiful story full of history, sadness, hardship, friendship, and many other attributes that truly proves why it has stood up as a premier novel. I have heard complaints to its length and excessive details, but I felt they were perfect albeit my own complaints about too-ambiguous scenes of battle… But I want to say that I understand his approach to that: this is a tale of History. One could see that when reading the conclusions of many efforts; such as after a fallen creature of evil and stating how nothing grew in that patch of land for the rest of all time, et cetera, et cetera…

I figure that when writing anything about The Lord of the Rings, I cannot say anything that anyone else hasn't said before… However, I can say that as the number of pages increase so does the frequency of the words Behold! and Lo!

You know, every time I used that trick way back in high school English, to start a sentence with an exclamation and continue it without starting another sentence, it never worked. I always got red ink back. How can one write creatively and follow the rules of grammar exactly throughout? I suppose one can, but it becomes very, very boring. However, the adage of one must know the rules fully before breaking them may apply here.

Anyway, I am happy I finally got around to finishing the book…after all, High Fantasy is not something I get excited about and indulge in…but, in this case, it was well worth the time spent.

Behold! the book is finished. Lo! there are no pages left to turn.

Thanks for reading.

Daniel
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Scurra rated it:

(review of isbn 0618640150)

07/22/08

Read in May, 1980

To even attempt to review Tolkien's epic is like measuring the coastline - the deeper you go, the more there is to find (or, as the more cynical might put it, the longer it gets.)

And it's because it is so many different stories and, indeed, types of story, all melded together into one (at times unwieldy) whole. So, for example, you can read it as a poetry book. Skip all the narrative sections and just read the verse. You'll be surprised at how much of the narrative structure remains intac...more To even attempt to review Tolkien's epic is like measuring the coastline - the deeper you go, the more there is to find (or, as the more cynical might put it, the longer it gets.)

And it's because it is so many different stories and, indeed, types of story, all melded together into one (at times unwieldy) whole. So, for example, you can read it as a poetry book. Skip all the narrative sections and just read the verse. You'll be surprised at how much of the narrative structure remains intact, and how the themes of loss, redemption, love and courage are still present. Likewise, I often tell people who got frustrated with the "hobbit stuff" at the start to skip straight past that and just read Aragorn's story instead, which is far easier to relate to.

So the shifts in tone and style are not signs of bad writing, they are deliberate echoes of the different mythic forms he used as his original model for creating the world of Middle Earth. And it's this underpinning that makes the book so special - his characters live in a world that has its own intricate mythos that they can casually refer to, almost as though they expect the reader to know the stories just as intimately. In the way that an author today could refer to, say, the story of Romeo & Juliet and expect the reader to know the basics, here Aragorn talks about Beren & Luthien in the same way - and we (as readers) realise that we have no idea who these people are - but that those characters do. And, more importantly, that that story has absolutely nothing to do (in plot terms) with the one we are reading (except insofar as establishing a parallelism for Aragorn & Arwen.)

It's a common flaw, especially in fantasy fiction, for the world to exist solely for the story that is being told; what makes Middle Earth so special is that, for all its inconsistency and implausibility, it really does have large parts of history that are nothing to do with The One Ring.

Tolkien originally set out to create a mythology for England. He ended up doing more than that - and for that we should all be grateful....less

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Tyler rated it:

(review of isbn 0618640150)

04/22/08

Read in October, 2003

recommends it for: everyone,

This trilogy, which really is just one book divided into 6 parts (like acts), is one of the most amazing written works ever produced. Tolkien is a genuine genius is brining about a story that touches every genre: humor, mystery, action, fantasy, war, sci-fi, romance...it's all in there.
It's beautifully crafted, very consistent, and even has multiple languages, one of which is a complete language created by Tolkien for this story.
Many might think that the beginning of the story is slow, but...more

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Dani rated it:

(review of isbn 0618346244)

02/23/08

bookshelves: classic, sci-fi-and-fantasy

Read in January, 2001

recommended to Dani by: High School Group
recommends it for: Fantasy lovers, JK Rowling fans, Anyone with a good imagination

I tried reading The Hobbit many times through out high school but could never really get into it (because of the cutness of the book/lack of a moving plot). Anycase, when the movie came out I wasn't to excited for it because I figured the whole series would be like the Hobbit. But I finally got down with the Hobbit literally a couple of days before I went to the movie with some friends. And by the end of the movie I was on the edge of my se...more

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Annika rated it:

(review of isbn 0618346244)

02/17/08

bookshelves: classics, fantasy, stunners

Read in January, 2004

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Dick rated it:

(review of isbn 0007203632)

02/15/08

True story (sad when you have lived your life such that you have to add that):

When I was a child we did our yearly camping trip to the West Coast and Mootie always gave us an allowance for books/comics to read on the trip. It made traveling in the camper a little more bearable (barely). Roger and I had read in Parade magazine (Roger can correct me if I am wrong because it was a long time ago...the summer after fourth grade for me) that the hippie community was madly in love with Lord of th...more True story (sad when you have lived your life such that you have to add that):

When I was a child we did our yearly camping trip to the West Coast and Mootie always gave us an allowance for books/comics to read on the trip. It made traveling in the camper a little more bearable (barely). Roger and I had read in Parade magazine (Roger can correct me if I am wrong because it was a long time ago...the summer after fourth grade for me) that the hippie community was madly in love with Lord of the Rings. Well, I loved anything hippie at the time, probably because Lowell hated them so much. So Roger and I decided to buy the series but we couldnt find The Fellowship of the Ring. He started first with the Two Towers and I waited for him to finish. Luckily, we didnt have to wade through those first hundred pages of the Fellowship.
I remember after I finished the appendix (I so love the appendix) of just weeping and then I had an epiphany. I realized I would never read anything I would love again, as much as I loved the Lord of the Rings. I have loved many books and reread some books many times but nothing has moved me as much as this series.
When I had my pre-mission interview the Bishop, he asked me how many times I had read the Book Of Mormon. I replied 12 times and he was shocked. Then the Mormon guilt crept in and I mentioned that I had read Lord of the Rings 27 times. Yes, I use to keep track. I think I have finally reversed the order of which one I have read the most but it has been an herculean effort.
Just awhile ago I was mentioning to Kirsten that I wish that Tolkien had done more with women in the series. She had an interesting insight. She said, "Given what is happening to men in our society, increased pornography addiction, video game addictions, lack of desire to get higher education and to have a career (30% of American males now no longer finish High School) men need stories of heroes who are noble and right. Men need to be inspired and have heroic friendships with each other." Word....less

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Shawn rated it:

(review of isbn 0618640150)

01/16/08

Read in August, 1969

I first read The Hobbit and the three volumes of Lord of the Rings (earlier editions, obviously)in the late summer of 1969 after being given The Hobbit by a friend I'd worked with that summer on an archaeological dig on Washington Island, Wisconsin.

I'd scoffed at the idea of college students reading these (as I described them) "children's books", but when she gave me the book I promised I'd read it and began late one night shortly after, while I was staying at my parents home bef...more

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Jamey rated it:

(review of isbn 0618640150)

11/11/07

bookshelves: fiction

This book got me started reading. It's the reason I grew up and got a Ph

El Señor de los Anillos - Apéndices

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