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The Lord of the Rings (The Lord of the Rings #1-3)

by J.R.R. Tolkien

4.38 · rating details · 108,019 ratings · 3,806 reviews

A fantastic starter set for new Tolkien fans or readers interested in rediscovering the magic of Middle-earth, this three-volume box set features paperback editions of the complete trilogy -- The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, and The Return of the King -- each with art from the New Line Productions feature film on the cover.
J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the ...more

Paperback, 1285 pages

Published October 12th 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (first published 1954)

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Jul 29, 2010

Brad rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, classic, faves, personal-mythology

Twenty-five years ago I'd have given The Lord of the Rings my highest possible praise. I came to Tolkien's masterpiece on my own, and that meant much to me at twelve. The only books that had been reached by me alone were books on mythology and horror. Everything else I read, from DH Lawrence to Hemingway to Dickens to Shakespeare (and this also included Dracula and Dr. Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde because they were "true" classics), was suggested and sanctioned by my mother (for which I will a...more

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Jul 18, 2008

Dolly rated it

· review of another edition

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

Shelves: thought-provoking, fantasy

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. ...moreI 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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Jul 18, 2007

Keely rated it

Shelves: fantasy, reviewed, uk-and-ireland

Writers who inspire a genre are usually misunderstood. Tolkien's reasons for writing were completely unlike those of his followers. He didn't have an audience, a genre, and scores of contemporaries. There was a tradition of high adventure fairy tales, as represented by Eddison, Dunsany, Morris, MacDonald, Haggard, and Kipling, but this was only part of what inspired Tolkien.

His writing was chiefly influenced by his familiarity with the mythological traditions of the Norse and Welsh c...more

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dan I'm curious as to why you awarded The Lord of the Rings 3 stars. In a bout against modern fantasy writers (Goodkind, Salvatore, Weis, Hickman et al.),...more
Aug 19, 2010 07:09am

Keely This review is mostly my understanding of how Tolkien differs from those who were inspired by him, and why I don't hold him responsible for the same p...moreThis review is mostly my understanding of how Tolkien differs from those who were inspired by him, and why I don't hold him responsible for the same problems they have. I didn't go very in depth in my critiques of Tolkien, though there are indications throughout, and I'm more explicit in my conclusion:

"Tolkien was a stodgy old Tory, and he painted the Shire to be his idealized Merrie Olde England . . . It can be dull, affected, and moralistic . . ."

It wasn't the length or the complex language that stymied me, since my favorite book rivals Tolkien for both, it was the unsophisticated psychology and message.

I do respect what Tolkien was able to do with his languages and the work he put in creating the world, but I wasn't impressed by his plotting, characterization, or exploration of ideas.

He was trying to recreate an older form of epic, but he didn't actually write one. His version was updated, simplified, and moralized. It is also a deliberate affectation: there is a dullness to it because he is adding details not to contribute to the story and the ideas it explores, but as part of a somewhat arbitrary exercise in rewriting his influences.

Yet Tolkien is not some ancient skald compiling a cyclopedia of life, philosophy, and history, Tolkien was a scholar in a little office messing about with his work.

There are some interesting elements of cross-pollination there for other like-minded scholars to appreciate, and there's nothing wrong with allusions and adopting forms, but Tolkien was also overwriting parts of those earlier forms of which he didn't personally approve, like the awkward Christian asides in Beowulf.

Tolkien was using everything but the heart of the genre he was pirating, which strikes me as a bit disingenuous. His recreation is impressive as an exercise, but as a piece of literature, it has flaws, mostly issuing from the self-satisfaction of the author, as literary flaws often do.

LOTR is not brutal or lifelike, as the old epics are, and it is not subtle, it is polarized and romantic, yet without any sense of irony. It then betrays it's own aspirations to romance because Tolkien, himself, was uncomfortable with the implications of romance, and so distanced himself and his characters from them.

But then, Michael Moorcock said it all much better than I could in his 'Epic Pooh', which is certainly worth a read for anyone interested in epic fantasy, as a genre, and in Tolkien (and his flaws), in particular.

I did start the Silmarillion, and it was interesting, but even more dry and symbolic than LOTR, so it didn't hold my attention. I may pick it up again someday, though.(less)
updated Aug 20, 2010 12:07am

Apr 02, 2009

Manny rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: transcendent-experiences

Considering that The Lord of the Rings is one of the most popular books of the last century, it's surprising to see how few reviews there are here. I get the impression that many people feel guilty about liking it. It's a phase you go through, and the less said about it, the better. I think this is unfair to the book, which, I am prepared to argue, is a whole lot better than it's generally made out to be; I don't think its huge success is just evidence that people have no taste. It's something t...moreConsidering that The Lord of the Rings is one of the most popular books of the last century, it's surprising to see how few reviews there are here. I get the impression that many people feel guilty about liking it. It's a phase you go through, and the less said about it, the better. I think this is unfair to the book, which, I am prepared to argue, is a whole lot better than it's generally made out to be; I don't think its huge success is just evidence that people have no taste. It's something that can be read at more than one level, and, before dismissing it, let's take a look at what those levels might be.

On the surface, it's a heroic fantasy novel, and quite a good one. It's a gripping, well-realized story, with an interesting fantasy world as background. Under the surface story, it's also clear that there's a moral discourse. It's not an allegory; as Tolkien points out in the foreword, he hated allegory, and we certainly don't have an in-your-face piece of Christian apology by numbers. None the less, the author has constructed some inspiring and thought-provoking symbols. The Ring confers great power, but the only way to defeat Sauron is to refuse that power, and destroy it, even at great personal cost. Frodo's self-sacrifice is quite moving. I also think that Gandalf is an unusually interesting Christ-figure; sufficiently so that many people refuse even to accept him as one, though, at least to me, the argument on that point seems convincing. He comes from Valinor, obviously the Heavenly Realm, to help the Free Peoples of the West. A central part of his message is the importance of mercy, as, in particular, shown by the memorable scene near the beginning, when he rebukes Frodo for wishing that Bilbo had killed Sméagol when he had the opportunity. As we discover, Sméagol is finally the one person who can destroy the Ring. And let's not miss the obvious point that Gandalf is killed, and then returns reborn in a new shape. I find him vastly more sympathetic than C.S. Lewis's bland Aslan, and he is the book's most memorable character.

But I don't think the morality play is the real kernel either. What makes LOTR a unique book, and one of the most ambitious experiments in literary history, is Tolkien's use of names. All authors knows how important names are, and use them to suggest character; though when you think about what is going on, it is rather surprising how much can be conveyed just by a name. Proust has a couple of long discussions about this, describing in great detail how the narrator's initial mental pictures of Balbec, Venice and the Guermantes family come just from the sounds of their names. Tolkien goes much further. Most of his names are based on a family of invented languages, linked by a vast complex of legends and histories, the greater part of which are invisible to the reader and only surface occasionally.

The astonishing thing is that the technique actually works. The interrelations between all the invented names and languages make Middle-Earth feel real, in a way no other fantasy world ever has. When some readers complain that characters and locations are hastily sketched, I feel they are missing the point. Tolkien was a philologist. He loved languages, words and names, and tracing back what the relationships between them say about their history. In LOTR, he's able to convey some of that love of language to his readers. You have to read the book more than once, but after a while it all comes together. To give just a few obvious examples, you see how "hobbit" is a debased form of the word holbytla ("hole-dweller") in the Old Norse-like language of Rohan, how the "mor" in "Moria" is the same as the one in "Mordor" and "morgul", and how Arwen Undómiel's name expresses her unearthly beauty partly through the element it shares with her ancestor Lúthien Tinúviel. There are literally hundred more things like this, most of which one perceives on a partly unconscious level. The adolescent readers who are typically captivated by LOTR are at a stage of their linguistic development when they are very sensitive to nuances of language, and programmed to pick them up; I can't help thinking that they are intuitively seeing things that more sophisticated readers may miss.

Perhaps the simplest way to demonstrate the magnitude of Tolkien's achievement is the fact that it's proven impossible to copy it; none of the other fantasy novels I've seen have come anywhere close. Tolkein's names lend reality to his world, because he put so much energy into the linguistic back-story, and before that worked for decades as a philologist. Basically, he was an extremely talented person who spent his whole life training to write The Lord of the Rings. In principle, I suppose other authors could have done the same thing. In practice, you have to be a very unusual person to want to live that kind of life.

Writing this down reminds me of one of the Sufi stories in The Pleasantries of the Incredible Mullah Nasrudin. The guy is invited to a posh house, and sees this incredibly beautiful, smooth lawn. It's like a billiard table. "I love your lawn!" he says. "What's the secret?"

"Oh," his host says, "It's easy. Just seed, water, mow and roll regularly, and anyone can do it!"

"Ah yes!" says the visitor, "And about how long before it looks like that?"

"Hm, I don't know," says the host. "Maybe... 800 years?"
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Pavel When I was about 12 I've read Fellowship of the Ring for the first time and as far as I remember I couldn't even finish it.
Second time I came ac...more
Sep 28, 2009 12:40pm

Logan Although I have since broadened my spectrum and now am an omnivorous reader and critic, this novel (epic, really) remains my favourite of all time. Me...more
Aug 22, 2011 05:22pm

Mar 17, 2008

William rated it

Shelves: fantasy

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 unders...more

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Dec 01, 2007

Natalie rated it

Shelves: fantasy, epic-fantasy, fiction, not-on-kindle

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, ...more

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Jan 15, 2012

Callista rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: high-fantasy

I managed to avoid reading this until the first film came out. After the credits rolled on The Fellowship of the Ring, I wanted to know what happened next, and so I read the book. It took me quite a while. I'm not naturally a fan of the peculiar writing style that characterises High Fantasy, and at the risk of angering Tolkienites everywhere, I have to say there are number of things about the book I'm not wild about.
I don't like Tom Bombadil, the way orcs and uruk-hai sound like gangs of ...moreI managed to avoid reading this until the first film came out. After the credits rolled on The Fellowship of the Ring, I wanted to know what happened next, and so I read the book. It took me quite a while. I'm not naturally a fan of the peculiar writing style that characterises High Fantasy, and at the risk of angering Tolkienites everywhere, I have to say there are number of things about the book I'm not wild about.
I don't like Tom Bombadil, the way orcs and uruk-hai sound like gangs of Victorian cutthroats, or the tiresome sl-o-o-o-wness of Ents. I don't need that many detailed descriptions of forests. Aragorn's romance with Arwen is one of those idealised, up-on-a-pedestal things with no real substance. (I will always have a problem with an Elf thousands of years old wanting to couple up with a human, even one of the Numenor, but the films gave Arwen some things to do and some depth.) The structure of the book, following certain characters for long stretches while leaving others in the lurch, gets frustrating at times. Part of my extreme fondness for Faramir is because he showed up just when I was getting really tired of Frodo and Gollum and Sam bickering during their long, slow trudge toward Mordor. (Pacing is something else the films do so much better than the book.) But I like Faramir for other reasons, too; he is steadfast, honourable, and completely undeserving of his paranoid and unfair father. What kept the story going for me was the collection of interesting characters. Despite the things that irritate me, I did find myself at the end wanting to know more about what happened to a lot of them. The little Hobbits are truly resilient, and I really like Samwise most of all. Without Sam, the journey would've ended in tragedy. I like Aragorn a lot, too; he has the most interesting character arc, moving from doubt and lack of confidence into his destined position as a great leader. I like his compassion for his fellow travelers, as well, and really like the Houses of Healing sequence. Eowyn is wonderful. If I remember correctly, her part is one of the least changed from page to screen. Her bravery and determination set her apart from all the other female characters (and many of the males) in the book. Even though I knew she could not win Aragorn's heart, I still felt bad for her over it--but Faramir is a good match for her, after all. Boromir is terribly flawed but sympathetic and proves himself in the end. Gandalf, part kindly old uncle and part scary sorcerer, helps keep everything moving forward. Theoden, cheated out of his life and power, gets to make a final stand on his own terms. In the end, the story comes together well. But, while I usually prefer books to the films based on them, in this case, I prefer the films. The films wouldn't exist if it weren't for the book, but I prefer the Jackson team's editing strategy, seeing those trees on screen, and how the actors bring the characters to life.(less)

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Apr 26, 2008

Werner rated it

· review of another edition

Recommends it for: Anyone who appreciates fantasy

Shelves: fantasy, classics

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 force it ...more

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May 27, 2007

Kristin Little rated it

· review of another edition

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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Feb 08, 2012

Shovelmonkey1 is currently reading it · review of another edition

Shelves: kitten-squishers, inner-child, read-in-2012, travel-books

THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING: BOOK ONE

Four hobbits, two men, one elf, one dwarf and a wizard. This would be the best line up ever for a reality television show.

Frodo, Merry, Pip and Sam along with Aragorn, Boromir, Legolas, Gimli and Gandalf are the interspecies representatives that form the Fellowship of the Ring. A sort of United Nations of Middle Earth if you will, where the collective are supposed to protect and defend the freedom of all who dwell in Middle Earth and who ...more

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Jul 04, 2011

Крис rated it

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Out of the wreck rose the Black Rider, tall and threatening, towering above her. With a cry of hatred that stung the very ears like venom he let fall his mace. Her shield was shivered in many pieces, and her arm was broken; she stumbled to her knees. He bent over her like a cloud, and his eyes glittered; he raised his mace to kill.

One of the best books ever. Stirred the embers of more imaginations than can be measured. Found a way to reach something vital but ineffable inside million...more

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Jan 19, 2008

Wes rated it

Recommends it for: anybody

Recommended to Wes by: my Dad

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?" -- ...more

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Jul 29, 2011

Joe rated it

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.
...more

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Dec 16, 2011

Cillian is currently reading it · review of another edition

Recommended to Cillian by: Zarakoda

Shelves: long-ass-fantasy, brilliant-author

Dear Zarakoda,

After pages and pages of negotiation, mutual interventions, colloquies and friendly debates, I came to realize that a man who wrote something like this:

One Ring to rule them all,
One ring to find them,
One Ring to bring them all
and in the darkness bind them.

Deserves to be read, enjoyed and be grateful to. I'll be sure to experience it before the end of this year, at least with the first installment.

Yours faithfully,...more

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Cillian Beyond Birthday Brandon wrote: "Cillian - i'm not going to lie, i do not understand how the battle scenes bore you. it could just be that i'm very easily enterta...more
updated 6 hours, 55 min ago

Cillian Beyond Birthday @Karen: Computer game you say?
By all means, post that link!

Also, to both of you: Salvatore is big on battle scenes, specifically scimit...more
7 hours, 0 min ago

Feb 15, 2008

Dick rated it

· review of another edition

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 Lo...moreTrue 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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Jul 22, 2008

Scurra rated it

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Shelves: fantasy

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 remai...moreTo 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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Dec 11, 2010

Tyler rated it

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 in bringing 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 sl...more

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Feb 24, 2008

Phil Smith rated it

· review of another edition

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 influence my op

...more

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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Dec 11, 2007

Darin rated it

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

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 enligh...moreThe 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.

(less)

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Jun 29, 2007

Jon rated it

· review of another edition

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 the main pla...more

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Jun 19, 2009

Bonnie rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, classics, recommended, reviewed-books

[Update, to correct review links.:] This is my all-time favourite classic fantasy and I have read it at least four times over the years. I believe it has stood the test of time, hence - it is truly a classic.

But to read an excellent pair of reviews, I recommend that you go to Brad's, recently posted: >> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/603... <<

And for a different, but equally excellent take, see Manny's review:
>> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/389......more

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Jun 09, 2007

Kanova rated it

· review of another edition

I was forced to read this book. Each member of my first book club had an opportunity to choose the book we read. When one of the members chose The Lord of the Rings I was not happy. Fantasy is not my genre! But I was a good book club member and read it anyway.

I loved it! There were times when I did not want to sleep because I wanted to finish just one more page or chapter. Tolkien creates whole worlds, languages, species, and histories. It is epic in its scope. Somehow he man...more

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May 15, 2011

Hannah rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: 12-and-up, adventure, classic, fantasy-magic, favorite, teen-adult-read, wishlist, story-time, must-read, top-3-favorite

THIS. IS. THE. BEST. BOOK. EVER.

It's a clever, humorous, awesome, epic, ADVENTURE!! Full of fun, action, and SO MUCH MORE!!! Ah it's a total classic. BUt the awesomest one at that. EVERYON HAS TO READ IT. It's a MUST READ. It's got everything. Action, Romance, Elves. Mythical creatures. Magical tools, wizards, great morals. Awesome hero's and heroines. It's packed.

The Languague is not modern easy breeze-through. It's more difficult. Full of good lessons and heroism for t...more

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Dec 20, 2008

Brian Steed added it

I read a lot of this while I was down with mono. And it was the omnibus illustrated hardback edition of LOTR, which in my weakened state I had to heft to an upright position in order to read its pages. Tolkien deserves the acclaim he gets for creating a world, complete with a rich history and its own languages, down to such a level of detail. Enjoyable in an operatic sense, and Tolkien does a good job balancing the need to keep the narrative moving with his desire to frequently stop and paint...more

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Aug 22, 2010

Bilbobaggins19 rated it

I loved the Hobbit. It was light-hearted, strange, mystical, with great quests and characters who defy anyway how this world works. And combining this with a pinch of silliness, it makes it one of the greatest books ever written.

When I picked Lord of the Rings off my dad's book shelve, I expected a beautifully written book unbelievably better than the Hobbit... however, I was severly dissapointed.

The book's main storyline, a Dark Lord, a hidden king, and most of all an e...more

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Jun 08, 2007

Gyst rated it

These books were vastly influential very interesting, but they are ultimately very boring to read.

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Jan 26, 2012

Amelia, the pragmatic idealist rated it

Shelves: favorite-books, all-kinds-of-fantasy, series-books, ya-kids-teen

This is going to sound really childish, but I'm feeling especially childish today, so... (view spoiler)...more

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Dec 31, 2011

Akika rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: classics, fiction, fantasy, war

For some reason my thoughts turn towards this book every year around Autumn. Rather like Frodo contemplating adventuring out of the Shire every Autumn. I imagine that LotR is my mental equivalent of comfort food, in somewhat the same way as Enid Blyton is. Also, as I said somewhere previously, I'm somewhat obsessional and my obsessions tend to be cyclical, so I go through a LotR phase every now and then.

My first experience of Tolkien was not a good one. Some years later I was told to r...moreFor some reason my thoughts turn towards this book every year around Autumn. Rather like Frodo contemplating adventuring out of the Shire every Autumn. I imagine that LotR is my mental equivalent of comfort food, in somewhat the same way as Enid Blyton is. Also, as I said somewhere previously, I'm somewhat obsessional and my obsessions tend to be cyclical, so I go through a LotR phase every now and then.

My first experience of Tolkien was not a good one. Some years later I was told to read LotR by my Dad, and I did. I loved it. There were some bits that dragged (there still are, but I've read every word multiple times and have no issues with skipping entire chapters if I feel like it), but most of it was phenomenal. I love this book. Until the last few years, I lived at home and read my Dad's copy. Then I moved out. I had no LotR of my own. I was given this beautiful 50th Anniversary edition one year. It's gorgeous. I adore this book. The cover is soft, it has a little box, the edges of the pages are shiny gold, like in very old books and there's a little red ribbon to mark your place. The maps are fantastic, in black and red and there are some images in the book of the pages of the Book of Mazarbul (from the Chamber of Records in Moria). I also have a copy of Two Towers illustrated by Alan Lee. I'd like individual illustrated copies of Fellowship of the Ring and Return of the King as well (by John Howe, preferably, but I'll take Alan Lee as well) - this is a book I like to read in the bath and my single volume is too unwieldy and precious for that.

I like to watch the movies too, despite the many and varied objections I have to it (not the least of which is our missing 2nd half of the Two Towers Extended Edition). It's a fun romp through a book that tugs at the heart strings and evokes all manner of feeling. Also, it's pretty and quicker than reading the book. Of course, no sooner than I watch the movie (again) than I want to read the book (again), so they feed into themselves.

Tolkien's precision and profundity are two of the most enduring qualities of this work. The language is exquisite, the descriptions are evocative, the characters are real. This is a book that stays with me, always. The issues are real and - most importantly - applicable to each and every stage of a person's life. Also, I'd make a very good hobbit.(less)

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Mar 16, 2010

Jeremy rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: absolutely-awful-books

No, I never finished this set of books. Truth be told, I can't - they're awful and horribly written. For me I found the author to be self indulgent in his writing. I know many people are impressed that he made up the languages, races , the lands, etc... quite frankly, big deal. Star Trek did it, as did Star Wars. I realize that many many people say without this book we would not have modern Dungeons & Dragons style books, games and the many spin offs.

Again, I disagree.

Ju...more

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Oct 27, 2008

Old-Barbarossa rated it

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 (d...more

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About J.R.R. Tolkien

John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, CBE, was an English writer, poet, philologist, and university professor, best known as the author of the high fantasy classic works The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings.

Tolkien was Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon at Oxford from 1925 to 1945, and Merton Professor of English language and literature from 1945 to 1959. He was a close friend of C. S. Lewis ...more

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Books by J.R.R. Tolkien

The Fellowship of the Ring (The Lord of the Rings, #1)

The Two Towers (The Lord of the Rings, #2)

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Quotes from The Lord of the Rings

“The world is indeed full of peril and in it there are many dark places.
But still there is much that is fair. And though in all lands, love is now
mingled with grief, it still grows, perhaps, the greater.” — 1,630 people liked it

“Three Rings for the Elven-kings under the sky,
Seven for the Dwarf-lords in 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 all, 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.” — 1,129 people liked it

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