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Mar 27, 2011

Linda rated it:

(Update: Want to read the complete review? Visit the article in Counterpunch!)

I'll admit this: the only reason why I read the LOTR Trilogy was because I was jealous.

The year: 1972. It was a time of ridiculously insane fashion: hot pants, maxi-coats (and pads) and rough-woven cotton shirts, so scratchy they felt like the sartorial equivalent of surgical gauze with chunks of wood stuck between the weave. It was not for the faint-hearted.

And of course, who w More...

14 comments like (28 people liked it)

Dec 29, 2011

Keely rated it:

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...

4 comments like (21 people liked it)

Dec 16, 2009

Doc Opp rated it:

Tolkein's masterpiece is notable primarily for its historical significance. He basically invented the fantasy genre, and because of that all fantasy readers owe him a debt of gratitude. Many things in his books will seem somewhat cliche nowadays, but that's because they have been used so often since he wrote this book - almost all of them were original when this book was written.

That said, Tolkein is not a terribly good writer. He tends to go on in excruciating detail about trivia More...

13 comments like (35 people liked it)

Jun 10, 2010

Matt rated it:

I wasn't really "cool" back in high school. I never made out with girls under the bleachers, or smoked under the bleachers, or did any of the other things under the bleachers that - I am lead to believe - the popular kids did. Instead, I maintained a low profile and waited for the teenage years - that wilderness of strangled thinking - to end.

In high school, as today, I harbored geekish obsessions, had a wandering imagination, and nurtured an appreciation for minutiate. In More...

12 comments like (48 people liked it)

Dec 16, 2009

adam rated it:

Read the review by Doc Opp; I think he covers it quite nicely. He explains how Tolkien was the forefather of fantasy writing, and why that makes his books important. He also shares his opinion that the historical importance sort of causes people to overlook that Tolkien couldn't write worth beans.

Opp posits that perhaps it has something to do with the concept of heroism being different in Tolkien's days than it is now. I'm not sure I agree with that. I mean I agree that his chara More...

20 comments like (22 people liked it)

Oct 12, 2007

Bryce rated it:

I consider the Lord of the Rings trilogy the best fantasy, and perhaps the best fiction, ever written. Middle Earth is a beautiful, rich, complete land to which Narnia pales by comparison (don't get me wrong, I very much like Narnia, too).

The beginning of the quest, which starts innocently but dives into a much larger, darker world than its protagonist, Frodo Baggins, could have ever imagined, is absolutely spellbinding. A small portion of the near-infinite background is revealed a More...

2 comments like (22 people liked it)

Jul 09, 2011

FlibBityFLooB rated it:

I suppose what I am about to type will be considered sacrilegious to some reading this review. However, I always believe in honesty in reviews, so here goes anyway :)

As much as I love the story, I have to say that I liked the movie better than the book. *gasp* There’s the blasphemy for you. Hehehehe. There was just so much singing in the book. I wish I could have skimmed the singing passages, but I was listening to the audiobook which made skipping the songs difficult. Maybe More...

6 comments like (5 people liked it)

Sep 07, 2010

Julie rated it:

This is one of my favorite books ever, so I used it to cleanse myself after the debacle that was Eat, Pray, Love. And now I can review it.

There are many praiseful things I can say about this book, but I'll try to keep it short. One of the sharpest things about this first installment of the Lord of the Rings trilogy is its ability to create terror and suspense without actually introducing us to the enemy, Sauron (or even Saruman, his wizard henchman, for more than a few pages at lea More...

0 comments like (5 people liked it)

Dec 20, 2007

Fred D rated it:

What can I say about The Lord of the Rings? I could go on and on forever. It is my #1 favorite book of fiction of all that I've ever read in my entire life. I am going to review each book separately, but much of what I have to say here applies to all 3 of the books. LOTR is so incredibly EPIC! The scope of the story expands as it progresses to enormous proportions. Tolkien uses a very sophisticated "old" style of writing which at first I found intimidating but eventually I got used to More...

0 comments like (6 people liked it)

Dec 17, 2009

Jessica rated it:

I first read this book after stumbling upon my father's copy. I hadn't enjoyed it (at the time, Tolkien seemed a little too long-winded for my taste); however, when five years later I requested the full set of Harry Potter novels (whatever had been out at the time), my Mother bypassed Rowling and bought my a full set of Tolkien instead... and I have been in love ever since.

I once read a quote about J.R.R. Tolkien, which asked increduously: "How did one man, in the course of a s More...

0 comments like (7 people liked it)

Oct 02, 2008

Ron rated it:

Have read this series at least once a decade since college (which was a few decades ago for me) and it continues to be fresh and refreshing.

Great story and great storytelling.

The gold standard for fantasy.

Elsewhere goodreads invites us to identify movies which fell short of the book. Cute poll, but the wrong premise. By their nature, no movie can compare with the book. Take Fellowship as an example. Peter Jackson spent great energy, money and creativity captur More...

2 comments like (7 people liked it)

Apr 17, 2008

Elfie rated it:

I treat the Lord of the Rings trilogy as one and I could not make a better comment than my friend Teryl did. There is only one thing I disagree with - I loved the films!
However, I don't think it does any harm to tell a little story showing yet another way of how Tolkien can enter peoples' hearts: We were at the time living in Spain and our son attended an international school with an English curriculum. He was anything but a keen reader, in fact, he had had reading problems from the time w More...

0 comments like (5 people liked it)

Mar 25, 2008

Kerstin rated it:

When we're talking about novels that for some reason happen to be overshadowed by their big-screen movie adaptations (granted, not many exist), then The Lord Of The Rings belongs into that category. I know that the Tolkien-purists might crucify me for saying this, but I'm saying it nonetheless. For me, watching these movies usually equals an exercise of little to medium effort; reading the book, I often found myself on the verge of frustration. And I'm not one with an attention span of a grapefr More...

0 comments like (4 people liked it)

Aug 23, 2008

Randy rated it:

Hate this cover art, hate the movies (PJ turned them into horror rather than moralistic epic fantasy), but this is my favorite series.
I am currently telling everyone I have read them 11 times, but I am quite certain it is more, I just don't know how many more. Whenever I just feel really worn out and almost sick . . . I recoup my energies by being inspired again by Tolkien . . . usually every 2 or 3 years.
These books have been a powerful influence in my life -- it so much easier More...

3 comments like (6 people liked it)

Feb 03, 2012

Amy added it

Ok, I love this movie. It's a great, beautiful story. But no matter what, I *cannot* get through this book! It is so *boring*! I have tried numerous times, and every single time I fail miserably. I tried before the movie came out, and I've tried since the movie came out. Invariably this book winds up collecting dust on the night table. I just... can't... make... it... through!! Thank goodness for Peter Jackson, New Zealand, CGI, and great acting, otherwise I'd be missing out on a really g More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Feb 05, 2012

Devlin rated it:

There is no better fantasy, adventure tale. J.R.R. Tolkien has created a world unmatched by any fantasy writer. This series is a 'must-read' for all true adventurers at heart.

Devlin

13 comments like (4 people liked it)

Oct 27, 2010

Daniel Melvill rated it:

The Lord of the Rings is truly an epic book. This is my second time going through the series, and I have noticed new things this time round, thanks to Omnibus II.

First, although the movies are superb, the books are fuller and richer. I've relized that I need to have my view of LOTR shaped by the books, rather then the films.

I;ve also picked up a few new things that The Fellowship can teach us about the Christian walk. Although Tolkien was a Catholic, and his Catholic wor More...

1 comment like (4 people liked it)

Aug 16, 2011

Leanne rated it:

J.R.R Tolkien is credited for the revolution of modern epic fantasy. "Lord of the rings" is truly an EPIC, and I can really see why people have been so wowed and spellbound by his books. His imagination, his originality, his details and the world he created in his books are amazing and blew my mind away. Modern authors today (ex. J.K Rowling, Christopher Paolini) have written works of fiction that have ideas and concepts derived from Tolkein's "Lord of the rings".

More...

2 comments like (4 people liked it)

Feb 24, 2011

Mary rated it:

Lord of the Rings has to be the all time best fantacy book of all time.Sorry Harry Potter Fans even though Potter books are amazing thay can't compete to Tolkens Incredibal trilogy.One of the main factors of why these books are so good is the description. It's amazing how clearly you can imagine the terianes or towns, It's almost like you have gone back in time to the medival ages and are experiancing them yourself.Lord of the Rings however do have boring parts but are nessisary for the plot to More...

3 comments like (1 person liked it)

Dec 16, 2010

NicoleMichele rated it:

Book One "The First Journey" - 4 stars
I thought "The Lord of the Rings" was a trilogy, but I discovered in Volume I - "The Fellowship of the Ring" in "Note on the Text" that it's in fact 6 books published in 3 volumes for convenience. I read this first volume once some years back, right after the first film was released, but now that I've seen all 3 movies several times since, I envision the actors in my mind and hear their distinct voices during th More...

2 comments like (1 person liked it)

Nov 22, 2010

Mark rated it:

Not to be confused with the movie, the book version of The Fellowship of the Ring includes several scenes with the mysterious, and quite possibly brain damaged, Tom Bombadil.

On the positive side, Tom saves the hapless hobbits twice: first from Old Man Willow, an ancient and malevolent tree that lives on a toxic mix of Highballs and lost Halflings; and then, from a number of barrow-wights, evil soul-sucking undead creatures, not to be confused with Barry Wights, who are excellent, soulf More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

May 03, 2009

A.J. rated it:

Victory is mine. I finally did it. After years of beating around the bush, procrastinating, starting and stopping, I finally got this book read. If you haven't read Tolkien's opus, much of what you've probably heard is true. It's a gentle flowing story without an overwhelming sense of immediacy most of the time. The world is layered and textured at every turn. It seems not one corner of Tokien's Middle Earth was left uncovered by the author. It's a delight to read something that someone put so m More...

2 comments like (2 people liked it)

Dec 15, 2011

Ashley rated it:

It took me three tries to read The Lord of the Rings the first time through. I tried once after finishing The Hobbit my freshman year of high school, and I tried again a couple of months later. I kept getting stuck at Tom Bombadil, and the immense amount of detail thrown into the text overwhelmed me. I tried again a third time when Elijah Wood's face called out to me from a shelf on the library. The movie was coming out, I'd seen that epic trilogy teaser, and it was time to finally conquer the t More...

3 comments like (1 person liked it)

Aug 23, 2011

Cristy rated it:

I just loved this book! I haven't read this since probably middle school, and it was just a delight and a privilege to read it again. Some people have mentioned to me that this book was a bit tedious for them to get through, not enjoying the descriptions of the journey's and the "ramblings" of the history, but I just have to completely disagree! I thought all the historical references just gave such richness to the story, and really made their whole world believable. It really made More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Mar 16, 2008

d-pain is currently reading it

If you haven`t at all seen the Lord of the Rings at all, well here is a quick summary of what happened in the book. This book is good. Its seems longer than the movie,( I guss from all thIf you haven`t at all seen the Lord of the Rings at all, well here is a quick summary of what happened in the book. This book is good. Its seems longer than the movie,( I guss from all the writting)but I think that its a little diffrent than the movie.
Well in the book Frodo (the ring carry),(he is a h More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Oct 22, 2007

Lifeworld rated it:

Seems people either love or hate this. (I'm talking about LOTR as a whole.)

My humble opinion: don't read this as fantasy. Read this as myth in a book.

LOTR comes with an incredible sense of history in an incredible world, lovingly detailed. It is basically mythology - and even has a creation myth (Silmarillion). If you focus too much on the plot or the characters you lose that. Forget about your usual contemporary sci-fi/fantasy fare. Forget about suspense and mystery and More...

0 comments like (4 people liked it)

Jan 04, 2008

Randy rated it:

I recommend this book to anyone with time on their hands who loves fantasy books. Frodo, a hobbit living in the a quaint village, stumbles upon a golden ring. This ring, though, contains evil powers and if the creator of the ring, Sauron, regains control of it, he could unleash desruction and chaos. Frodo, realizing the power of the ring, sets off with a group to destroy it. The road ahead is not easy for him, though. Many perils and obstacles lie in his path. Can he overcome them?

I More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Oct 03, 2007

Robert rated it:

Not my favorite author, but definitely worth reading. His style is paced very slow, with more than his fair share of tangents, but all in all this story is one of the best ever written. What others have said and continue to say about characters, about things revealed by the author of character motivation, Point of view shifts and so on are all based on the ideas of modern writing style. They are new developments and shouldn't be applied to Tolkien. And furthermore, that is not what this sto More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Aug 27, 2007

Chris rated it:

For one thing, my review is really for the set of three books; they are really one long work broken into smaller parts, and the structure is not quite so awful if you look at it that way. This is a must-read for all lovers of Fantasy, although I definitely don't think it's going to be to everyone's taste, despite the semi-recent popularity of the movies. The heroes seem very British to me (the aristocratic, land-owning Frodo "suffering" in nobility--and the most American character is More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Apr 12, 2011

Adi (Reading in the Windowseat) rated it:

A classic in fantasy, it is said that this book, as well as all the other works by Tolkien, is a definite must-read. I love the movies based on the trilogy and have watched them more times than I can remember, so I bought the whole set of books and started the first one eagerly.

I was a little disappointed, though. The book had a slow beginning, but I persevered. Yet when I passed the hundreth page, nothing much had really happened and I had a hard time reading on. It was only when Frod More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)