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The Lord of the Rings

(The Lord of the Rings #1-3)

J.R.R. Tolkien

4.50 · Rating details · 585,983 ratings · 11,949 reviews

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

In ancient times the Rings of Power were crafted by the Elven-smiths, and Sauron, the Dark Lord, forged the One Ring, filling it with his own power so that he could rule all others. But the One Ring was taken from him, and though he sought it throughout Middle-earth, i ...more

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Paperback, 50th Anniversary One-volume Edition, 1216 pages

Published October 12th 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (first published October 20th 1955)

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Jan 08, 2013 mark monday rated it it was amazing

Shelves: alpha-team

not a review and there probably won't be one any time soon. i also won't be climbing Mount Everest in the near future. but here are some cool illustrations that i found and want to share.

World of the Ring by Jian Guo ...more

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Jun 19, 2009 Brad rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: personal-mythology, fantasy, classic, faves

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 always owe ...more

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Nov 29, 2008 Manny rated it it was amazing · 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 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 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?"
...more

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Jan 17, 2014 Sean Barrs rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, tolkien, 5-star-reads

Writing a review of this masterpiece is impossible. I can’t do it.

There’s too much to talk about and I love it far too much to articulate my thoughts in a normal way. So instead I’ve picked one element of each book that I liked the most (taken from my list of ten on each review) and added them here. It’s the best I can do, though I know many goodreads users share my difficulty when reviewing this book.

Anyway, here’s my top three:

1.Finding your courage- The Fellowship of the Ring

Not all the par ...more

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Mar 20, 2017 Michael Finocchiaro rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, english-20th-c, classics, fantasy, novels, favorites, made-into-movie

One of the greatest trilogies of all time and certainly the measuring stick to which all subsequent fantasy-style writing is compared, The Lord of the Rings trilogy still stands at the top of the stack. Its realism, the characters and monsters, the storyline, the epic battles, and the quest motif are all drawn with incredible care by Tolkien in his chef-d'oeuvre. My favorite was The The Two Towers but all three are stunning. This edition, despite the awful cover art, contains all three books and ...more

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Jun 19, 2013 Manny rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: not-the-whole-truth

Look at thisss, hobbitses! Not bought at flea market for ten francses. Catalogue says worth seven hundred dollarses. Oh yes, Not knows about bookses, gollum. But can't touch, can't read, she says too valuable. Going to eat fish instead, but nice birthday present, oh yes precious.
...more

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Apr 22, 2009 Ahmad Sharabiani rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, 1001-book, novels, fantasy, classics, childrens-young-readers, british, 20th-century

(494 From 1001 Books) - The Lord of The Rings (The Lord of the Rings #1-3), J.R.R. (John Ronald Reuel) Tolkien

The Lord of the Rings is an epic high fantasy novel written by English author and scholar J. R. R. Tolkien. The story began as a sequel to Tolkien's 1937 fantasy novel The Hobbit, but eventually developed into a much larger work. Written in stages between 1937 and 1949, The Lord of the Rings is one of the best-selling novels ever written, with over 150 million copies sold.

The title of t (494 From 1001 Books) - The Lord of The Rings (The Lord of the Rings #1-3), J.R.R. (John Ronald Reuel) Tolkien

The Lord of the Rings is an epic high fantasy novel written by English author and scholar J. R. R. Tolkien. The story began as a sequel to Tolkien's 1937 fantasy novel The Hobbit, but eventually developed into a much larger work. Written in stages between 1937 and 1949, The Lord of the Rings is one of the best-selling novels ever written, with over 150 million copies sold.

The title of the novel refers to the story's main antagonist, the Dark Lord Sauron, who had in an earlier age created the One Ring to rule the other Rings of Power as the ultimate weapon in his campaign to conquer and rule all of Middle-earth. (Nineteen of these rings were made. These were grouped into three rings for the Elves, seven rings for the Dwarves, and nine rings for men. One additional ring, the One Ring, was forged by Sauron himself at Mount Doom.).

From quiet beginnings in the Shire, a hobbit land not unlike the English countryside, the story ranges across Middle-earth, following the course of the War of the Ring through the eyes of its characters, not only the hobbits Frodo Baggins, Samwise "Sam" Gamgee, Meriadoc "Merry" Brandybuck and Peregrin "Pippin" Took, but also the hobbits' chief allies and travelling companions: the Men, Aragorn son of Arathorn, a Ranger of the North, and Boromir, a Captain of Gondor; Gimli son of Glóin, a Dwarf warrior; Legolas Greenleaf, an Elven prince; and Gandalf, a wizard. ....

عنوانها: «ارباب حلقه‌ ها»؛ «فرمانروای حلقه ها»؛ «سرور حلقه ها»؛ «خداوندگار حلقه ها»؛ «سالار انگشتریها»؛ نویسنده: جی.آر.آر تالکین؛ انتشاراتیها (روزنه، نگاه، حوض نقره، فروغ آزادی) ادبیات انگلستان؛ تاریخ نخستین خوانش: یکی از روزهای ماه دسامبر سال 2002میلادی

عنوان: فرماندوای حلقه ها؛ نویسنده: جی.آر.آر (جان رونالد روئر) تالکین؛ مترجم: رضا علیزاده؛ تهران، روزنه، 1381؛ سه کتاب در سه جلد؛ جلد نخست: یاران حلقه؛ جلد دوم: دو برج ؛ جلد سوم: بازگشت شاه؛ موضوع: داستانهای نویسندگان انگلیسی - سده 20م

عنوان: خداوندگار حلقه ها؛ نویسنده: جی.آر.آر (جان رونالد روئر) تالکین؛ مترجم: تبسم آتشین جان؛ تهران، حوض نقره، 1381؛ سه کتاب در شش جلد؛ جلد نخست: رهروان حلقه؛

عنوان: سالار انگشتریها؛ نویسنده: جی.آر.آر (جان رونالد روئر) تالکین؛ مترجم: ماه منیر فتحی؛ تبریز، فروغ آزادی، 1381؛ سه کتاب؛ کتاب نخست دوستی انگشتری (یاران حلقه)؛ کتاب دوم دوتا برج (دو برج)؛ کتاب سوم بازگشت پادشاه؛

رمانی به سبک خیال‌پردازی حماسی؛ به قلم «جی. آر. آر تالکین»؛ نویسنده و زبان‌شناس انگلیسی است؛ این مجموعه داستان؛ ادامه ی اثر پیشین «تالکین»، با عنوان «هابیت» است؛ که در همین ژانر نوشته شده بود؛ «تالکین» کتاب را طی دوازده سال؛ از سال 1937میلادی تا سال 1949میلادی، که بیشتر آن در زمان جنگ جهانی دوم بوده، نگاشته است؛ اگرچه کتاب در بین خوانشگران، به شکل یک سه‌ گانه جا افتاده است، اما در ابتدا بنا بود، این اثر جلد نخستش کتاب «سیلماریلیون» باشد، که نویسنده به دلایل اقتصادی، تصمیم به حذف آن گرفت، و کتاب «ارباب حلقه‌ ها» را در سال 1954میلادی تا سال 1955میلادی در سه جلد منتشر کرد

داستان در سرزمینی خیالی، به نام «سرزمین میانی»، که در زبان «الفی» به نام «آردا» شناخته می‌شود؛ در جریان است؛ از شخصیت‌های نام آشنای داستان، می‌توان به «آراگورن»، و «سائورون»، اشاره کرد؛ «آراگورن» پسر «آراتورن»، که از نژاد «نومه نور» است، وارث پادشاهی فراموش شده ی «الندیل» و «ایزیلدور»، در «سرزمین میانه» است؛ «آراگورن» پس از نابود شدن «سائورون»، به عنوان پادشاه «اله سار» تاجگذاری کرد، و صلح را به ارمغان آورد؛ ارباب تاریکی یا «سائورون»، شخصیت منفی و اصلی اثر، کسی است که حلقه ی یکتای قدرت را، برای کنترل نوزده حلقه ی دیگر؛ ساخته‌ ست؛ و برای همین است که «ارباب حلقه‌ ها» خوانده می‌شود؛ «سائورون» خود یکی از خدمت‌گزاران ارباب تاریکی پیشین - مورگوت (ملکور) - بوده، که از شخصیت‌های مهم کتاب دیگر «تالکین»، با عنوان «سیلماریلیون» است؛ کتاب «سیلماریون» سرآغازی بر تاریخ، و چگونگی ساخت «سرزمین میانی» است؛ سه گانه ی «ارباب حلقه‌ ها» در ایران؛ نخستین بار توسط جناب «رضا علیزاده» ترجمه شد، و در سال 1382هجری خورشیدی توسط انتشارات «روزنه» به چاپ رسید؛ هر سه کتاب دارای نقشه‌ هایی از «سرزمین میانه» هستند؛ همچنین در ابتدای کتاب نخست، و در پایان کتاب سوم، مترجم اطلاعاتی درمورد داستان، و «سرزمین میانه»، و نژادهای ساکن آن، زبانشان، کتابتشان و... آورده‌ است

تاریخ نخستین خوانش 11/09/1399هجری خورشیدی؛ ا. شربیانی ...more

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Oct 12, 2017 Leo . rated it it was amazing

The true source of the fantasy fiction genre. Tolkien has spawned so many fantasy writers since The Lord Of The Rings went into print. I love all the earlier ones too like Verne and Carrol and CS Lewis but The Hobbit and The Lord Of The Rings its like an institution.🐯👍

Who else, besides me, has the notion that the real hero in the Lord Of The Rings story is Sam? Sam is the typical accidental hero. He is the girl or boy next door, the ordinary folk. Sam is you and me and represents the courage we ...more

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Dec 17, 2013 Markus rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fantasy, to-reread, tolkien, it-changed-my-life, best-book-ever, manly-tears-were-shed, favourites, classics, pillars-of-fantasy, read-more-than-once

Three Rings for the Elven-kings under the sky,
Seven for the Dwarf-lords in their 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.

Three thousand years after the defeat of the Dark Lord Sauron before the slopes of Mount Doom, a magic ring falls into the care of Fr ...more

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May 25, 2007 J.G. Keely rated it liked it

Shelves: uk-and-ireland, reviewed, fantasy

Authors who inspire a movement are usually misunderstood, especially by those they have inspired, and Tolkien is no exception, but one of the biggest misconceptions about Tolkien is the idea that he is somehow an 'innovator of fantasy'. He did add a number of techniques to the repertoire of epic fantasy writers, and these have been dutifully followed by his many imitators, but for the most part, these techniques are little more than bad habits.

Many have called Tolkien by such epithets as 'The Fa ...more

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Aug 04, 2013 Adrian rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: read-again, oancc-2017, oancc-2018, favorites, fantasy-and-magic, zz-owned-books

Lord of the Rings

I have read LotR many times over the years, in fact it is I think the book I have read the most in this world, which i suppose makes it my favourite book, albeit closely followed by half a dozen others (shout if you want to know or take a gander at my favourites shelf).
I have always enjoyed it, understatement, but for some reason this re-read is more special than ever. I had almost forgotten how much was different from the films, and despite having read LotR once before since t ...more

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Feb 05, 2017 Luffy rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 5-star

The Fellowship of the Ring begins with the Shire and winds its way through the barren lands that lie on the way to Mordor. I tried to read this part of the book once, but DNF it then. Then I picked up the trilogy bound in one volume and went through it fairly steadily.

I've read that Tolkien wasn't as original as first claimed. There is a book called The Broken Sword that has parallels with LotR. Nevertheless Tolkien take on traditional myths was unique and groundbreaking. The Eddas, the Welsh my ...more

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Sep 12, 2016 Evgeny rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fantasy

I decided to read a one-book edition of the classic, just the way it was written. I will however split my discussion between three parts of it. I need to mention that I will not bother hiding any spoilers as I have trouble believing any modern person living in civilized enough parts of the world to have internet access has not read this one or at least has not seen the movies – which for all their faults were decent, but I am not talking about that abomination called the movie version of The Hob ...more

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Apr 23, 2013 Natalia Yaneva rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fantasy

Bulgarian review below/Ревюто на български е по-долу
The pilgrimage of Frodo, Sam and their fellows lasted for a year, and it happened so that it took me nearly as long to see them home to the Shire. Well, people say good things happen slowly, so I don’t regret the journey one bit.

Something crosses my mind that Terry Pratchett has shared in ‘A Slip of the Keyboard‘. He was 12 or 13 when he read ‘The Lord of the Rings’ for the first time. His parents left him at some neighbors’ house to babysi ...more

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May 07, 2019 preoccupiedbybooks rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

For some reason I only marked, 'The fellowship of the ring' as read, when I actually devoured the whole of 'The Lord Of The Rings' in one go!

I read this a loong time ago, when the films came out but I remember loving it. A lot.
Amazing book, amazing films, a wonderful distraction from my finals at uni back in the day 😂 ...more

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Dec 30, 2012 Manuel Antão rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: 1990

If you're into stuff like this, you can read the full review.

Christological Sacrifices: "The Lord of the Rings Trilogy" by Tolkien

It is not really possible to re-read a book, just as it is not really possible to step into the same river twice. The next time, one's thinking, is going to be entirely different. I have read "LoTR" half a dozen times. Each has been different. I think Heraclitus even said you couldn't step into the same river even once. I know what he's talking about. Every single tim ...more

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Mar 20, 2010 Trish rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

I will write three separate reviews and combine them here as I think all three books cover so much that I need to put my thoughts down.

So here is my review-within-a-review for
The Fellowship of the Ring:

I read this the first time as a young teen but really didn't appreciate it much. I came to know about Hobbits through school mates who kept talking abpout the then upcoming first movie by Peter Jackson. I went to watch it but was unimpressed, almost bored even (until the last quarter at least ...more

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Nov 04, 2018 Erth rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Best read ever.

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Jul 09, 2007 Dolly rated it it was amazing · 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. The agony in 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. ...more

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May 25, 2007 Kristin Little rated it did not like 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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Jun 25, 2014 Lisa rated it really liked it

Shelves: 1001-books-to-read-before-you-die

It remains the best of its genre, no matter how many fantasy worlds have emerged since!

Funnily, many of my students come and talk to me about the specific edition they have at home and how it was handed to them, by a father or mother who insisted they read through the first 50 pages before giving up.

We have copies in German, Swedish and English at home, published between the 1980s and now, but I know there is an older version somewhere in the wider family collection, the one my father read when ...more

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May 16, 2017 Elle (ellexamines) rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: y-notowned, 4-star, sff-high-fantasy, z-2015reads

I know I read this series at the tender age of eight, when I was very impressionable and very eager to get obsessed with anything. But I think these are better than we give them credit for.

Not to show up and act like J.R.R. Tolkein was some misunderstood genius. But it’s fascinating to me that this book was foundational to modern high fantasy, a genre which I think plays a lot with cruelty: the brutal world, the betrayal of friends. Tolkein’s novels do not revolve around complex moral codes; th I know I read this series at the tender age of eight, when I was very impressionable and very eager to get obsessed with anything. But I think these are better than we give them credit for.

Not to show up and act like J.R.R. Tolkein was some misunderstood genius. But it’s fascinating to me that this book was foundational to modern high fantasy, a genre which I think plays a lot with cruelty: the brutal world, the betrayal of friends. Tolkein’s novels do not revolve around complex moral codes; they do not question whether there is good and evil, or who is who. The fundamental hero of this story is love.

It's no accident that the hero of this series is the most underestimated of all people: a Hobbit. There are the godly elves, but this series focuses on men's capacity to fail and triumph. The outsiders save the world.

I think, all the time, about the fact that were it not for one moment of pity Frodo takes, on someone who he knows will try to hurt him, this entire story would have been different—would have ended on a far, far darker note.

(On weekends, I also take time to think very deeply about Sam’s role in the series, and the fact that his love and loyalty saves Frodo and, by extent, the world. Within this narrative love saves the world.)

The biggest flaw is that Tolkein could not edit to save his life. I will not elaborate on that beyond to say he would dedicate at least five pages to explaining the concept. I’m going to keep it very, very real: my love for this comes partially from just how much I adore the movie adaptations. This is genuinely the #1 series in the world where I think the movie adaptation is superior in quality to the books. I’ve watched them so many times. I think every time I watch them I end up adding a few sentences to this review because I’m full of Thoughts and Tenderness. The movies are my favorite and always worth a watch.

also, if you’ve gotten this far, feel free to go watch this video series on why the Hobbit movies didn't work. it sparks the reviewer inside me ...more

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Sep 23, 2011 Nandakishore Varma rated it really liked it

Shelves: classic, fantasy

When a book defines a genre
There is nothing you can say anymore,
That will add or detract from the volumes and volumes
Of all that has been said before:
So a book review I'm not attempting,
Though the GR site is sorely tempting;
Just paying my respects from the bottom of my heart
And raising my hat to the Master of the Art. ...more

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Sep 18, 2014 Duane rated it it was amazing

Shelves: english-calssics, fantasy, favorite-books, young-adult, rated-books, 5-star-books, reviewed-books, guardian-1000

The BBC Big Read says it's the #1 novel ever, beating out the likes of Pride & Prejudice, Jane Eyre, and Harry Potter. Who am I to argue, it certainly was my first and favorite in the realm of fantasy literature. As an adult I've come to appreciate the traditional novel's more, from writers like the Bronte's, Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, and others. But the mysterious and magical land and inhabitants of Middle Earth will always have a welcome spot in my heart and mind. ...more

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Mar 11, 2019 Manybooks rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fairy-tales-fantasy, favourites-read, tolkien, epics, book-reviews

I have read J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings probably (and this truly is but a very conservative estimate) at least fifteen or more times since my mid twenties (I did first attempt it at the age of twelve but my English language skills were at that time not sufficiently fluent to appreciate The Lord of the Rings for the masterpiece it is, so I am glad I gave up to try again later). And indeed, I have also never once perused The Lord of the Rings as an actual trilogy, as I have always consi I have read J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings probably (and this truly is but a very conservative estimate) at least fifteen or more times since my mid twenties (I did first attempt it at the age of twelve but my English language skills were at that time not sufficiently fluent to appreciate The Lord of the Rings for the masterpiece it is, so I am glad I gave up to try again later). And indeed, I have also never once perused The Lord of the Rings as an actual trilogy, as I have always considered it as ONE entity and a single reading period of time (mostly because I have never even remotely believed that The Fellowship of the Rings, The Two Towers and The Return of the King should in any manner be considered as stand alone novels in and of themselves and therefore that they really do require a perusal as one all encompassing work of epical fiction, and by the way, not as an allegory, as I have also and indeed never believed those critics who claim that The Lord of the Rings is supposed to represent an allegory against war or against National Socialism).

And indeed, and in my humble opinion, one does absolutely and yes without question need to read and approach The Lord of the Rings as an epic and to equally realise and understand that because it has been written by J.R.R. Tolkien like and as the latter (like and as an epic) it is for the most part very (if not even almost one hundred percent) plot driven with an abundance of specific physical (and yes sometimes very much minute) details (about Middle Earth, about both the positives and negatives of Middle Earth, about the threats that are both obviously and insidiously stalking Middle Earth and the many reasons for this) and therefore and definitely with much less of a deliberate emphasis on getting into the internal workings of the multitude of characters presented and depicted/described by Tolkien (by the author) within the pages of his The Lord of the Rings. And no, I am not in any manner saying or claiming that the characters of The Lord of the Rings are somehow unimportant or lesser, but simply and yes indeed, that like with the epical narrarives and stories of Antiquity and the Middle Ages, the tale of the threat of The Ring of Power, of Sauron's reawakening and restrengthening and of Frodo, Samwise, Gandalf, Aragon, Legolas and the rest of the Fellowship setting out on their quest to take the one ring back to Mordor to be destroyed in the volcanic fires of Mount Doom is much, is considerably more essential and necessary knowledge and information than detailed analyses of character and having the latter with nuance and psychology developed at the potential detriment to plot and storylines.

But furthermore, I also do very much and personally understand and appreciate that for some readers the vast amount of writing (and especially the myriad of inserted song like poems) can have the tendency to make The Lord of the Rings potentially or even actually much daunting and off-putting. However, I also do have to say and claim that I have actually only one time (and this the very first time I tackled LOTR in its entirety at the age of about twenty-five) read ALL of the poems (as well as the myriad of foot and endnotes) that are part of The Lord of the Rings and that whenever I do reread LOTR, while I always read slowly, deliberately and with appreciation of and for Tolkien's eye for detail and description, I also tend to skim and skip a goodly number of the inserted songs (but always do read and even sing my personal favourites such as the song of the merry old inn and the beautiful but heartbreaking lament for Boromir) and yes those parts of in particular The Two Towers section that I for one always find tedious and dragging (mostly when Frodo and Samwise are trudging through the marshes with Gollum, simply because I just happen to find the story threads that feature Aragon, Legolas and Gimli considerably more interesting, engaging and even sometimes a bit humorous). And while some LOTR completists and fundamentalists might well find my way of reading anathema and problematic (and perhaps even an insult to J.R.R. Tolkien's work and legacy), for me, coming to The Lord of the Rings selectively and occasionally if not even often skimming (and skipping) those parts that I am finding (and have always found) a bit tedious and dragging, this has also made me enjoy and appreciate Tolkien's oeuvre all the more and all the more lastingly (with me not only ranking The Lord of the Rings with five stars but also always being both willing to reread and indeed very much looking forward to rereading The Lord of the Rings ever two to three years). ...more

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Mar 22, 2008 Werner rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Recommends it for: Anyone who appreciates fantasy

Shelves: fantasy, classics

Note, Sept. 18, 2020: I just edited this review again, to delete the word "trilogy" since a reader made a comment objecting to it. (Strictly speaking, Tolkien did envision the LOTR books as a single long novel --which, in terms of plot structure, it actually is-- not a trilogy in the usual sense. It's just published in three volumes because its sheer length makes it unwieldy in one.)

Note, March 11, 2019: I just edited this review to insert an accidentally omitted word.

Actually, I read Tolkien's Note, Sept. 18, 2020: I just edited this review again, to delete the word "trilogy" since a reader made a comment objecting to it. (Strictly speaking, Tolkien did envision the LOTR books as a single long novel --which, in terms of plot structure, it actually is-- not a trilogy in the usual sense. It's just published in three volumes because its sheer length makes it unwieldy in one.)

Note, March 11, 2019: I just edited this review to insert an accidentally omitted word.

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 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 is today, exerted enormous influence over practically all subsequent fantasy authors (including R. A. Salvatore and Terry Brooks), and set the conventions readers would come to expect: a pre-technological setting, an epochal struggle between good and evil whose outcome is determined by magical factors, and a demand for personal moral growth on the part of the characters thrust into a pivotal role in that struggle. And Tolkien's depictions of wizards, elves, dwarfs, dragons, etc. became the template for all subsequent portrayals of these creatures.

Part of the success of Tolkien's work derives from the breath- taking scope of his world-building, which reflects his day jobs as a philologist and medievalist; he created entire languages and folklores for his "Middle Earth," as well as a detailed, millenia-spanning history. But more importantly, as a devout Catholic, he embodied his deeply Christian world-view in the writing: his fantasy world (though he doesn't employ the kind of explicit Christian symbolism that C. S. Lewis does) is the scene of conflict between good and evil with world-altering significance, under a superintending Providence, in which the individual moral choices of both the high and the lowly have significance, and temptation is an ever-present danger. ...more

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Mar 08, 2013 Tadiana ✩Night Owl☽ rated it it was amazing

Shelves: need-to-reread, classics, fantasy

This is the entire, epic Lord of the Rings trilogy. Tolkien created an imaginative and incredibly detailed world with an unforgettable struggle between good and evil, played out on so many different levels, and in different ways with various characters. It's not necessarily an easy read - Tolkien can get a little dry at times - but there's so much richness and depth to it.

*sigh* I really need to reread this sometime soon ... ...more

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May 11, 2017 Em Lost In Books rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 5-star, 1950-59, 2017, massive-tomes

One book to rule them all.

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Jan 31, 2012 Shovelmonkey1 rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Recommends it for: anyone who feels like their journey to work is too long

Recommended to Shovelmonkey1 by: millions of LARPers and fans can't be wrong

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

I became horrifically lazy towards the end of the LOTR re-read which was undertaken as part of my "month of the kitten squisher" and neglected to review the final two books which together make up The Return of the King. Not so much resting on my laurels as stretching out full length and having a big old snooze right on top of them. But you've all seen the film by now right? So no need to continue...

Kidding, kidding.
(and I've now put this review in the correct order so the newest bits are at the ...more

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Sep 17, 2018 Amanda NEVER MANDY rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: tolkien-it-up, 2018

Every reading journey has a beginning, even if that beginning comes across as lame as hell in the retelling. My beginning with this particular book occurred on a wedding anniversary date. I was a few cran and vodkas over the limit and had decided that a nice leisurely stroll through the bookstore would help clear my head before venturing on to our next destination, the grocery store. Yes, you read that right. My anniversary date celebration consisted of booze, books and groceries. I’m pretty sur Every reading journey has a beginning, even if that beginning comes across as lame as hell in the retelling. My beginning with this particular book occurred on a wedding anniversary date. I was a few cran and vodkas over the limit and had decided that a nice leisurely stroll through the bookstore would help clear my head before venturing on to our next destination, the grocery store. Yes, you read that right. My anniversary date celebration consisted of booze, books and groceries. I’m pretty sure if you google anniversary gifts by year for the modern working couple with children you will see this exact scenario listed under year sixteen. If it isn’t there I vote it should be because silver hollowware, who actually wants that?

ANYWAY

When I happened upon this ginormous book in all of its leather bound glory I knew that I had to possess it. I realized that buying it would force me to read it sooner than later and it was a book that had lived on my mental to-read list for a very long time. What I didn’t consider was the size of the book and how difficult it would be for me to lug it around everywhere I went. Sober me would have thought of this and went for the story broken out across three books instead of one. Tipsy me saw the fancy binding, smelled the pages and could care less about my future suffering. I saw my precious and nothing was going to stop me from making it my own, especially not commonsense.

My reading stretched on for weeks on end and every day the book got heavier and more cumbersome (if you aren’t singing 7M3 right now then you can’t call yourself my friend). A few chapters in and I decided to get a tote to make my traveling easier and to protect my precious from rain, stains and torn pages. I was Frodo and the tote became my Sam. Without my durable new friend I would have been miserable and it would have taken me a hell of a lot longer to finish one of the best stories I have read in a while. I also wouldn’t have been able to enjoy the characters I had fallen hard for in all of the various locations I was able to visit because of it. Exciting locations such as the doctor’s waiting room and a hotel room in Texas, to name a few.

Five stars to a book that taught me to appreciate epic journeys and all of the friends you might find along the way and zero stars to a specific edition of that same book that taught me not to visit the bookstore under the influence of alcohol. (Just kidding, the book is gorgeous and it makes a great new addition to my real bookshelf.) ...more

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topics	posts	views	last activity
J.K Rowling plagiarized Tolkien!!!	101	2531	Feb 28, 2021 07:15PM
Lord of the Rings...: Frodo's 'weakness'	29	108	Feb 23, 2021 04:42PM
J.R.R Tolkien should of had more strong female characters	2	7	Feb 11, 2021 10:09AM
Faramir and Eowyn's Relationship, Gender Roles	74	2212	Feb 11, 2021 04:38AM
Why do some people consider The Lord of the Rings science fiction?	21	626	Feb 10, 2021 02:50PM
Studi Tolkieniani: Tabella modifiche nella edizione illustrata	2	10	Jan 06, 2021 04:45PM

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About J.R.R. Tolkien

J.R.R. Tolkien

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John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, CBE was an English writer, poet, WWI veteran (a First Lieutenant in the Lancashire Fusiliers, British Army), 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 ...more

Other books in the series

The Lord of the Rings (3 books)

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)

The Return of the King (The Lord of the Rings, #3)

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“It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don't keep your feet, there's no knowing where you might be swept off to.” — 5686 likes

“It's the job that's never started as takes longest to finish.” — 2757 likes

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