The Two Towers (The Lord of the Rings, #2) in J.R.R. Tolkien Epic Reads

Mar 27, 2022 Tara rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: owned, audible-owned, fantasy, tolkien

Sam, Sam, Sam. Long my favorite character in The Lords of the Rings story (and of course there are no storage of great options to choose from here), I tried to attune myself in particular to his storyline in this reading. As the fellowship has broken up at this point, we only catch up with him in the latter half of the book. In the first half, we follow Aragon, Legolas and Gimli on their quest to rescue the hobbits. Pippin and Merry, on their own journey with the orcs, and then through Fangorn f Sam, Sam, Sam. Long my favorite character in The Lords of the Rings story (and of course there are no storage of great options to choose from here), I tried to attune myself in particular to his storyline in this reading. As the fellowship has broken up at this point, we only catch up with him in the latter half of the book. In the first half, we follow Aragon, Legolas and Gimli on their quest to rescue the hobbits. Pippin and Merry, on their own journey with the orcs, and then through Fangorn forest. We meet the Ents (Treebeard!) and the Rohirrim. And I don't mean to diminish those elements of the story--they are wonderful all. But as with my recent reading of The Fellowship of the Ring, I was again struck by Sam's insight and intelligence, something that he is not necessarily known for. He is simple, maybe a bit slow. But perhaps it is the fact that his mind is so uncluttered that he is able to see so clearly. His journey, along with Frodo, is through truly dark and terrible places. But in some way, this feels the most real. My favorite passage:
‘And we shouldn’t be here at all, if we’d known more about it before we started. But I suppose it’s often that way. The brave things in the old tales and songs, Mr. Frodo: adventures, as I used to call them. I used to think that they were things the wonderful folk of the stories went out and looked for, because they wanted them, because they were exciting and life was a bit dull, a kind of a sport, as you might say. But that’s not the way of it with the tales that really mattered, or the ones that stay in the mind. Folk seem to have been just landed in them, usually – their paths were laid that way, as you put it. But I expect they had lots of chances, like us, of turning back, only they didn’t. And if they had, we shouldn’t know, because they’d have been forgotten. We hear about those as just went on – and not all to a good end, mind you; at least not to what folk inside a story and not outside it call a good end. You know, coming home, and finding things all right, though not quite the same – like old Mr. Bilbo. But those aren’t always the best tales to hear, though they may be the best tales to get landed in! I wonder what sort of a tale we’ve fallen into?'

...more

3 likes · Like · see review

Feb 03, 2020 book_bear rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites

This book is always wonderful! Always! Tolkien's writing style is so peerless! A demigod among mortals :) ...more

1 like · Like · see review

Aug 25, 2019 Nickleby rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

I’m honestly copying & pasting then making minor adjustments to my review of LotR The Fellowship of the Ring.

Can be a bit of a trudge at times. But journey is incredible. And the mythologies are remarkable.

I find no reason to judge or choose between the book & the film. Sure there are differences. The deviations seem less important than those of the first book & film. So overall I think both are equally enjoyable & entertaining in their own right.

Other than sometimes trudging, the main fault is ...more

Like · see review

Jan 02, 2017 Michael Silvè rated it it was amazing

Like

Feb 07, 2017 Marwan Hamed rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: tolkien-treasures

Like

Jul 08, 2017 ... rated it it was amazing

Like

Oct 07, 2018 Oana Caraman rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: sf-fantasy

2 likes · Like

Jul 14, 2017 Leeshy rated it it was amazing

Like

Oct 24, 2017 Matthew Sherin rated it really liked it

Like

Sep 16, 2017 Elahe rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites

1 like · Like

Oct 13, 2017 Martine Van rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Like

Oct 26, 2017 M. Woodall rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Like

Apr 19, 2018 Lily rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fantasy, classic, recommended-by-others, powerful-themes, part-of-a-series, favorite-author, books-i-own, books-to-screen, tolkien, high-fantasy

3 likes · Like