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

Jul 19, 2010 Hesper rated it did not like it · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, it-s-not-me-it-s-you

Every few years I let a different well-meaning friend talk me into picking this up again, and every time I let my sense of sport trump my better judgement, I end up reaching the same conclusion I did when I was twelve: this book is unreadable. By me. I am evidently a tiny and aberrant minority.

First off, I should admit that I am hobbit-intolerant. I can't stand those little suckers, their gross feet, and their obnoxiously idyllic Shire. They are romanticized, hairy footed little people, best de ...more

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Aug 16, 2010 Ali rated it it was amazing

Shelves: books-i-own, 2012, audiobooks, rory-gilmore-book-challenge, classics

This book is like Mary Poppins: practically perfect in every way.

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Apr 05, 2010 Bitsy rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites, fantasy, classic, epic-fantasy

I came to the start of this trilogy of books as a reader that had only ever seen them portrayed in movies. So to actually read them for the first time was absolutely amazing. For any fan of the movies I highly recommend it! The world is much richer and more vibrant, with greater nuance and detail, and just an all around more vivid and brighter world than the movies could ever hope to portray. They still did a great job though!

The characters were richly displayed and wonderfully drawn. The scener I came to the start of this trilogy of books as a reader that had only ever seen them portrayed in movies. So to actually read them for the first time was absolutely amazing. For any fan of the movies I highly recommend it! The world is much richer and more vibrant, with greater nuance and detail, and just an all around more vivid and brighter world than the movies could ever hope to portray. They still did a great job though!

The characters were richly displayed and wonderfully drawn. The scenery and descriptions were like paintings with words, and the world as a whole was just unique and layered and believable. I loved reading about the mythology and history behind the story, as well as the built up languages and the songs and poetry that helped make it all have such a rich tapestry. Some people complain that it reads like a historical text and that it is dry and heavy instead of entertaining. I didn't find that true at all for me, but then again I love to read history books so perhaps that's saying something when I say I really loved this book!

Since this book was supposed to be just the first two parts of a very long book it didn't follow the standard story arc and that ended up bothering me a bit. I'm used to a certain level of excitement and lead up to some sort of a climax to finish off the first book, but that didn't end up happening. A lot of the deviations that the movie made makes sense in this light. They needed to make the movie have more of a traditional arc or risk not having people come back for the rest of the series. Tolkein never intended the books to be published separately and so his story reflected that. As a result, for me, the end of the book after the Fellowship left Moria really dragged out for me. I didn't end up enjoying it as much as I had the earlier parts.

All in all though I really enjoyed The Fellowship of the Ring. I highly recommend it for fantasy fans and for anyone that is a big fan of the movies. Getting to read more about your favorite characters is just one small part of getting a peek at the mythology, poetry and language of Tolkein's richly imagined world. ...more

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