Roman Colombo’s Reviews > The Fellowship of the Ring > Status Update

This is why the books need to be reread often. Galadriel. The mirror. The sheer power of the scene.

The chapter immediately after Gandalf falls in Moria always feels a bit empty. The characters themselves seems to just go along, talking as little as possible, as is kind of expected. Without naming it, there's a steady sadness to the style and tone. Even though they are amazed by what they see, there's no masking the sadness of Gandalf's death.

Every time I read (or watch) the Bridge of Khazad-Dum, I always hope Gandalf will make it--knowing that a) he doesn't, and it's one of the most famous death scenes in literature, and b) he comes back as Gandalf the White. Still, I read it and feel pain every single time.

The Mines of Moria...These chapters are magnificent. How can Tom Bombadill possibly be in the same book? such a tonal shift when the Fellowship sets off. But it's also when the epic gets more, well, epic.

I love how Pippin just annoys Elrond until he lets him be part of the Fellowship.

The Council of Elrond...Or, things are far worse than we thought.

I forgot how graceful Tokien's prose can be, when the characters are not in some kind of peril, and are just relaxing or "merrymaking," they are lively and still engaging. "Many Meetings," as I remember it, is kind of the calm before the storm. The last time the characters really get to be merry at all before the Fellowship forms. It's a bittersweet chapter for that reason.

No matter how many times I read these books, they are always just as captivating as the first time.

Aragorn's MO, as Strider: Trust me, I'm a badass.