reading (Fellowship of the Ring)

I read "The Fellowship of the Ring" in two days on vacation. Yes, I had not read it before, news that may come to a shock to some of you who didn't already know.

This is the epic fantasy adventure story by which all others are measured. As such saying anything about it seems either stating the obvious or speaking of the whole genre.

The most amazing thing is the level of detail and the effort that obviously went into the world building. The layers of history and myth from so many viewpoints are a lesson in creation.

The realness of the characters are built in little bits. I love Gimli's silver tongue and romantic soul.

While reading the book I was struck by how well the movie managed to maintain the feel while cutting a lot of detail. The detail that makes the book rich would have made the movie impossible.

36. J.R.R. Tolkien "The Fellowship of the Ring"

reading (The Two Towers)

The second book of the trilogy fell through a sustained assault of three days.

derien said she got bogged down during her first reading of this book back in the dark ages. I can understand why.

The first part of the book follows the Company, runs and jumps with peril and change. The second part, following Frodo and Samwise, trudges through the wastes with building and crashing gloom. The fact that this bit feels like forever is a tribute to what Tolkien was capable of. It's not that long a bit, but it's dark and hopeless and you don't want to stay there. Well that's the point isn't it? If it was short and tolerable you wouldn't get any feel at all for what Frodo and Sam were experiencing.

In the first part of this book I was struck by how far the story of the movie diverges from the original. The end of the battle of Helm's Deep didn't work at all in the movie, it just didn't make sense. That part plays out completely differently in the book. The movie lost the sense of the treachery of Saruman and his greed for The Ring. Also the movie completely overplayed the influence and ability of the Ringwraiths.

The interplay of psychology, the luck of timing that is often influential in war, and the perception of Other that humans inevitable build in their minds is wonderfully brought out in this book.

37. J.R.R. Tolkien "The Two Towers"