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.)

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 myths, and Norse myths all are the foundation for this great story.

This was a reread and was a satisfactory one because I wanted to reach my favorite parts. I looked forward to read Tom Bombadil's part again. Did it. Then the Rivendell parts, ditto. Slowly I wound my way, sometimes following Sam and Frodo, sometimes Aragorn. Gandalf appears relatively scantily towards the third book. I had a lot of fun reading LoTR, and I've not yet deleted it from my Ereader because I'm tempted to reread it soon. Five well deserved stars, indeed.

Luin J.R.R. Tolkienin "Taru sormusten herrasta" (WSOY, 1999) ensimmäisen kerran parikymppisenä opiskelijana sairaalan vuoteessa maatessani (nykyään sekin aika olisi tietysti mennyt netissä notkuen). Lukukokemus oli vähän kaksijakoinen: toisaalta muistan nauttineeni eeppisestä fantasiaseikkailusta, toisaalta pitkästyneeni kun tarinassa siirryttiin seuraamaan muiden kuin Frodon ja Samin ponnistelua kohti Tuomiovuorta.

Vuonna 2020 oli aika palata Keskimaahan. Luettiin ensiksi iltasaduksi Hobitti ja päätettiin hypätä sen jälkeen suoraan Sormusten herran pariin. Seitsemän kuukautta siihen meni, mutta lopulta mahtisormus saatiin tuhottua.

Jonkin verran lukemastani muistin, mutta paljon oli joko unohtunut tai sitten jäänyt jollakin tavalla Peter Jacksonin erinomaisen elokuvatrilogian varjoon. Loppuhuipennuksen jälkeen tarina jatkuikin vielä aika pitkään. Lisäksi Merrin ja Pippinin rooli kirjassa oli odottamaani suurempi, eivätkä nämä olleetkaan ainoastaan koomisia sivuhahmoja. Leffat ovat kyllä onnistuneet tylsistyttämään omaa mielikuvitusta siinä määrin, että oli vähän vaikea ajatella vaikka Aragornia näkemättä edessään Viggo Mortensenin pärstävärkkiä.

Tolkienille täytyy nostaa hattua fantasiamaailman luojana, mitä en ensimmäisellä kerralla osannut ehkä arvostaa samassa mittakaavassa ("voi ei, nyt joku tonttu laulaa taas kolme sivua"). Valehtelisin silti jos väittäisin, etten olisi nytkin hetkittäin vähän pitkästynyt, kun jaarittelulle ei näkynyt loppua.

"Sormusten herra" tarjosi myös onnistuneen matkan tunnekasvatuksen maailmaan. Se tarjosi melkoisen ahdistavia ja pelottavia kohtauksia Mordorissa, mutta myös muutamia hersyvän humoristisia katkelmia, kuten suosikkihahmojeni Samin ja Klonkun välisen vuoropuhelun onnistuneeseen ruokailuun liittyvistä jutuista. Ja sitten toisaalla Samin ja Frodon ystävyyttä kuvattiin niin kauniisti, että jouduin vähän nieleskelemään kyyneliäni, eikä sellaista tapahdu kovin usein.

Mitähän tästä vielä sanoisi? No, kannattihan tämä lukea uudestaan ja tykkäsin tällä toisella kerralla kirjasta melkeinpä enemmän!

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).

100/5

Quite simply, the best book ever written.

The Fellowship of the Ring (21/8/22-31/8/22)
The Two Towers (13/9/22-16/9/22)
The Return of the King (17/10/22-21/10/22)

I don't know if I'll ever be able to describe this book in my mere words, but I certainly won't be able to the first time around. RTC when I reread (I will quite literally go through this book chapter by chapter and sing its praises every step of the way, just you wait!)

I have never loved something so much.

This Lord of the Rings, by J. R. R. Tolkien, is my favorite work of fiction. I dedicated my book, Artists, Myth & Hope, published by Grant Hudson of Clarendon House Publications, to the great writer, philologist, and mythmaker Tolkien.

It is amazing to me that although Tolkien sadly was an orphan, and lost many of his friends in the hell of WWI, he was still able to function, became an incredible Oxford professor, believed in a good and loving Creator, married his beloved Edith, who was also an orphan, and inspired his Luthien and Arwen characters in his mythology, and gave the world some great works of literature like The Hobbit, The Silmarillion, and his masterpiece The Lord of The Rings.

This man is such an inspiration to me, and his works have made me weep tears of joy, inspires me to pursue my passion for writing, literature, and art with all that I have, live out my faith, love people of different worldviews, love with passion, strive to be gentle, kind, brave, honest, and jovial.

Wow - I have just stumbled on this fantastic quote about Tolkien from China Mieville (via GR friends Traveller and Cecily!) and it absolutely sums up the problem with Tolkien - even though I read him many years ago and even though I was enthralled and read him all over again, every word here is true :


"Tolkien is the wen on the arse of fantasy literature. His oeuvre is massive and contagious - you can't ignore it, so don't even try. The best you can do is consciously try to lance the boil. And there's a lot to dislike - his cod-Wagnerian pomposity, his boys-own-adventure glorying in war, his small-minded and reactionary love for hierarchical status-quos, his belief in absolute morality that blurs moral and political complexity. Tolkien's clichés - elves 'n' dwarfs 'n' magic rings - have spread like viruses. He wrote that the function of fantasy was 'consolation', thereby making it an article of policy that a fantasy writer should mollycoddle the reader.

That is a revolting idea, and one, thankfully, that plenty of fantasists have ignored. From the Surrealists through the pulps - via Mervyn Peake and Mikhael Bulgakov and Stefan Grabinski and Bruno Schulz and Michael Moorcock and M. John Harrison and I could go on - the best writers have used the fantastic aesthetic precisely to challenge, to alienate, to subvert and undermine expectations."

- China Mieville

No novel in my experience has been so satisfying in itself, and yet suggested so convincingly that its story began long before its first page and carries on after its last. No otherworldly setting has been so coherent or so successful in commanding Secondary Belief. No author of fiction has come as close to making me believe that he was truly a chronicler and not a creator. No other fantasy has so congruously offered me truths as profound and as timely.

From Peter S. Beagle's introduction: "...I envy my children, who have not yet read them, and I envy you if you have not, and wish you joy."

Read this, and you will understand why an entire genre has since been considered derivative.

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.

5 Stars

The Lord of the Rings deserves the highest praise not because it has defined generations of readers, not because it can be read as a historical textbook on the fantasy genre, nor because it's simply the best wonder tale, but because of all three of those reasons and many others.

The Lord of the Rings is the story of good versus evil, empowering friendship, deep valor, crushing defeat, heartwrenching anguish, great loss, and clinging to hope. While there are many parts that seem needlessly frivolous (Tom Bombadil), it is a perfect story for anyone to read that wants the most in depth fantasy story imaginable. Not in depth that it has the most going on or is overly complicated, but that it has the most depth of them all. A book that any child or adult can read and be completely lost in. Which is the very best kind of story in my opinion.

Full Review: essentialreadingsandreviews.blogspot....

4.5⭐️
حقش است. به جرات می‌گویم حقش است. خیلی از کسانی که زنده‌اند حقشان مرگ است. و خیلی از کسانی که می‌میرند حقشان زندگی است. تو می‌توانی ای زندگی را به آنها ببخشی؟ پس خیلی مشتاق نباش که به خاطر ترس از امنیت خودت به اسم عدالت مردم را به مرگ محکوم کنی. حتی خردمند هم نمی‌تواند انجام کار را ببیند.

مجموعه ارباب حلقه ها
رضا علیزاده
انتشارات روزنه

6⭐️
The Hobbit, or There and Back Again
هابیت آنجا و بازگشت دوباره

5⭐️
The Silmarillion
سیلماریلیون

Tales of Middle Earth Series
4⭐️
The Children of Húrin
فرزندان هورین

Beren and Lúthien to-read
The Fall of Gondolin to-read
The Fall of Númenor to-read

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 he was young. Finding evidence of former Lord Of The Rings reading stories is magical in itself, a ritualistic passing on of the passion for that One Ring and its fate from generation to generation.

Post-Tolkien readers share that special fellowship that comes from holding your breath with Frodo and Sam, from suffering with Gandalf and cursing Saruman, from swinging a weapon with the united forces of an entire fairytale up against Mordor.

Of course we also share the gain and loss of Arwen's choice!

Forever magic...