The epic fantasy against which all other epic fantasies are measured. And there is reason. Beautiful, lyrical, depth, enthralling. I love these books. I've read them many many times. Really they are not to be missed. Highly, highly, highly recommended.

'Nuff said!

Update: (24.06.2024 г.)

Отзивите ми от новия прочит на великолепната трилогия „Властелинът на пръстените“:


„Задругата на пръстена“:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

„Двете кули“:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

„Завръщането на краля“:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...




Първоначално ревю:


„Галадриел! Галадриел!
Чист извор, светлина поел;
звезда във бяла длан сияй,
кристално чист е онзи край
сред Дуиморден, във Лориен
в прекрасния и вечен ден.“


Обожавам „Властелинът на пръстените“... Ако трябваше да избирам само една най-любима книга, това щеше да бъде тя! Средната Земя е великолепен фентъзи свят, към който винаги е огромно удоволствие да се завръщам! Не ми стигат думите да представя достойно прекрасната и изключително мъдра Толкинова творба... Тя е една от книгите, които породиха любовта ми към четенето. Филмите по нея определено са красиви и запомнящи се (като фойерверките на Гандалф), обаче книгата носи несравнимо и много по-задълбочено преживяване! ❤️




„Известно време хобитите продължиха да говорят и да мислят за отминалото пътешествие и за предстоящите опасности; ала такива бяха достойнствата на Ломидол, че скоро страх и тревога отлетяха от душите им. Добро или зло, бъдещето не бе забравено, но губеше всякаква власт над настоящето.“

This was what I wanted it to be the first time I read it. It is a good thing not all tears are an evil, cause the words of the last few pages got pretty blurry

9.4

OK, first of all I know some folk love this and I'm not saying they shouldn't. Everyone has different tastes.
I read this on my second attempt. I tried first when I was in my teens and found it dull, I gave up around page 100 or so. I finally read it years back in my early 30s, but although it was still dull I gave it the benefit of the doubt and finished it. My opinion changed from dull to dull and not that big a deal.
It seems to be full of: long descriptions of folk walking about (dull); elf poetry (dull); pantomime style bad guys (yawn); hobbits (oh, they irritate me...).
Again I say it wasn't for me. I'm treading carefully here as I realise some folk are fairly into JRRT, learning elfish (elvan?), memorising family trees etc. If you're a JRRT fanboy please re-read this paragraph before replying, I'm not trying to insult you (unless you can actually translate this into dwarf runes), merely aknowledge that these books can encourage a level of evangelical response that I recognise but don't personnaly get.
Before coming to this I had been exposed to faster paced fantasy tales from the early 20th cent. and as a result found JRRT slow, very slow. Also I'd read many of the sources he draws from so found the world derivative at times.
Having said that, I think that if you like big wordy novels and haven't read any other fantasy this may be the thing for you.
And before anyone suggests re-reading LOTR, life's too short...I have other books to read...even other books (that I enjoyed the first time) to re-read.
In summary: I found LOTR dull, dull, dull.

Save time... watch the movies. This book can appeal only to a linguist. The underlying story is great, but it is buried under an avalance of horribly annoying songs and poems that do nothing to advance the story. They just take up space. I diligently read every last one, hoping that they held some deep meaning in relation to the story, but if there is one, it is so obscure that it serves no purpose. Also, the book is all about walking. Yes, I know they are on an epic quest, and there has to be soul-searching, etc., but the amount of detail regarding the walking is a snoozer! 45 pages of walking and 3 pages for a huge battle. AUGH! I know that this is a masterpiece, and I agree that the plot line is a beautiful tale of good and evil and power and corruption. However, reading this series was a drudgery. The only really good part that you miss in the movies is when the hobits return to the Shire in the last three chapters of The Return of the King. If you want a Tolkien fix, I'd reccommend The Hobbit.

Seriously? Of course there will be spoilers.

***

It's been a long time since I've reread The Lord of the Rings first page to last (as opposed to pulling down one volume or another and rereading just my favorite parts, which I do all the time). It remains as compelling and as thrilling and heartbreaking an adventure as it was when my freshman high school English teacher gave me all four books and said, "Here, I think you'll like these." How right he was.

In books I have read so many times, over, good lord, 50+ years, I still found surprises, things I'd forgotten and things I'd never noticed the first seven or eight times around. Like Tolkien's copious use of the verb "vomit" to describe the actions of all Sauron's creatures, even including Mt. Doom. That Arwen is Galadriel's granddaughter. That lembas went even farther on an empty stomach than on a full one. That the rope the Elves gave Sam not only unknotted itself at need but lightened in weight and compacted in size when stowed in a pack and glowed in the dark. (It might also have become the length necessary to the task, as when Sam and Frodo climb down that cliff out of Emyn Muil into the Dead Marshes.) That Treebeard took out the Orcs that tried to invade Lothlorien. That Mt. Doom took out the remaining Nazgûl. That Bill Ferny would naturally gravitate to Sharkey's service in the Shire. Like Tolkien's affection for alliteration, in both Westron and Eldarin, in prose or in verse.

...a slinking shadow among the stones.

I'm still annoyed that there is only one female character of any stature, and grateful that Tolkien allowed Gandalf at least to understand her.

...you had horses, and deeds of arms, and the free fields; but she, born in the body of a maid had a spirit and courage at least the match of yours. Yet she was doomed to wait upon an old man, and watch him falling into a mean dishonored dotage; and her part seemed to her more ignoble than that of the staff he leaned on.

That scene where Merry and Eowyn, a hobbit and a woman, slay the Nazgûl King, a wraith invulnerable to any weapon wielded by a man, remains my absolute favorite. And then I got annoyed all over again when Tolkien fobs her off on Faramir because Aragorn's already taken. (By a woman whose only real contribution to the narrative is to sew a banner and die for love. Bleah.)

The staredown between Gandalf and the Nazgûl King at the gates of Gondor is a perfect callback to Gandalf confronting the Balrog in Moria. Tolkien was just so good at this. And then that electrifying moment immediately afterward, when the cock crows and the horns answer. Rohan had come at last.

For the first time on this reread I realized that Tolkien wasn't only writing fantasy, he was writing horror, as no other word can possibly describe Frodo and Sam's journey into Mordor. Shelob. Shagrat. Sauron. *shudder* Even as many times as I've read these books I could feel the tension ratcheting up with every turn of the page. Tolkien was masterful at continually upping the stakes for characters he has made you love and fear for.

There is so much craft here for a writer to admire, plot, character, setting, and dialogue. Frodo's capture by the Orcs and Sam's eavesdropping allows them to catch up with what is happening elsewhere in the story. There is always humor.

"Very well, Mr. Baggins," said the leader, pushing the barrier aside. "But don't forget I've arrested you."

"I won't," said Frodo. "Ever."

Not to mention Sam's nicknames for Gollum, Slinky and Stinky.

The Lord of the Rings is without question the most fully realized world ever created in epic fantasy, one for which an atlas is useful and fortunately there is one, The Atlas of Middle-Earth by Karen Wynn Fonstad. Fonstad's book wasn't written yet at my first reading but I used it a lot on this one.

And for the first time ever, on this reread I realized that Tolkien ended both The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings on a line of deliberately banal, post-adventure dialogue, each spoken by a hobbit, a race little regarded by the rest of the peoples of Middle Earth. Until two of them carry the One Ring to Orodruin and cast down the Dark Lord finally and forever.

Yeah, you'll have to go look that up for yourself. Don't worry. It'll be worth it.

My full review has been moved over to my website, and in its place I have left a defence of the novel itself. If you would like to read my review please click the following link: My review of J.R.R. Tolkien's, The Lord of the Rings.

The Lord of the Rings was the book that created my love of literature when I first read it at the age of twelve. Certainly I was a precocious reader beforehand and The Chronicles of Narnia and The Hobbit have much to be thanked for also. However it was The Lord of the Rings that pushed me onto a path of epic fantasy and grand classics. Without it I would no doubt have avoided Ulysses and Crime and Punishment - works of equal importance. For in my eyes The Lord of the Rings is a great and versatile work. It has a riveting story - a story so compelling and so punctuated with themes that it demands a re-reading from me, time and time again. It has poetry and imagined history of the type that many aspire to recreate, and yet no one can. For there is only one Lord of the Rings and it does not share power with other aspiring fantasy works.

To finish therefore, I will briefly attempt to answer the critics of this monumental work. Not in a manner that is in any way conclusive or exhaustive, but in a manner that satisfies my cravings. For I find there is much in The Lord of the Rings that is often overlooked nowadays - due in part to changing attitudes to fantasy, fiction, politics, history and the many Tolkien clones and fantasy movies available. 

The biggest criticisms of Tolkien can all be found in the one source, in Michael Moorcock's essay Epic Pooh. His essay begins with a fascinating quote by Clyde S. Kilby which begins: "Why is the Rings being widely read today? At a time when perhaps the world was never more in need of authentic experience, this story seems to provide a pattern of it."The final statement of this quoted paragraph is exceptionally revealing however: "For a century at least the world has been increasingly demythologized. But such a condition is apparently alien to the real nature of men. Now comes a writer such as John Ronald Reuel Tolkien and, as remythologizer, strangely warms our souls."

This quote also brings us to the first criticism made by Moorcock (keeping in mind that Moorcock to me exemplifies the overall criticisms made by many about fantasy and The Lord of the Rings as part of that). He writes that: "The sort of prose most often identified with "high" fantasy is the prose of the nursery-room. It is a lullaby; it is meant to soothe and console. It is mouth-music. It is frequently enjoyed not for its tensions but for its lack of tensions. It coddles; it makes friends with you; it tells you comforting lies."

To Moorcock, Tolkien's work is both overly romanticised and escapist all at once. He links success with the fact that the novels appeal to what people want to read, not with what they should read. Yet to state such is to me a form of cold cynicism. I do not believe that comfort is what appeals to the reader solely however. There will always be a degree of this, yet I perceive that readers look for works which contain at their heart a story and characters that appeal to them. It is in these areas that success is grown. 

Interestingly Moorcock mentions Watership Down at the same time as discussing The Lord of the Rings and both books are strong because they have characters which touch the reader. They are not in any degree comforting, because they contain frightening ideas and realities within them. Yet what they do is to show the reader truths about inner strength and the ability to overcome darkness, tragedy and minor defeat. All of which can sound like idealism or naivety, yet fiction allows us to do such a thing - to perceive an idealistic view of what we can be.

Moorcock writes on, however, and mentions that Tolkien uses his words "seriously but without pleasure." Yet this misses much of what and how Tolkien uses words. Certainly one can see how on the outside it could be seen that Tolkien has a sort of unconscious humour and writes without pleasure, but a linguistical analysis of the words and names shows that deeper down, within the roots and origins of many words are humorous ideas. For instance hobbit comes from old english words meaning 'hole' and 'dweller'.

Another of the criticisms levelled against Tolkien is the existence of "ghastly verse". Indeed, many people I know complain about the poetry in The Lord of the Rings as a childish distraction. Yet I find it one of the more appealing things about it. It conveys a sense of the work existing as a form of traditional storytelling and grants the tale a greater sense of organic development. And indeed, Tolkien's verse is hardly ghastly but has a rather melodic rhythm all it's own.

Of course Moorcock's arguments against Tolkien's verse go further into other areas such as that the existence of what he calls 'allegory' ruin the artistry of the book. And yet, for all such claims, Tolkien's work is one of great artistry. An artistry of natural surroundings - hills, trees, rivers and all forms of beauty painted with words. That is not to say that Tolkien writes like some writers, but there is a simple elegance to his work, more often found in his descriptive power.

"Writers like Tolkien take you to the edge of the Abyss and point out the excellent tea-garden at the bottom, showing you the steps carved into the cliff and reminding you to be a bit careful because the hand-rails are a trifle shaky as you go down; they haven't got the approval yet to put a new one in."

Of course, in the end Moorcock's writing comes off as nothing but a pretentious work that has nothing better to argue than 'it's all silly and poorly written.' It's rather subjective, though he makes the powerful argument as to whether we should consider such 'pulp fiction' among literary greats. I believe that it deserves a spot among them for its influence and what it achieves on the whole. For Tolkien's work is not one which performs according to the above quote. It does not coddle the reader as Moorcock says, nor does it glorify war. Instead it reveals the reality of darkness, power, depravity and doom. It shows us that where there is darkness we need not accept that darkness then, that we can choose to believe in the good that flourishes in the most unlikely places. In the tea garden at the bottom of the abyss - to use Moorcock's metaphor then...

What I am essentially arguing is that superficially The Lord of the Rings is nothing more than a silly idea. A work of fairies and elves - a book for children, idealists and other times. Yet underneath such a story, as with all fairytales, is a sense of something greater. This something is to be found with a sense of wonder, exploration and a willingness to look beneath the surface. I believe this is why Tolkien loved his hobbit creations so much. Because in them is represented all that The Lord of the Rings is: an unassuming face, harbouring great inner quality.

There's not really much to say other than EPIC. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this for the first time. I've seen the Peter Jackson trilogy and really enjoyed those as well. But this time it was fun to read the original story. J.R.R. Tolkien created so much in the Middle-earth realm and the LOTR books only capture a small portion. I feel he truly created a genre and set the standard for epic fantasy.

The movies obviously left material out for time and added some for creativity along the way. In my opinion both are strong. This edition had appendices innthe back to help with time lines, back story, and touched on a lot of the mythos based in Tolkien's world. He created so much that The Hobbit and The Silmarillion are recommended reads to further explore this genre. Thanks!

Libro epico e assolutamente spettacolare (anche se, in alcuni punti, domina la noia) che, merito anche delle sue quasi 1.400 pagine, mi ha impegnato nella sua lettura per quasi un mese… ma, alla fine, come avrete capito, non ne sono affatto pentito. Un lavoro, per farla breve, che ha moltissimi significati morali (e religiosi): infatti, si parla del classico scontro tra il bene (qui rappresentato da Bilbo e Frodo Baggins, i più improbabili degli eroi) ed il male (impersonato da Sauron, il "Signore" degli Anelli); si parla di guerra, coraggio, tradimenti, determinazione, rispetto, fedeltà assoluta e, soprattutto, amore.
Fiaba senza tempo con un'ottima descrizione dei protagonisti (ma di qualcuno, specie i personaggi secondari, io ne avrei fatto tranquillamente a meno) e dei paesaggi fiabeschi e incantati… con la grande mappa (un foglio quadrato, di oltre 50 cm per lato, allegata al libro), davvero notevole e ben realizzata. Menzione speciale, inoltre, per la narrazione delle scene di guerre: scorrendo la lettura sembrava di stare davvero su un campo di battaglia.
Da leggere, e quasi quasi da studiare, tutta la parte finale del libro (ossia le appendici) con la cronologia dei re della Terra di mezzo, il calendario e il calcolo storico degli anni, i vari alberi genealogici e, addirittura, la grammatica e la pronuncia delle varie lingue delle razze incontrate in tutto il libro (elfi e nani su tutte).
[https://lastanzadiantonio.blogspot.co...]

I became horrifically lazy towards the end of the LOTR re-read which was undertaken as part of my "month of the kitten squisher" and neglected to review the final two books which together make up The Return of the King. Not so much resting on my laurels as stretching out full length and having a big old snooze right on top of them. But you've all seen the film by now right? So no need to continue...

Kidding, kidding.
(and I've now put this review in the correct order so the newest bits are at the bottom)

THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING: BOOK ONE

Four hobbits, two men, one elf, one dwarf and a wizard. This would be the best line up ever for a reality television show.

Frodo, Merry, Pip and Sam along with Aragorn, Boromir, Legolas, Gimli and Gandalf are the interspecies representatives that form the Fellowship of the Ring. A sort of United Nations of Middle Earth if you will, where the collective are supposed to protect and defend the freedom of all who dwell in Middle Earth and who are at threat from the growing darkness which is gradually creeping out of Mordor.

There is no denying that this collection of six books (now widely published and referred to as a Trilogy) is an epic work. Tolkien sets out his stall early on in Book One with detailed descriptions, dense prose, background histories,poetry and a whole new language. There is a lot of word furniture but given the scope of the story and size of the metaphorical room, it needs to be heavily furnished in order to make it seem real or else hobbits, elves, dwarves and men would be tramping around in a cavernously empty room. Tolkien will not be rushed. He has an end game but with five more books to get through there is no point in putting all your Hobbits in one hole. The first book is slow paced and littered with mythology, poetry and song so if you were bracing yourself for a breathless dash from Hobbiton to Rivendell then you will be disappointed.

And now, a word about the incessant singing. Hobbits like to eat and Hobbits like to sing. The descriptions of eating are fine, although they just made me hungry in turn. The singing is another matter. Much like an episode of Glee, there was far too much impromptu bursting into song and Hobbity jazz hands. You are on a serious mission Hobbits - act accordingly! With that in mind I didn't bother to read about 90% of the singing and so that made the reading of Book One a much speedier endeavour.

THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING: BOOK TWO

Inspired by the hobbity singing - jazz hands optional (and to be sung to Stand by Your Man by Tammy Wynette)

Sometimes its hard to be a hobbit
Giving all your love to just one ring
You'll have bad times
And Saruman will have good times
Doing evil things that you don't understand

But with the Fellowship you'll defeat him
Even though he's hard to understand
And though you fear him
And are wary of him
You can beat him
Cause after all he's just a (Saru)man
Stand by your Sam (Wise Gamgee of the Shire)
Give him two arms to cling to
And a ring to bring too

When nights are cold and lonely
And you sleep by rick or stone or tree
Stand by your Sam
And tell Middle Earth you love him
Keep giving all the love you can
Stand by your Sam
Stand by your Sam
And show Middle Earth you love him
Keep giving all the love you can
Stand by your Sam!

THE TWO TOWERS: BOOK THREE

Book three is the book where the hobbity singing, skipping and general happy-go-luckiness stops and war starts. War comes to Middle Earth preceded by the felling of great trees, the scorching of the earth, the poisoning of the waters and the birthing of a new race of fighting Uruk-hai. The eye of Sauron has turned its baleful crimson gaze from the orc-ugly workings of Mordor to the realms of men. If this was not bad enough, Saruman, powerful white wizard and most senior of Gandalf's order has decided that black is the new white and effectively changed teams. Apparently black is so much more timeless and the ultimate LBR (little black robe) is something that even wizards desire.

But this book is not just the vehicle in which the hobbits travel to war... this is the book in which we are introduced to a whole host of new characters and LOTR species. Further detailed descriptions of the history and linguistic roots of both Ents and Elves are forthcoming. An even more refined version of the previous word furniture (think Louis XIVth not Ikea)is placed at strategic points around the room adding a further comfortable dimension to Middle Earth. It is this constant growth and development which, although fantastical has its routes in etymology which makes the fantasy world of Lord of the Rings much more acceptable, perhaps even believable than previous fantasy epics.

THE TWO TOWERS: BOOK FOUR

Despite not believing that Hobbits would be very useful in a battle field scenario, Merry and Pippin prove their metal and generally kick Isengard butt in the final instalment of The Two Towers. Admittedly having some giant walking trees to ride around in makes them seem a good deal more invincible but generally you have to give them kudos for having disproportionately large balls, and not the scrying kind either.

Isengard stands barren and torn asunder and Saruman is a prisoner in his own tower while the people of Rohan have made their stand against the fighting Uruk-hai at Helms Deep proving what most great generals already knew. It's not the number of men (or elves or dwarves) you have at your disposal, but how you deploy them that counts. Frodo and Sam are still toiling onwards with the fretful gollum at their heels. It was here that I began to get a little confused as the time scale is disproportionately short in relation to the number of pages employed in order to make the journey thus far. In fact it has taken me longer to read the book than it did for the whole journey to take place and I am no slouch on the page turning front.

THE RETURN OF THE KING: BOOK FIVE

So now the Fellowship is well and truly torn asunder and even all the squeaking hobbits have been effectively separated, albeit it for a short while. The funny thing about hobbits is that the less of them there are in close proximity to each other, the less annoying I find them. Book Five sees Middle Earth fighting wars on many fronts. Denethor is fighting his own inner battles as well as looking towards Mordor and wondering what the hell is about to be spewed forth into his realm, The Battle for the Hornburg is over but Rohan still have to make a stand against the Witch King of Agmar. He is taken care of utilising at bit of Tolkien-style "girl power" in the form of Eowyn who rides into battle and takes one of the hobbits along for ballast. Faramir meanwhile discovers there are many downsides to being an only son. Gandalf and Aragorn decide to play knock knock ginger at the Black Gate in the hopes that this will allow Sam and Frodo to nip in the back door.

THE RETURN OF THE KING: BOOKS SIX

On the way to the top of Mount Doom, Shelob spins Frodo a yarn and leaves Sam carrying the one ring. Cheerfully the orcs are easily distracted by a nice bit of shiny, much like my good self and Sam rescues Frodo and returns the burdensome trinket to him. After this the journey continues with a very long trek to the Crack of Doom (imagine the worst Duke of Edinburgh Gold Award Challenge ever).

Despite having a clear idea of the kind of trouble the ring is capable of getting everyone into (1000 pages has got to be long enough to get a clue), Frodo still battles with the idea of chucking it into the firy pit. Cheerfully Gollum steps up and takes care of this for him but not before taking a finger-snack for good measure. Beyond Mordor, Aragorn is crowned king and everyone is soppy as the inevitable man/elf love story reaches its final climax with graceful smiles and sheepish looks (in the film anyway).

Back home in Hobbiton, not all has gone to plan and the shire is a shadow of its former self. Evil has also pervaded the shire but now that Bag Ends best known hobbit-warriors have returned it won't be there for long, oh no. Evil is expelled, Saruman is slain and Sam gets the girl.
Then there is a lot of happily ever afters, just like it should be.

This is one volume consisting of some 1200 pages of small print and containing the three books which were really only one novel and which we erroneously refer to as a trilogy. The advantage of lugging this hefty door-stopper around wherever you go is primarily psychological. If you feel the need to disappear from this here society for a while, for example, you can just toss this in your backpack and you know that wherever you go, you will survive, somehow. And on a dark winter morning as you face another day, you can hug the book to your chest and breathe easier for you know you will get through. At night, when you go to bed, put it on your nightstand and reach out and touch it in the dark when it gets bad. There are sacrifices to be made, of course, people will look at you funny as you sit in that mall bench with a book as big as the Bible while you wait for members of your family to finish shopping. It doesn't really matter that you've read the book before because reading this book is not about newness. This book is more like the bannister you grab onto when you're going down dark stairs. You want to feel the same smooth and solid wood that you've felt a thousand times. Because what you are asking this book to do one more time is to remind you. Re-mind-you as in re-setting your mind again so that it is re-aligned with those truths that have always rung true to you but which you always, for some reason, end up forgetting. Simple truths you know as true but will never be able to prove. Like the truth that life feels like a big battle that can be lost if you don't muster up some courage for the fight; or the truth that there is an evil force out there that seems very real and seeks to destroy us and will do so unless somehow we find the greater force that wants to live; and this other one: that you are blessed if you can find a friend or two to help you along the way. We read books for all kinds of reasons but the best reason to read is our deep hunger for words that will help us find a way in our lostness. And this one, well, just having it next to you will be a solace.

n  Three Rings for the Elven-kings under the sky,
Seven for the Dwarf-lords in their halls of stone,
Nine for Mortal Men doomed to die,
One for the Dark Lord on his dark throne
In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.

One Ring to rule them all,
One Ring to find them,
One Ring to bring them all
And in the darkness bind them
In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.n

Three thousand years after the defeat of the Dark Lord Sauron before the slopes of Mount Doom, a magic ring falls into the care of Frodo Baggins, a young hobbit from the Shire. Aided by his gardener Samwise Gamgee and the mysterious wizard Gandalf the Grey, he takes the ring on a journey to Rivendell, a hidden refuge of the Elves. But evil stirs in the fell lands of Mordor, and black riders scour the countryside in search of their master’s most prized possession…

Thus begins the most legendary saga in the history of fantasy.

n  "It’s a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don’t keep your feet, there’s no knowing where you might be swept off to."n

I’ll kick off this review by telling a little story. A story starting, as the stories often do, with 'once upon a time'...

Once upon a time, there was a little boy who have never read a fantasy book. Thinking back on it, it does seem like an awfully sorry state of affairs. He was a devoted reader already as a quite small child, but he mostly read children’s books like The Hardy Boys and other juvenile and boyish stories like them. The one day he discovered this huge brick called The Lord of the Rings, and started reading it. It would change his life forever. There were other books at the time, for instance the immensely popular Harry Potter series, which was being published back then, but none of them could ever hope to compare to what was now the little boy’s favourite book.

The little boy grew into adolescence. He read other books, few of them fantasy. He discovered a passion for history, and started reading that. He read classics and sci-fi and mysteries and even religious texts. He read books considered by some as among the best books ever. And none of them could ever hope to compare to what was still the boy’s favourite book.

Later that little boy would grow up to become a man (though he probably never will grow up completely, mind you). And he started reading fantasy again. A Song of Ice and Fire was one of the first attempts, and it quickly turned into a favourite. But compared to The Lord of the Rings? Nothing. It was followed by tons of other fantasy series, among them Narnia, The Inheritance Cycle, Shannara and so on. And he loved them all. But every once in a while, he had to go back to this huge brick to remember that there existed something even better.

n  "Where now the horse and the rider? Where is the horn that was blowing?
Where is the helm and the hauberk, and the bright hair flowing?
Where is the hand on the harpstring, and the red fire glowing?
Where is the spring and the harvest and the tall corn growing?
They have passed like rain on the mountain, like a wind in the meadow;
The days have gone down in the West behind the hills into shadow."n

I have been struggling for years to describe The Lord of the Rings. How do you actually describe the book you both love more than any other, and also consider the best book ever written from a more or less objective point of view?

I recently dumped into the word sublime, which I’ve only heard used on a few occasions before. I knew what it meant, but not the exact definition. So I checked.

- Of high spiritual, moral, or intellectual worth.
- Not to be excelled; supreme.
- Inspiring awe; impressive.
- An ultimate example.

And that is pretty much exactly how I would describe it. Sublime it is. I realised that I would never come closer to an actual description of The Lord of the Rings. This is to me not only the main pillar on which the fantasy genre stands, but the ultimate masterpiece of literature.

I’ll use a far-fetched example to make my love for this book sound totally crazy put my love for this book in perspective: if I had to choose between reading this book once and having unlimited access to all the other books ever released, then I would choose this. No contest even.

I am so very grateful to have been given the chance to come along on the journey of the Fellowship of the Ring. To visit so many wonderful places in a land of myths and magic. To meet so many fascinating men, elves, dwarves and other legendary peoples and creatures...

Are there any negative things to mention? No. In my mind there are none at all, but I’ll say this: Tolkien’s characters are not the best I have encountered, and the storyline of this book is not perfect. That’s the closest you’ll ever come to witness me criticizing this wondrous gem, and the only things you’ll ever hear from me about it except for fanatical ravings and unsolicited praise.

n  I sit beside the fire and think
of people long ago
and people who will see a world
that I shall never know.

But all the while I sit and think
of times there were before,
I listen for returning feet
and voices at the door.n

If perfection exists and is obtainable, then Tolkien’s worldbuilding is perfect. There is nothing in either fantasy or any other genre to match it. It certainly surpassed all the magical worlds that had come before it, and none created since that time have been able to surpass it in turn. Writers like Robert Jordan and George R.R. Martin have made their attempts, and now we’re talking about more of my all-time favourite fantasy worlds and series, but in my eyes, none of them have even come close.

I have had tons of delightful experiences while venturing into magnificent worlds of fantasy, in Westeros and Narnia and so many others. But Middle-Earth is like a fictional home. I seem to have left behind parts of my heart and soul by the waterfalls of Rivendell, the ancient trees of Fangorn forest, the plains of Rohan and the marble walls of Minas Tirith. And I do not regret that for one second.

Most of my standards for comparison also derive from this tome. I have yet to encounter a mentor character in fantasy who can compare to Gandalf, or a fictional love story that can compare to the tale of Aragorn and Arwen. I have yet to encounter a setting as detailed or writing as flawlessly eloquent as this. And those are only a few examples of aspects in which I consider The Lord of the Rings to be superior to all others.

These musings can only begin to describe how much this book means to me. It sparked my passion for reading at a young age. It made me love the fantasy genre and all that came with it. It made me start creating worlds of my own, and in the end find one in particular that I liked so much I started writing stories set in it. Why, it even made me intrigued by poetry eventually. But I have yet to read anything by any famous poet that can match Tolkien’s utterly incredible poems.

On my third and fourth and fifth reads of this book, I started looking beyond the immediately visible. And I found something more to admire: the man himself. John Ronald Reuel Tolkien went on to become my most important role model, and despite having been gone from this world for forty years, he’s been heavily influencing my personal opinions and choices for more than a decade. And not only literarily, but historically, politically and philosophically as well.

This book is definitely the one single object that’s had the most impact on me, and it’s meant a lot more to me than one should think any object could be capable of. But then again it’s not really an object after all. It is so much more. A legend trapped in words on pieces of paper. A magical gateway to the most amazing world you’ll ever see.

This is to me the apex of human creativity and imagination. The very best form of art a human mind can produce.

There have been many books that I have cherished through the years, and I expect there will be many more to come. But The Lord of the Rings will always be the one I treasure the most of them all.

It has changed me forever. As it once changed the world forever.

n  "I amar prestar aen, han mathon ne nen, han mathon ne chae a han noston ned 'wilith."n

So that's all I have to say for now. I'm afraid this was not so much an actual review as simply a story about my experience with and passion for this book. If you've been patient enough to read to the very end, I thank you for your attention. I'll leave you with the most beautiful passage Tolkien ever wrote, and my favourite literary quote of all time...