4+ out of 5 stars to The Fellowship of the Ring, J.R.R. Tolkien's first novel in the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy, later made into a billion dollar movie franchise. I count myself lucky to have been able to read this book before it became a movie, though I loved the movie, too.



n  n    Why This Bookn  n
I was 13 years old when I stumbled upon this book while a friend was reading it. He was a major video gamer, fantasy sports leaguer and avid reader of science fiction. Though we were good friends, I had different hobbies. He was about a third of the way into the book, talking about Bilbo, Frodo and Gandalf... and I think my response was something like... "but what about the lions, bears and tigers... oh my!" He knocked me off his bed and laughed at me, which made me curious about the book. He lent it to me once he finished it, and I ran through the trilogy quicker than a trip to Mordor.



n  n    Overview of Storyn  n
It would take an entire chapter to summarize the book, so I'll try to keep it simple. It takes place in Middle Earth, a huge land full of different types of people: Men, Elves, Dwarves, Hobbits, Wizards, Orcs and a whole lot more. As you'd expect, lots of re-alignment between groups over the centuries occurs during epic battles between the good and the evil. A long time ago, a ring was forged, unbreakable, except to be destroyed in Mordor. People have hunted the ring for years, to use its power, but it was rarely ever found. Bilbo Baggins, an elderly hobbit, comes across it one day. And its dark forces take over his mind, willing him to run away with it. But Gandalf the Wizard convinces him to give it up, and the ring falls to Bilbo's young cousin, Frodo, to throw into the fire hell of Mordor. He cannot escape the journey, but along the path, he is protected by Gandalf and many other friends. He has epic battles and at the end of this book, he's come upon one of his first major stops to seek protection, but is forced to flee with new best friend, Sam, for Mordor. And it's to be continued...



n  n    Approach & Stylen  n
It's a fantasy story, so the language is thrilling and beautiful, dynamic and ethereal. Tolkien's created a world where anything can happen, and one where readers have little history to know what's real and not real.



The book follows Frodo on his path as the primary character, and you see much through his eyes. It is in third person omniscient, meaning you do see most everyone's thoughts.

n  n    Strengthsn  n
The creativity. The imagination. The fortitude. The lessons. The moral code. The honor among friends. The fear of a foe. The power of a wizard. Struggles to survive. The book has it all, even a little romance. And death. :(



One of the original masterpieces in this genre, it set the bar for everything to come. It was published mid-20th century, when books simply didn't exist in trilogies. There were a few, and some were decently written, but this is the beginning of a cult phenomenon. As much as I love Harry Potter, and I imagine I will love Game of Thrones, they were not the first. But Middle Earth is an epic journey across a vast time period and a vast land. Written more for an older young adult crowd, it has fans everywhere from ten to a hundred.



n  n    Open Questions & Concernsn  n
It's a lot to taken in and will completely absorb its readers... when's the right age to ensure its ideals are properly understood. Why is it acceptable to kill someone in protection of the ring? How do you handle fear on a journey you must go on? Should it be used in schools? There are so many lessons, ideas and themes to ingest. Is it a pleasure read or something to teach? I see both sides.

Should I re-read it? YES!



n  n    Final Thoughtsn  n
You cannot help but be immersed in this story. If you're not a fan of fantasy, this is NOT the book to start with. There are probably 100 characters to keep track of, each with a unique set of powers or goals. If you are going to take it on, you need to invest in the entire world... up next at some point will be The Hobbit, as it's another clever place to lose oneself in...



n  n    About Men  n
For those new to me or my reviews... here's the scoop: I read A LOT. I write A LOT. And now I blog A LOT. First the book review goes on Goodreads, and then I send it on over to my WordPress blog at https://thisismytruthnow.com, where you'll also find TV & Film reviews, the revealing and introspective 365 Daily Challenge and lots of blogging about places I've visited all over the world. And you can find all my social media profiles to get the details on the who/what/when/where and my pictures. Leave a comment and let me know what you think. Vote in the poll and ratings. Thanks for stopping by.

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YOU CANNOT PASS!
Very cool line, sir.



And that's pretty much it.
If you're hankering for action, you'll need to go on a different quest. This is not The Fast and Furious Fellowship of the Ring. In fact, it's pretty much the opposite of that in every way. I ended up speeding up the narration to 2x fairly early on thinking that I'd slow it back down once it got past some of the duller parts.
Turns out, I liked that speed.



This is one of those books where you can completely space for 5 or 6 minutes and it won't matter. The hobbits have been wandering around doing fuck all for quite some time, when you suddenly remember that you're out of coffee creamer and beer, and if you forget to grab them on the way home you've ruined not only your evening but also the next morning, then you tune back in and Frodo & Co will still be trudging along in a seemingly sideways plot direction.



Trudging through something that has the potential to be scary - but isn't.
For example, there was one part towards the end when they're in boats and Frodo notices that there's a log with eyes following them. And I'm thinking that they're about to get taken out by a fantasy alligator!
Buuuuut it's only Gollum. And he doesn't do anything. Just kind of...paddles off all pissy?
Ok. Cool cool cool.



For those of you who haven't read this yet and are considering taking the plunge, I really can't oversell how much walking and eating goes on between the pages of this book.
Having said that, before you naively pick this one up, you should also be aware that there is a copious amount of singing to go along with the eating and walking.
Tolkien wrote songs for this sucker like he was channeling his inner Taylor Swift.
There was a song for everything.
Did you make fried chicken for dinner? Let me sing you the song of the legendary Fry Daddy.
n  Ooooooh, there once was a plucker of yore.
He plucked chicken down by the shore.
Then went in his kitchen door.
And fried up that chicken some mooooooore!n
That's some catchy shit right there.
Better yet, because I was listening to the audiobook version, the narrator sang all of these songs for me. He even did elven voices. All high and lilting.
It was great.



Don't poke me with sticks just yet. I respect what this book symbolizes and what it means to a lot of people. And I'm certainly not saying that this isn't one of, if not the, most important fantasy books of all time.
It is. 100%.
And no amount of my whiner-baby complaining is going to diminish that. The fact that this dude basically wrote these books just so he would have an excuse to create new languages blows my mind. But I have to say it honestly isn't the easiest book for someone like me to make their way through.
Take pity on me and others like me. Those of us who desperately want to be a part of this cool nerd club that speaks elvish whilst LARPing in the woods. I want my Tolkein card.
There is always hope. <--right? right?
I'm going back for more!



Recommended for those who like long walks, picnics, and karaoke.

"Sing hey! for the bath at close of day
that washes the weary mud away!
A loon is he that will not sing:
O! Water Hot is a noble thing!"

"You shouldn't listen to all you hear,"

When I first watched LOTR TFOTR, a movie that is around 3 hours long, I thought the movie to be insanely long. But now that I've finally gotten around to reading the book, I'm shocked that the movie did manage to fit at least half of the contents of the book in to that three hour run, for this is one long and eventful story with so much more information.

"advice is a dangerous gift, even from the wise to the wise,"

Tolkien was never one to have any kind of limitations when it came to vivid imagination. This is something that he shared with The Hobbit, and it seemed to me that the style had indeed improved further. I liked the plot of this one more that The Hobbit, though the surroundings in hobbits were much cozy in my opinion.

"I hope Butterbur sends this promptly. A worthy man, but his memory is like a lumber-room: things wanted always buried."

But as for the plot, it can hardly get any better than this: one of the most well narrated stories I've ever read. Despite the book's length, it is hard to find a place to take a pause. This is that eventful and such a thrill to read. And the ending: I think the chapters themselves wrapped up better compared to that ending which came out of nowhere. It's almost as if the author wanted you to pick the next one right away. I feel sorry for the people who read the book when it was published in 1954 and had to wait a few months to read the next.

"All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost;
The old that is strong does not wither,
Deep roots are not reached by the frost.
From the ashes a fire shall be woken,
A light from the shadows shall spring;
Renewed shall be the blade that was broken,
The crownless again shall be king."

Re-Read 1/7/24:

Read with my daughter, aloud, the old way with voice, fresh song, and tears in my eyes.

There's nothing quite like reading this one aloud, ourselves. The pacing is just otherworldly -- it forces us into all of nature, of the world itself, and it's shockingly good. And that's well beyond the core story that we know. I'm just talking about the LAND in the pages.

It just goes to show, there's always a new way to read these, if we take the time to submit to them. :)



Original Review:

I cannot rightly recall how many times I've read the trilogy. I think it's between 5 or 6 but that doesn't include a dramatized version. I don't think. And then there are the gazillion times I've watched the movies, the cartoons, or the beautiful old green poster I used to gaze upon in my room.

Not to mention the balrogs I used to paint alongside my dragons. Or the feverish studying of elvish and writing messages to my friends in runic. Taking a class on LotR and even publishing an academic paper on the true nature of Tom Bombadil?

Yeah. I might be a geek. I even freaked out back in 1997 when I discovered that PETER JACKSON of DEAD/ALIVE aka BRAINDEAD was doing LotR???!!!!

Do I think this is a good book?

Maybe. A bit.

But I remember not always being a huge fan. I remember the first time I read it, I thought all the poetry was pretentious. I didn't realize that he had gone to all that work out of love of languages, that he was a scholar of Old English and a mythographer of wide knowledge. Or that he did all of this out of love and fully expected never to get acclaim for any publishing house. He wrote it because he was called to write it. He wanted something awesome. And so he made something awesome. And he shared it with his son just as he shared The Hobbit with his son. That's kinda cool, you know?

But as for me, now, after all these years and multiple reads and a lot of critical thinking, the books have only deepened in significance for me. All the people and places in the poetry means a LOT to me now. I recognize everything. And the fact that so many of the old legends directly tie right back into the most horrific scenes in the later action only speaks to me of OMG THAT WAS AWESOME.

Gil-Galad, anyone? How about the lay of Beren and Luthien and how freaking close that legend is to Aragorn and Arwen?

Or how about the barrow-wight dream Frodo had, that passing image of someone with a sun on his brow? Melkor after he stole the Silmarils? :)

Don't even get me started about how cool Tom Bombadil is. Goofy? Sure, but he's MASTER of his little domain. The Ring can't touch him. At all. Period.

Let's back this up a bit. Sauron and Radagast and Gandalf and Saruman and the Balrogs are all Maiar, spirits descended to Arda to help form the world after the Illuvatar created the planet. The Balrogs are, of course, corrupted Maiar made by Melkor, the Illuvatar god of corruption. That places all these guys on the SAME PLAYING FIELD. Yes, Radagast of the poop hat is ... WHAT? AS POWERFUL AS SAURON? Ahem. No.

I assume if Gandalf had been willing to steal the souls of a few lands of Easterlings and corrupted elves that are generally called ORCS get really, really good at necromancy and domination magic, he might have been a contender. But no. Neither Gandalf or Radagast were that ethically unbound. :) Just unwashed. Or addicted to pipe weed. Even the Maiar need their magical weapons and tools to get super powerful, and the Good is generally less likely to go all out and become an undead king like Voldemort and his phylacteries. :)

Let's move forward again. If Gandalf and the Elves and even Saruman from far away can't escape the deathly pull of Sauron's phylactery, then HOW THE HELL CAN TOM BOMBADIL go, "Eh? It's nothin."

Answer? He has to be one of the Illuvatar. One step above the Maiar. One of the creators of Arda (also known as Middle Earth, or in the next age, Earth. The place we are. :) So for all you haters of Bom-bom-bombadillo as he sings, remember, the gods who made Arda did it by SINGING. :)

Old Man Willow was probably a twisted Ent. If you know the Ent's history at the end of the First Age, they went on a rampage across all of Arda looking for their lost wives (who probably left them because they were a bunch of idiots) causing untold havoc that couldn't be stopped by all the might of the Elves, Men, or Dwarves in their heyday when the magic was so much stronger, the weapons so much more powerful, and the men could still act politely to the elves. And yet, Tom puts Old Man Willow to sleep like some naughty child.

And let's not forget the barrow-wights that are sadly missing from the movie. The poor hobbits had just been captured and turned into wights, dreaming the death songs from Men corrupted by Melkor back when Sauron was just a Lieutenant in Melkor's badass army of city-sized spiders, dragons, and balrogs. No yellow-shoed Green Man would have the power to COMPLETELY HEAL THE RIFT between life and death of such a remnant of the first age. Effortlessly. With a song.

I'm just saying.

I'm a geek.

It's true.

One does not simply review the LOTR!!


Yet here I am, trying to do so. In the words of Sam-the-wise Gamgee, I can sum up my review. “Oh, that doesn’t do them justice by a long road.”
This was a BR with The one who DNF’d it and The one who didn't like it. Non believers, I tell you!
I have taken my own sweet time with this book, relishing each of its pages and words and watching the movie as I read the book. It has been a great time! n  

“Is it not a strange fate that we should suffer so much fear and doubt for so small a thing?”

n It is Bilbo Baggins’ eleventy first (111th) birthday. All of the Shire is invited to celebrate the event of a queer hobbit who is rumored to have immense treasures accumulated from his adventurous journey so long ago. For Bilbo though, there has always been one treasure. A golden shiny ring.
All of the shire is present for Bilbo’s big day but little do they know that he has something planned. n  

‘I wish to make an ANNOUNCEMENT.’ He spoke this last word so loudly and suddenly that everyone sat up who still could. ‘I don’t know half of you half as well as I should like; and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve. I regret to announce that – though, eleventy-one years is far too short a time to spend among you – this is the END. I am going. I am leaving NOW. GOOD-BYE!’

n And away he goes, on his last journey to find peace, bestowing (forced by Gandalf) his treasured ring to his younger cousin Frodo.
For many years life goes on for Frodo as it should, with his friends Pippin and Merry and not to forget Sam. Until one day the wizard Gandalf pays him a visit and tells him the secret of his heirloom. That what he carries is no ordinary ring but THE ONE RING. n  

‘One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them, One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them.’

n Poor Frodo. Who never wanted to be put in such a situation. Frodo, who led a simple and peaceful life. n  

‘I wish it need not have happened in my time,’ said Frodo.
‘So do I,’ said Gandalf, ‘and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.'

n Now Frodo must flee, carrying the evil ring, to the land of the elves, Rivendell, for he is being hunted by a deadly foe. And who shall accompany him but his friends Merry and Pippin and always Sam, my dear Sam. "It’s a dangerous business, going out of your door. You step into the Road, and if you don’t keep your feet, there is no knowing where you might be swept off to."
Through many a great peril, the four little hobbits reach the land of elves where all of middle earth must decide the fate of the ring in a secret council. n  

‘We must take a hard road, a road unforeseen. There lies our hope, if hope it be. To walk into peril – to Mordor. We must send the Ring to the Fire.’

n The hearts of Men, Dwarves, Wizards and even Elves are found wanting for courage to undertake the task that must be accomplished when Frodo steps up to the dangerous task. It must be true what they say. ‘Courage is found in unlikely places.’n  

‘I will take the Ring, though I do not know the way’ said Frodo.
‘My dear Frodo!’ exclaimed Gandalf. ‘Hobbits really are amazing creatures. You can learn all that there is to know about their ways in a month, and yet after a hundred years they can still surprise you.’

n Frodo is appointed the ring bearer, the one who shall carry the burden that none else are willing to. He should carry the heavy burden. n  

‘But you won’t send him off alone surely, Master?’ cried Sam, unable to contain himself any longer, and jumping up from the corner where he had been quietly sitting on the floor.
‘No indeed!’ said Elrond, turning towards him with a smile. ‘You at least shall go with him. It is hardly possible to separate you from him, even when he is summoned to a secret council and you are not.’

n And how can Merry and Pippin be far behind Frodo and Sam? n  

‘That’s what I meant,’ said Pippin. ‘We hobbits ought to stick together, and we will. I shall go, unless they chain me up. There must be someone with intelligence in the party.’
‘Then you certainly will not be chosen, Peregrin Took!’ said Gandalf

n The fellowship is formed that shall accompany and guide the ring bearer.
A Man: Boromir of Gondor, Son of Denethor.
A Dwarf: Gimli, son of Gloin.
A King in exile: Aragorn, son of Arathorn
An Elf: Legolas, son of Thranduil.
A wizard: Gandalf the Grey
Four hobbits: Frodo, Merry, Pippin and of course, Sam!

So begins the journey of the fellowship of these nine that holds the future of all those who live in the middle earth. Together they must brave so much to reach where they want to reach. But what binds them together? Naught but friendship and loyalty. And yet the evil of the ring shall lead to the breaking of this fellowship and still Frodo must go on, alone. But how can Sam ever leave his side? n  

‘Of all the confounded nuisances you are the worst, Sam!’ ‘Oh, Mr. Frodo, that’s hard!’ said Sam

n No. Sam wont. He shall keep him company through thick and thin.

I have just read a book from a madman. “No great mind has ever existed without a touch of madness.” Often have I heard and read this quote. But never did it actually take. Why would it? I never met any greats. I never read any greats.

I picked this book mostly on a whim. No reason why I would read a book whose story I know word for word through the movies that I have watched countless times. No real reason why would I read 500 pages to get to an end I already know. Except for one reason. The writing. To experience a great man. To read from the father or Fantasy. n  

“That was an eye-opener, and no mistake!”

n What makes for a good book, I often ask myself. And always I answer that having a story is the easy part. It’s the easiest thing. Each one of us has a story or few inside our heads and hearts. Whether or not we tell them is a different matter but we all have stories, regardless. So that’s the easy part.
The hard part is to tell it. To pen it down in a way that someone would want to keep reading. That’s the hard part but manageable. Many can do it. But there is still the hardest part left that not all can pull off.

The toughest part is to create a believable setting, to create a world and then to populate it. To give it a feel. Make it into something that a reader can see in their mind’s eye, can almost touch it and practically taste it. I consider this the toughest part and that’s what makes for great Authors and Storytellers.

But a madman genius should be able to pull it off, right? So, is Tolkien that person? Of course he is. He doesn’t need my nod to be the genius that the world knows him to be. This is one the finest writing I have ever encountered and quite frankly it borders on madness. n  

‘I feel as if I was inside a song’

n There is such a rich feeling in the book! So much work has gone into shaping up this world that we love in LOTRs collectively. This guy, he not only created a world and populated it, he actually gave it a history. The world of middle earth wasn’t just formed overnight and a great adventure commenced in it. No.
There is so much in the books that points to the fact that this world has been around for a very long time and has a history. So much history. Languages and poems and stories and back stories and different realms and beasts and the evil and even their history. I could feel everything mentioned in the book. I do not have any better word to describe it other than saying it is a VERY rich piece of writing. The best one I have tasted so far.
There are poems and songs in the book and as annoying as they become at times, I cannot deny that they are beautifully done. This is a book from a master, one who was at the top of his game. No one takes that away from him. This book is simply a masterpiece in terms of writing.

Yet, I’d lying if I didn’t say a few things bugged me. The dialogues in most places are not upto the mark. Infact, at a few places, a few of them feel funny in a dangerous setting and sometimes simply aloof. A lot of what could have been part of the narrative is put in as a monologue from a character when they are alone. The characters are not all that well shaped up and the only characters that I liked in the book were Gandalf and Sam. The most disappointing of the lot was Legolas. As amazing this book is, there is not one doubt in my mind that the movie, as wildly different from the book it turned out, it was FAR, FAR better and Peter Jackson created magic. And all the difference in the movie are for the better and it further goes to show how much effort was put into adapting these books.

This book though, the whole story is amazing but the thing that adds to the whole charm, for me, has always been the bond of Sam and Frodo. The camaraderie and the love that Sam has for Frodo. It’s something beautifully done. And it’s only just the beginning, laddies! Needless to say that I will be seeing this series through because, One simply does not skip such amazing books! Sorry, couldn’t help it. :P
I shall return soon. To see Boromir redeem himself. To see Gandalf find his way back to Aragorn and to meet the horse lords of Rohan! But mostly, I shall return to accompany Frodo on his journey and for my dear Sam. n  

“But I’m glad, Sam. I cannot tell you how glad. Come along! It is plain that we were meant to go together. We will go, and may the others find a safe road! Strider will look after them. I don’t suppose we shall see them again.”
“Yet we may, Mr. Frodo. We may.” said Sam.

n

3.5 Stars

Mel

3.85 Stars

it’s a classic. I heard the first book lays the groundwork to finish the series. So I’m excited to continue