2024 Review
*loosely gesticulates while weeping*

I've been wanting to read LOTR over Hobbit Day since falling in love with it again, and I finally did it this year! I just love it so much. This reading was extra-special, not just due to the Hobbit Day timing, but because I read it after seeing The Lord of the Rings: A Musical Tale (review forthcoming on my newsletter). Seeing the tale performed live, all the ups and downs in one evening, was the very wine of blessedness.

This time through, I read the lovely editions illustrated by Alan Lee. He adds so much life through his pictures, though he does not sugarcoat the darkness nor let it overtake the good things. (I do wish a painting of the mallorn tree in the Shire had been included.) My long-loved paperback copy of LOTR is worse for the wear, though I cannot bear to part with it (The Two Towers is broken in the middle). I wasn't sure I would cotton on to this edition since I am Attached to my other copy, but I really loved it.

It is always bittersweet to finish reading this story. Farewell until 2025, I suppose!

2023 Review
And all the host laughed and wept, and in the midst of their merriment and tears the clear voice of the minstrel rose like silver and gold, and all men were hushed. And he sang to them, now in the Elven-tongue, now in the speech of the West, until their hearts, wounded with sweet words, overflowed, and their joy was like swords, and they passed in thought out to regions where pain and delight flow together and tears are the very wine of blessedness. (933)

I love Lord of the Rings a little bit more every time I read it. Sometimes I just can’t believe that a text of this beauty exists in the world! I feel that way about a few books, but LOTR has the benefit of being longer than most of them with more space for loveliness.

In my quest to re-read more this year, I have been marking favorite passages. I’ve found that I often pick up my favorite books to look up certain passages (see below) and have a hard time finding them, so page flags are my rescue.

Tolkien’s male characters draw me to this story over and over. They are tender, kind, gentle, valiant, greathearted, and virtuous. They say “I love you” to each other and call each other “dear.” They weep and embrace and sing and heal and love that which they defend more than defending it. They are gardeners, poets, servants, and friends. (Wait, that’s just Sam.) Their identities are not tied to their swords alone. Most of their page time is not given to violence. They dread war and loss, but choose rightly even unto death. I can tell on every page that Tolkien was deeply formed by close friendships with men who spurred him to virtue and excellence, and he honors them in these pages.

Tolkien’s women, the few of them who exist bodily in this narrative, seem a little more lifted from a medieval epic than real as characters. (At least Tolkien's ladies live a little more than Hostage [no other name given] in William Morris's The Story of the Glittering Plain!) But I couldn’t shake the feeling in this reading that Tolkien was working through his experience in the Great War. By the time he wrote this, he was a husband to a beloved wife and father to a little girl. And I don’t blame him for not wanting to put women at the center of this narrative, placing them in horrific moments of a battle-scarred imagination. Yet, he does anyway, working out a lifelong grudge against Shakespeare’s Macbeth with Éowyn and Merry ex machina against the Nazgûl. At the very least, none of the women are simpering, spineless, or sexualized. Heavens, can you imagine if he'd sexualized Gimli/Galadriel like the Hobbit filmmakers did with Kili and Tauriel? Spare us, good Lord.

Knowing that this text will always be there for me is incredibly comforting. I would love to live in the Shire, I thirst for a taste of Elvish hospitality, and I desperately want to apprentice myself to Ioreth.

BRB, going to cry over “The Houses of Healing” again.

-----

“He told them tales of bees and flowers, the ways of trees, and the strange creatures of the Forest, about the evil things and good things, things friendly and things unfriendly, cruel things and kind things, and secrets hidden under brambles.” (127)

“Leaf and branch, water and stone: they have the hue and beauty of all these things under the twilight of Lórien that we love; for we put the thought of all that we love into all that we make.” (361)

“So you live in holes, eh? It sounds very right and proper.” (454)

“Here Spring was already busy about them: fronds pierced moss and mould, larches were green-fingered, small flowers were opening in the turf, birds were singing. Ithilien, the garden of Gondor now desolate kept still a dishevelled dryad loveliness.” (636)

“‘For myself,’ said Faramir, ‘I would see the White Tree in flower again in the courts of the kings, and the Silver Crown return, and Minas Tirith in peace: Minas Anor again as full of old, full of light, high and fair, beautiful as a queen among other queens: not a mistress of many slaves, nay, not even a kind mistress of willing slaves. War must be, while we defend our lives against a destroyer who would devour all; but I do not love the bright sword for its sharpness, nor the arrow for its swiftness, nor the warrior for his glory. I love only that which they defend: the city of the Men of Númenor; and I would have her loved for her memory, her ancientry, her beauty, and her present wisdom. Not feared, save as men may fear the dignity of a man, old and wise.’” (656)

“For it is said in old lore: The hands of the king are the hands of a healer. And so the rightful king could ever be known.” (842)

“His grief he will not forget; but it will not darken his heart, and it will teach him wisdom.” (851)

“It is best to love first what you are fitted to love, I suppose: you must start somewhere and have some roots, and the soil of the Shire is deep.” (852)

“‘They need more gardens,’ said Legolas. ‘The houses are dead, and there is too little here that grows and is glad. If Aragorn comes into his own, the people of the Wood shall bring him birds that sing and trees that do not die.” (854)

“Yet it is not our part to master all the tides of the world, but to do what is in us for the succour of those years wherein we are set, uprooting the evil in the fields that we know, so that those who live after may have clean earth to till. What weather they shall have is not ours to rule.” (861)

“But Sam lay back, and stared with open mouth, and for a moment, between bewilderment and great joy, he could not answer. At last he gasped: ‘Gandalf! I thought you were dead! But then I thought I was dead myself. Is everything sad going to come untrue? What’s happened to the world?” (930)

“And no one was ill, and everyone was pleased, except those who had to mow the grass.” (1000)

“The first of Sam and Rosie’s children was born on the twenty-fifth of March, a date that Sam noted.” (1002)

“Well, here at last, dear friends, on the shores of the Sea comes the end of our fellowship in Middle-earth. Go in peace! I will not say: do not weep; for not all tears are an evil.” (1007)

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.

Actual rating: 4.5 stars

What can you say about a book that has been so foundational to an entire genre and shaped so many readers? This is a story I’ve wanted to read my entire life, something I’ve always considered one of my “bucket list” reads. I’ve tried multiple times, but I never made it much more than a third of the way in before I lost all momentum and put it down. I don’t know why I struggled so much, but I never gave up hope that I would finish it one day. It seems as though the fifth time was the charm for me, because when I started it this time, it finally clicked. I ended up enjoying The Lord of the Rings just as much as I always hoped I would. Better late than never, I suppose.

Because I feel as though nearly everyone has a basic knowledge of this book’s plot due to its classic status and the Peter Jackson films, this is going to be less of a coherent review and more of sharing of my thoughts and feelings from my personal reading experience. In other words, I apologize in advance for the following word vomit. I’m just so thrilled to have actually completed something that has been a goal for so much of my life that I can’t seem to get said thoughts and feelings into any kind of respectable order. Consider yourself warned, and thank you in advance to any readers who stick around and wade through the randomness below.

This was my fifth time reading The Fellowship of the Ring. Yes, fifth. But for some reason, I always get bogged down in the Treebeard chapter (despite my fascination with the Ents) and tap out 50 or so pages into The Two Towers. But this time I was determined not to give up, and I’m so glad I pushed through. From there, things started picking up a bit, but the story really snapped into place for me with, strangely enough, the introduction of Faramir. I’m not sure why that was what made the story really click for me, but there we are. Something about Frodo’s interaction with Faramir just entranced me, and I was fully invested for the rest of the book.

I think the reasons I’ve struggled with Tolkien in the past are the very reasons he’s beloved by so many. The world building of Middle-earth is so lush and dense that it feels self-indulgent, especially when it comes to chapters regarding Tom Bombadil or Treebeard or the like. Tolkien can lose himself so thoroughly in the world itself that the plot takes a backseat for chunks of the book. Also, while the writing grew on me over the course of the novel, the prose tends to be flowery bordering on purple, and the style feels somewhat archaic. Don’t get me wrong; this style definitely works for the story in the long run. And I can see how much it has shaped fantasy as a genre. But those were some of the reasons I initially had a hard time connecting to the narrative; the writing got in the way until I acclimated to it.

I’ve always thought that the Peter Jackson films were exquisite, and they seemed like very faithful adaptations. I stand by that, but even with the length of the extended editions, some things obviously had to be cut for time’s sake. For instance, I had no idea there was a full-on hobbit war when Frodo and company returned to the Shire at the end. And more context was given to the final parting scene in the book, which made it both more respectable a decision and far more poignant to me. I also loved that Tolkien took so much time to revel in victory. I feel like that’s not something we get very often in fantasy. We tend to see the final battle being fought and won, and sometimes get a brief epilogue tacked on showing that world so many months or years later. Not so, here. We get to witness all of the celebrations and the reaping of rewards. I found that refreshing.

Speaking of the films, I found it fascinating to compare the changed made to certain characters. Some characters, such as Frodo and Faramir, were in my opinion infinitely more noble and likable in the book. Others, like Aragorn and Arwen, are more compelling to me by far in the films. But nothing I encountered changed my favorite character: Samwise Gamgee. He’s equally wonderful on page and on screen, and is to my mind the true hero of the entire tale. He’s simply one of the bravest, most loyal, purest of heart beings to ever be penned, in my opinion.

After completing The Lord of the Rings in its entirety, I understand why Tolkien was so persistent that it was one long book, not a trilogy. This is definitely meant to be read in one go, and I think that’s why I failed to complete it in the past. Treating it as one contained work instead really helped me to stick with it, even when I was feeling a bit bogged down. Another thing that helped tremendously was deciding to tandem read the physical with the new audio versions, narrated by Andy Serkis. His audio made all the difference. Once that decision was made, I was never tempted to put this down again. His range as a reader is astounding. Not only does he perfectly voice Sméagol, the character he played in the films, he brilliantly captures the rest of the cast, the majority of whom sound amazingly like the actors who portrayed them. I was captivated by him as a narrator, and having him in my ear as I read along was one of the most immersive experiences of my life as a reader.

I’ve seen Christians call Tolkien’s writings an allegory for Christianity, which has always cracked me up as Tolkien had a distinct distaste for allegories as a whole and wrote as much in the prologue to The Lord of the Rings. Lewis’s Narnia? Yes, definitely an allegory about Christ? Middle-earth? Absolutely not. However, it is very easy to see that Tolkien had a Christian worldview and wrote through that lens. Obviously it’s not explicitly Christian in any way; but it feels Christian somehow, in its portrayal of good and evil. I love when such a worldview subtly permeates a work not because the author has any kind of agenda, but because that’s simply how they see the world and it was impossible for them to divorce their art from it.

I think I’ve rambled on long enough. Suffice it to say, I enjoyed my journey through The Lord of the Rings so much more than I expected, especially considering my past attempts. I can also see myself revisiting it in the future, which surprises me more than I can express. This ended up being more than the checklist item it had become, and I’m so pleased by that fact. Because of my earlier struggles, I feel like I can’t give this a 5 star rating for personal experience, but it was a solid 4. For cultural significance, it’s obviously a blazingly bright 5 stars. So I decided to cut that in the middle and give it a 4.5 star rating. That feels right for me. Middle-earth has also been a beautiful world to me because of the films, and the original source material has made it even richer and given it an even firmer foothold in my heart.

"As for any inner meaning or ‘message,’ it has in the intention of the author none. It is neither allegorical nor topical…. I cordially dislike allegory in all its manifestations, and always have done so since I grew old and wary enough to detect its presence." — J.R.R. Tolkien (Foreword to the second edition of The Lord of the Rings).

Which is also why he despised the ham-fisted Chronicles of Narnia.

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In sum, the books do not represent the Boomer counter culture, WW I, or the Christian End Times. They are just stories drawing from the author's favorite mythology.

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Interesting little background piece on how LOTR found success years after the books were released....

https://www.newyorker.com/books/page-...

Il viaggio della vita

Indescrivibile l'immersione in un mondo pulsante di vita e potenzialità di esistenze; di leggende che riverberano dal passato e si proiettano in epoche che mai vedremo né contempleremo neanche con la forza del pensiero.
L'abbandono del proprio nido famigliare, porto sicuro che protegge dai tumultuosi mari dell'ignoto, dischiude un mondo in continua evoluzione che muore e rinasce nel perpetuare dei secoli.
E si combatte il male con il poco che si ha, passo dopo passo e scelta dopo scelta, con la resistenza di chi non può e non deve scendere a compromessi; una lotta che logora nel profondo e si annida in noi, per ricordarci eternamente il prezzo della meta e l'importanza del percorso sostenuto per raggiungerla.

Assodato che Tolkien stesso rifiutasse allegorie e metafore di qualunque tipologia (la letteratura, in sé, non cela necessariamente fini morali o necessità di critica), la rielaborazione profonda e stratificata della mitologia nordeuropea - in misura minore celtica e irlandese - diventa esercizio della riscrittura di una personale epica capace di plasmare un mondo a sé stante, esistente tanto quanto il nostro: genealogie capillari e ramificate, lingue e pronunce, susseguirsi di ere e una mitologia interna, da cui la stessa storia attinge per mettere in moto la narrazione, sono tutte caratteristiche che rendono Il signore degli anelli un'opera cardine della letteratura, non ascrivibile nella comoda etichetta fantasy.
Se, per mia personale inclinazione, sono oramai quasi tre anni che considero Il libro Malazan dei Caduti l'opera fantasy preferita per modernità di prosa e contenuti affrontati, serve onestà intellettuale nel riconoscere a Tolkien l'indubbia paternità di stilemi all'interno del genere e, aspetto ancora più importante, un metro di paragone forse definitivo nella rigorosità del worldbuilding.
Pietra miliare.

Note, Sept. 18, 2020: I just edited this review again, to delete the word "trilogy" since a reader made a comment objecting to it. (Strictly speaking, Tolkien did envision the LOTR books as a single long novel --which, in terms of plot structure, it actually is-- not a trilogy in the usual sense. It's just published in three volumes because its sheer length makes it unwieldy in one.)

Note, March 11, 2019: I just edited this review to insert an accidentally omitted word.

Actually, I read Tolkien's masterful Middle Earth fantasy corpus, beginning with The Hobbit in the early 70's and finishing the Lord of the Rings almost a decade later, before this anniversary edition came out. (I also read all four books to my wife in the early 80's; she loved them too!)

This body of work is, of course, the genre-defining classic of modern fantasy --especially epic, or "high" fantasy -- which popularized the genre as the publishing market force it is today, exerted enormous influence over practically all subsequent fantasy authors (including R. A. Salvatore and Terry Brooks), and set the conventions readers would come to expect: a pre-technological setting, an epochal struggle between good and evil whose outcome is determined by magical factors, and a demand for personal moral growth on the part of the characters thrust into a pivotal role in that struggle. And Tolkien's depictions of wizards, elves, dwarfs, dragons, etc. became the template for all subsequent portrayals of these creatures.

Part of the success of Tolkien's work derives from the breath- taking scope of his world-building, which reflects his day jobs as a philologist and medievalist; he created entire languages and folklores for his "Middle Earth," as well as a detailed, millenia-spanning history. But more importantly, as a devout Catholic, he embodied his deeply Christian world-view in the writing: his fantasy world (though he doesn't employ the kind of explicit Christian symbolism that C. S. Lewis does) is the scene of conflict between good and evil with world-altering significance, under a superintending Providence, in which the individual moral choices of both the high and the lowly have significance, and temptation is an ever-present danger.

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.

I’ve been curious about the fantasy world of Tolkien’s since high school and having read other fantasy series, I never had a real opportunity to step into his grand epic. While I eventually read “The Hobbit”, it gave me more interest into trying to jump into “LOTR”. I finally stepped in and while reading it with the beautiful 2021 illustrated edition, I found one rich fantasy masterpiece.

It all begins when a hobbit named Bilbo Baggins strangely vanishes during his birthday celebration. Frodo, the nephew of Bilbo, is now entrusted by the great wizard Gandalf with a powerful ring that must not fall in the grasp of Sauron. With a fellowship accompanying him including his friends Merry, Pippin and Sam, they set off on a long quest to reach Rivendell where the ring will be in safer hands. That quest will become one full of characters that will help them along the way, moments of danger and suspense, and even see them separated the further they will come.

It is a long quest, but a phenomenal fantasy that never stops being worth every page. The way it’s told never gets tiring and its tone feels so sobering. I was won over by the series’ lore as it’s so rich with characters and settings. In the end, it’s an alluring and adventurous fantasy about good vs. evil and you’ll go back to Middle Earth, as well as Tolkien’s other tales, to soak it in again and again. A (100%/Outstanding)

OH THIS BOOK. I ABSOLUTELY LOVED EVERY PART OF IT. Well, almost every part. I'll start out with the only part I didn't like, then I'll squeal and blubber and fangirl.

The ending. I'm admitting it. I ABSOLUTELY DETESTED THE ENDING. I went through ALL of that, and the characters went through all the torture, I really, really wish there had been a happy, peaceful ending. That ending made me want to throw the book out the window. Other than the ending, I ADORED the entire book. And also I love Elanor. And Sam and Rose. AND SAM AND BILL THE PONY. AND SAM AND FRODO. BASICALLY I ADORED SAM.

Let's see, where to start.

I officially want to be called a gammer when/if I become a grandma, guys. #nerdforever

Unfortunately, I only remembered to write down one favorite quote, but there were so many, people.

"And no one was ill, and everyone was pleased, except those who had to mow the grass."

And also I now understand this:


Also, I totally shipped Eowyn and Faramir, guys. ;) AND GIMLI AND EOMER'S FIGHT ABOUT GALADRIEL. XD SO MUCH AWESOMENESS. *deep breaths* And also the effect of the Entdraughts on Merry and Pippin. ;)

AND THE PARALLEL CHAPTER TITLES!!!! The first chapter of The Hobbit is "An Unexpected Party" and the first chapter of LotR is "A Long-expected Party". Oh, Tolkien, you are so clever!!! XD

Give me some time.

⤷ The Fellowship of the Ring
⤷ The Two Towers
⤷ The Return of the King

n  Whenever my environment had failed to support or nourish me, I clutched at books…

-Richard Wright, Black Boyn

If you want a purely enraptured detailing all of and only of love provoked by these pages, look elsewhere. If you desire an analysis of the fundamental roots of fantasy and how this book fits in within the wider scope of the literary genre, it is not here. If you crave a complete and utter breakdown of all the faults this novel begets on the larger realm of reality, you will be unsatisfied. I have nothing that goes fully one way, or the other, or even some objective mixture of the three. Instead, I have a story. Perhaps you wish to read it.

For better or for worse, I never found a home within the house and its mortal constituents that I was brought up in. Mind you, every sort of physical sustenance was assured, and there was never a lack for the more mercantile requirements of a modern upbringing. However, financial stability is no substitute for emotional well being, and my younger self found the latter only through those curiously tied together stacks of paper, often very weighty and filled with all manner of tiny squiggles and the occasional picture. The most powerful of these objects, the ones that granted the sort of comforting balance of the familiar and the novel, were the three battered and yellowing paperbacks of The Lord of the Rings. I have faint memories of my first devouring, but can still clearly recall my feeling of surprised gratification upon watching the 2001 live-action of The Fellowship of the Ring and finding it worthy of the book it sought to portray.

I was ten years old at the time, and still had much to learn.

For this book of my childhood, this book that formulated my love for literature that has only increased as the years go by, is not perfect. This book spoke as easily as it did to my younger self for reasons of both personal upbringing and dominant culture, the kind of English values and European sensibilities that I am descended from and sways the world in an obstinately oppressive manner to this day. It is not surprising, then, that this novel has proved to be so popular and so overwhelmingly powerful in is influence, to the point of it being credited with spawning the fantasy genre by the more fanatic of its upholders. An unlawful accreditation, to be sure, and a dangerously attractive one, to swallow wholesale the attributes utilized and commended by this one piece of work. A work that, through a combination of its monumental following and easy moralizing, promotes upon the world today a view of life that is vicious in its intolerance of all of those who did not fit within Tolkien's privileged sensibilities.

Slowly but surely, I matured from a young child enamored with this single literary achievement into an adult for whom this one work, no matter how lengthy or detailed, is not enough. And somewhere along the way, I had to make a choice. Whether to hold fast to this one work in an everlasting fit of idolatrous sentiment, or to strike out on my own past this one set of pages in search of something more. Whether to reconcile to the work, or to reconcile the work to myself. For as much as the work is treacherous and blind to the wider realities, it was also the origin of my passion for the written word in all its esoteric and long winded forms. To deny that would be to not only deny the history of my self, but also to deny the history of the world entire, a world whose beginnings were not just, were not kind, were not welcoming to each and every soul brought into its plains of varied existence.

And so, I love The Lord of the Rings. I love its valuing of the good and the righteous in the larger scheme of things, as well as its caring for the happy and peaceful lives of the small. I love the winding descriptions through hill and dale, over crag and cranny, the swift sailing across the mighty rivers and the painful treks across barren slag, a delighting in the natural world and all its tangible glory that I feel today's modern sense should not do without. I love the page after page of sights, and sounds, and most of all the strains of knowledge threading and shaping their way through every rock and field, the sheer amount of history that this world has seen, the ancient events that have trickled their way down and lead the insatiably wondrous journey for further erudition ever on. I love the fearful superstitions that give way to enlightened respect, the long bred enmities that slowly but surely are broken down into new-found bonds of mutual understanding, the persistent and rarely rewarded effort to restrain from killing when there is a chance of further life leading to something more.

What I hate is when those who have read the book seek to impose the letter of the matter onto the experience of every reader, using the book as bigoted shield against the natural progression of time. What I hate is when those who profess to love the work have made such a mockery of loving it that the only humane response to such an outburst is to hate the work wholesale. What I loathe and utterly despise is the poisonous formation of sides when it comes this book and indeed any work of literature, a refusal to consider a book as a mix of both good and bad that can never be fully or easily reconciled in the mind of those insistent on thinking in terms of black and white. Indeed, much of what I hate in relation to this book can be applied to the world at large, still trenchant in fumbling antagonism when those who oppress wonder at the violence of the oppressed, again and again choosing shoddy half measures of solutions cloaked in lies and, worst of all, complete lack of interest in seeing past the lies.

I can no longer go back home, to the first opening of these pages that birthed my confidence in finding a place in terms of literature and, indeed, the world at large. If I truly wish to say I love this book, I must reconcile this love to all of that I have learned, and lived, and measure by measure acknowledge the influence of my younger years and the wisdom I will gain in the future that has yet to come. I must come to terms with the fact that Tolkien, this author to whom I owe so much, would likely despise me, a member of that so called fairer sex that throughout these pages was constantly placed on a domestic and debilitated pedestal, a member who has the engraving of the One Ring tattooed upon her back. For he hated to see the image appropriated for wider use, and saw it as a symbol of evil that did not deserve to be venerated for the intricacy of its design or the connotations of its formation.

To that I say, too bad. The author created this world out of a passionate love for language and all its myriad veins of influence in the cultures it births and the land it names, and its lengthy prose and detailed care set the stage for my confident desire to discover further works of literature, no matter how long in script or difficult in absorption. The author also created a seductive illusion of black and white, insidious eugenics and obstinate tradition, a full embracing of which would indeed grant much power in the realm where those who love the work congregate in great numbers and often in great ignorance. When Tolkien created the One Ring, and carved out its fiery script on the pages of his monumental tome, he created the true symbol of his beloved Middle Earth, one that may have been destroyed within the pages but lives on in the hearts who prefer a complex web of blindly formulaic undertakings to the true demands of creating a fair and just reality. However, he also called for applicability when it came to the reading of the work, preferring that readers find their own way through the pages in context with their own lives. And, finally, the book ends with the passing of the Age that fueled the pages, and the ending is coupled with the knowledge that the days of this story have ended, and for better or for worse will never come again.

And so, I chose a more permanent reminder of the influence that this book has had on me, and do not claim that my interpretation has sway over any others. I simply ask that when reading this work, keep in mind all that has gone into it, as well what has yet to come. Most importantly, acknowledge the differing views and the inherent validity of each and every one, the admirable attributes that are worthy of conservation and the atrocious remnants that must be transformed but whose history of occurrence must never, ever, be forgotten. In short, use well the days.

I cannot change the first steps I took in this world of written word that has shaped my life in so many ways, nor would I want to. This love of mine in no way resembles the clean cut symbol of a heart used in so many cards and printed doings, but the incontrovertible yet fragile pulsing of my heart that, for all its bloody ugliness, is my one and only source of living. And, in the effort of living on through many days of hope, and change, reconciliation upon transformation upon ever constant growing, I wouldn't give it up for the world.

n  The Road goes ever on and on
Out from the door where it began.
Now far ahead the Road has gone,
Let others follow it who can!
Let them a journey new begin,
But I at last with weary feet
Will turn towards the lighted inn,
My evening-rest and sleep to meet.

Still round the corner there may wait
A new road or a secret gate;
And though I oft have passed them by,
A day will come at last when I
Shall take the hidden paths that run
West of the Moon, East of the Sun.n

Home is where the heart is. And, here, I shall ever return.

not a review and there probably won't be one any time soon. i also won't be climbing Mount Everest in the near future. but here are some cool illustrations that i found and want to share.

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n  n

n  n

n  n

n  n

n  n

World of the Ring by Jian Guo