fatherz
"An Unforgettable Masterpiece"
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J.R.R. Tolkien's classic, epic fantasy sequel to "The Hobbit", originally published in three volumes in 1954-1955.
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How can one describe one of the most significant literary experiences of one's life? For the last nearly 20 years, "The Lord of the Rings" has been an almost constant companion. On the average, I read the series about twice yearly.
+5
This book is like none other. I was going to say that this book is like none other written in English during the 20th century -- but that does not go nearly far enough. Rather, this book is one of the most important works of fiction since man first began to write. The work is singularly complete.
Comedy? -- It's there.
Tragedy? -- It's there.
Adventure? -- It's there.
True Love? -- It's there.
Heroic Quest? -- It's there.
Mystery? -- It's there.
Good vs. Evil? -- It's there.
Essentially, "The Lord of the Rings" is more than fantasy literature (although it is that -- and the standard by which all other fantasy literature of the 20th century is measured). Rather, it is "Fairy Story" in the classic and most complete sense of that term. (See Tolkien's non-fiction essay "Tree and Leaf" and you'll see what I mean -- the theological ramifications are remarkable).
Please read this book. It will change your life. More than any other work (save the Bible), it has changed mine.
Use the book as a guide away from the modern and post-modern philosophies which have so devastated our world -- and return to a time and place where truth and good were constant. Sit back, light a pipe, and read the story aloud to those you love.
You will never be the same again.
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More The Lord of the Rings (novel) reviews
I must confess that I didn't read the Lord of the Rings trilogy until after the first movie was released. Now it's one of several books that I re-read often, and I wish I'd read it long ago. The story is a classic one--the constant war between good and evil. The telling is where Lord of the Rings differs from similar plots. The setting is comprised of vast, largely unexplored lands divided into small regions occupied primarily by their own particular type of inhabitant. Tolkien has woven … more
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They read the Hobbit to me at school; I think I didn't like being read to so I refused to read Lord of the Rings till I was at college and a friend recommended it. Good friend. I was hooked.
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There are many great fantasy writers. You have to like older guys like Sir Walter Scott and Michael Moorcock (which caracterizes how diverse the books really are). then there are the modern guys like Robert Jordan and Terry Goodkind. The best of these guys write in a fantasy world, but tell stunning real-life human tales. Moorcock's Elric struggled with inner demons and presented the question of how much of your own humanity is already written in and how much we … more
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Compliments (12)
Okay. Don't get mad that this is popular. Take a read. Develops a love of words and worldbuilding, and a truly deep sense of mythology, one infused with moral and elemental significance.
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Quick Tip by akitosin.
July 08, 2010
not for everyone, this epic story of hope and triumph over evil, has lost too much over time
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Doesn't get much better than this.
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give yourself a rainy weekend and you'll get so into this fantasy that you will not leave the house!
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This book was way ahead of its time. It's too bad the genius of it wasn't realized until after he died. With the exception of the first 30 or so pages on pipeweed, the book is very difficult to put down.
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What a wonderful fantasy! This ranks in my top ten fantasy books.
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the origional epic tale....one of the greatest stories out there
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About the reviewer
David Zampino (fatherz)
I am a 44-year-old historian and theologian.
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About this book
"One Ring to rule them all,
One Ring to find them,
One Ring to bring them all
And in the darkness bind them"
In ancient times the Rings of Power were crafted by the Elven-smiths, and Sauron, the Dark Lord, forged the One Ring, filling it with his own power so that he could rule all others. But the One Ring was taken from him, and though he sought it throughout Middle-earth, it remained lost to him. After many ages it fell by chance into the hands of the hobbit Bilbo Baggins.
From Sauron's fastness in the Dark Tower of Mordor, his power spread far and wide. Sauron gathered all the Great Rings to him, but always he searched for the One Ring that would complete his dominion.
When Bilbo reached his eleventy-first birthday he disappeared, bequeathing to his young cousin Frodo the Ruling Ring and a perilous quest: to journey across Middle-earth, deep into the shadow of the Dark Lord, and destroy the Ring by casting it into the Cracks of Doom.
The Lord of the Rings tells of the great quest undertaken by Frodo and the Fellowship of the Ring: Gandalf the Wizard; the hobbits Merry, Pippin, and Sam; Gimli the Dwarf; Legolas the Elf; Boromir of Gondor; and a tall, mysterious stranger called Strider.
About the AuthorOne Ring to find them,
One Ring to bring them all
And in the darkness bind them"
In ancient times the Rings of Power were crafted by the Elven-smiths, and Sauron, the Dark Lord, forged the One Ring, filling it with his own power so that he could rule all others. But the One Ring was taken from him, and though he sought it throughout Middle-earth, it remained lost to him. After many ages it fell by chance into the hands of the hobbit Bilbo Baggins.
From Sauron's fastness in the Dark Tower of Mordor, his power spread far and wide. Sauron gathered all the Great Rings to him, but always he searched for the One Ring that would complete his dominion.
When Bilbo reached his eleventy-first birthday he disappeared, bequeathing to his young cousin Frodo the Ruling Ring and a perilous quest: to journey across Middle-earth, deep into the shadow of the Dark Lord, and destroy the Ring by casting it into the Cracks of Doom.
The Lord of the Rings tells of the great quest undertaken by Frodo and the Fellowship of the Ring: Gandalf the Wizard; the hobbits Merry, Pippin, and Sam; Gimli the Dwarf; Legolas the Elf; Boromir of Gondor; and a tall, mysterious stranger called Strider.
J.R.R. Tolkien (1892–1973), beloved throughout the world as the creator of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, was a professor of Anglo-Saxon at Oxford, a fellow of Pembroke College, and a fellow of Merton College until his retirement in ...
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