J. R. R. TolkienReviews

Naturally people read The Silmarillion first, but I must say that I prefer this book. It includes a selection of very different writings and while they have the disadvantage that most of them are not finished, to me they are fascinating and they show the scope both of J.R.R. Tolkien's and Christopher Tolkien's work.

The texts cover all the three ages and are often rooted in stories from The Silmarillion, but while that book includes stories that are mostly more like retellings or summaries, in this one they are broadened and told more in the style of a novel or novella, by which I mean a slower pace and more direct speech among other aspects.
The stories from the First Age are about the hidden elvish city of Gondolin and about the children of Húrin, humans who became entangled in the fight against Morgoth, a super evil being (Sauron once was his lieutenant), while those of the Second Age are mostly concerned with the island of Númenor (which is kind of the Tolkien version of Atlantis). The stories from the Third Age provide a lot of background information about the characters and events of The Lord of the Rings, such as the original alliance between Gondor and Rohan, an account of how and why Gandalf planned the events of The Hobbit and persuaded Thorin to take a hobbit with him, and more information of what happened to Gollum after Sauron let him go, and how he ended up in Moria where he came across the fellowship. To me, reading the book would be worth it because of those texts alone.

Each text features an introduction by Christopher Tolkien and extensive notes, and these enable the reader to learn a lot about how both father and son worked, and how gigantic this work - and the project of creating Middle-earth - actually was. I am endlessly fascinated by the energy, knowledge, and painstaking labour that went into it, and still does by those who inherited the work from Christopher after his death in 2020.

By mixing together bits of mythology, ancient history and as some say, some of his own personal experiences about war, love and friendship, Tolkien takes us through an epic journey packed with action, conflict and pain. The Lord of the Ring is basically a reinvention of the fantastic genre, as fantastic is the most accurate word to define the detailed world building. What to say about inventing a whole new World, with its own language and demography? The world building only is worth the 5 stars. Just mind blowing.

At first it was just a story with characters going on an adventure. Gradually I came to see themes that relate to us mortal humans.
* Conflict between groups
* Conflict within groups
* Misunderstood motives
* Greed
* Deception, betrayal
* Conflicting groups uniting against a common enemy
It provides something to think about.

I have tried many times to read this book and never succeeded until now. Since Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf mentioned it in General conference my wife read it and then I read it.

Possibly, the most overrated book of the Twentieth Century.
Not as innovative as the Tolkien dogma states nowadays. Most elements are to be found in previous or coeve works of fantasy.
Not believable in the way characters (do not) develop. "In nomine omen" raised to the status of psychological trait, for cardboard people moving against a stark background of reactionary manicheism.
Indeed, not subtle at all in its racism. Little England at its worst, with every class (race!) at their place, tall fair haired and skinned rulers, stout farmers happy to serve, dark southern-easterners ready to betray and conquer; more than anything else, evil as external to US, and ethical choices guided by valour. For fuck sake, how old was the guy when he wrote this thing, twelve?
(About Tolkien being a forever-twelve-year-old male with superiority complex and megalomaniac fantasies, has anybody else noticed how every tall and handsome character keeps being progressively revealed in ever increasing glory at every stage of the narrative, amidst gasps of recognition and adoration from the onlooking crowds? It reminds me of the passage, in Ulysses, where the Hungarian father of Mr Bloom is celebrated in triumph by the whole Dublin gathered at the docks, in a (voluntarily) hilarious flight of fantasy. Minus the irony. The second-hand embarrassment flows mighty in this book.)
Not surprising that Tolkien became a source of inspiration for the Italian far right scum. Where else will you find racism, xenophobia, reactionary classism, and white male megalomania wrapped in a SUCCESSFUL MODERN MAINSTREAM CLASSIC???
I still cannot fathom how this thing has been voted best book of the Twentieth Century. Or, maybe, I dare not investigate why.

This said, I am thoroughly enjoying my experience listening to the audiobook narrated by Andy Serkis. He does not even try to dissimulate the pompous tone of Tolkien's prose On the contrary: with a master stroke of great class, Serkis goes full Beowulf and manages to serve this half-boiled fanta-linguistic treaty disguised as fantasy novel, as if it were some ancient epic. Also, I happen to not share many readers' distaste for hobbits, and I am affectioned to Gandalf for personal reasons. How right was Terry Pratchett though, taking the piss...

I'm not going to lie on this one: it is a LONG book. That being said, as far as the high fantasy genre is concerned, this is the top of the mountain. From its detailed descriptions (Tolkien loved geography, from how it reads) of the various lands of Middle Earth, to its intricate storylines and characters, this book is a must-read. Having all three volumes on hand really puts it together insofar as convenience.

There are so many wonderful moments in this:
- Eowyn defending her fallen king from the Nazgûl and Ring Wraith
- Aragon sending disheartened soldiers back to guard the ford
- Samwise realising it’s a one way trip to Mount doom
- Samwise carrying Frodo up Mount Doom
- Samwise showing mercy to Gollum
- Frodo showing mercy to wormtail
- The eagles are coming
- Frodo and Samwise being honoured as the ones who saved middle earth
- Samwise love for Rosie Cotton
- Merry and Pippen taking back the shire
- Samwise spreading the Elven dust over the shire and the resulting fruitfulness in the Spring

Edit: Listened to on Audible, April 2020. Listening to this again, many years after first reading it, its (1) not nearly as long as I remember, (2) still a lot of fun. Actually this book has aged quite well, and a number of things I had forgotten because they were omitted from the movie (primarily Tom Bombadil - bright blue his jacket is, and his boots are yellow!) were quite fun to remember. Recommended!

Read through part of this book in 2020 but quit at the halfway mark. Still hoping to restart the series at a later date.

I believe this is my second re-read (three reads total). It can be hard going, but just let it wash over you. Tolkien's theology, it feels like an otherworldly retelling of the old testament. Occasionally a beautiful tale will jump out of the mirk, like that of Beren and Luthien.

F/SF

Finally finished this after quite some time. Even better than The Lord of the Rings, Tolkien creates his fantasy world interwoven with rich theological insights and the ever present victory of hope.

The massive investigation of the preprepatory materials for The Lord of the rings continues under the hand of his son, Christopher. I have decided not to pursue this production further, and will in future confine myself to the completed fictions. As a piece of filial duty, Christopher has aquitted himself well. This title says it all, and is for the very serious student only.½

Wow! I was in the mood for something old-fashioned and was expecting some mild entertainment, here. Didn't know just how delightful a time I was in for!

What an imaginative, clever, super-cute, and funny collection of letters and drawings. Father Nicholas Christmas, North Polar Bear, and Ilbereth the secretary elf are something else especially when they tag-team the letter-writing. (Well, not that it's always "teaming." Sometimes, Polar Bear's just interrupting.)

I laughed the hardest—so hard I had to pause and set the book aside several times—while reading Father Christmas's delivery of rhymes/poetry where Polar Bear keeps cutting in with criticism. Hilarious!

Even with the harrowing North Pole adventures, the comedy, and the precious sentiments to it all, the collection also has bittersweet aspects. To think of a father making creative explanations through the letters at times when providing his children with Christmas gifts would have been difficult, particularly during the years of a certain war (World War II) that Father Christmas talks about. To watch as the names of the letters' young addressees change over the years: the addressees increasing as the family grows, then decreasing as the children gradually grow out of childhood. Until the letter-writing tradition is down to only the youngest child.

The last letter, which Father Christmas apparently knows will be the last, is especially poignant. Made me smile while it tugged on my entire heart.

Nonetheless, the even greater joy of this family's holiday tradition is that the last letter wasn't the end of it after all. Countless people of different generations all over the world, myself included, are yet getting the chance to enjoy these wonderful messages and pictures from the North Pole. How marvelous is that?

Merry Christmas to all!

Authorship of this book, essentially a commentary on the evolution of a long poem by JRR Tolkien, with extensive analytical sections by his son Christopher is therefore tricky. The poems, the sad, sad tale of Turin, and the many versions of Beren and Luthien, are chopped up and dissected by the young heir. Sometimes readable for middling sections is the best I can say, here.

The extremely detailed disection of the Lord of the rings, continues. This volume was more interesting to me than the first one.There are three extended works, and a reconstructed outline of the never fleshed out "Tale of Aelfwine the wanderer. This is for serious (Pendantic) students only.

This book is an effort by Christopher Tolkien to combinedifferent versions and manuscripts of his father's story revolving around Turin and Nienor - the son and daughter of Hurin. The main two sources are the chapter in the Silmarillian titled "Of Turin Turambar" and "Narn i Chîn Húrin" from Unfinished Tales. Most people familiar with Turin have probably read the account in the Silmarillian. If so, you're in for quite a treat! The Silmarillian tends to be written in mostly a narrative style; "Turin said goodbye to his family, he crossed this bridge, he came to this kingdom, he met with this king". This version is a much more developed version of that. Lots of details are added. Almost all of the scenes have dialog in them. There is way more description. The chapter in the Kindle Edition of the Silmarillian is a 2-hour read. This book is almost 5. No fan of Tolkien should pass this up!

The story revolves mainly around Turin, son of Hurin, one of the lords of Men who was imprisoned by Morgoth. Turin is a tragic figure - whose boldness and determination often have consequences. And not just for him. Everywhere he goes, the shadow of his fate falls on those around him.

Turin's sister, Nienor enters the story about 2/3 of the way through. She is also a tragic figure - largely in part because of getting intertwined with her brother's life.

This has to be one of my favorite Tolkien stories apart from The Hobbit and Lord Of The Rings. It reminds me a lot of Greek and Shakespearean tragedies. Lots of subplots that all end up being tied nicely together in the end.

Rating a book that you have read many times is not easy, but in this case it only confirmed my view of the book. It's majestic. In all the times I read it I discovered new things. Beside a steadily growing exitement while reading the book, ending almost in disaster (no worry, all ends well) it is also entwined by humor that sometimes might go unnoticed. Though in many ways Bilbo seems to be the hero of the story, for me it is actually Balin, who in many ways opposes others and remains a close friend to Bilbo right up to the end of the book. Tolkien obviously wrote with his own children in mind, (his biggest critics), but managed to write a tale that captivates audiences from all ages

Recuerdo leer cosas sueltas sobre la historia de El Hobbit en la primera versión del El Señor de los Anillos, pero no tan completa como esta edición. Libro increible que ayuda mucho a asentar las bases de la siguiente historia.

This is an enjoyable read. Though the characters split here it's easy to follow the adventures of everyone.

I do enjoy this tale; however, there is so much going on stuffed in one book. It's quite clearly an epic. Good character development.

A great adventure tale. It tells a great story and does a good job not overexplaining.

What a fucking slog. Never again.

There is a considerable amount of editorial material in this series. To me, it seems a bok for serious students only.

An important work for fantasy, though not hugely my thing. This is very much written as an "epic poem/years later retelling" type deal. The characters are larger than life, there's dramatic breaking into poetry moments, much flowery prose, etc. Not that any of these things are bad, just anyone who goes to read this should know what they're getting themselves into.

If you're a huge fantasy fan, read this. It's hugely influential and a magnificently built world. However, if purple prose and epic poetry isn't your thing, the movies are a fairly good adaptation that merely trim a bit out to make things more accessible.½

As a young reader, I made it only about a third of the way through this book before setting it aside. Coming back to this after about 35 years, this time I made it out of the Shire! The early slow chapters are certainly a lot more suspenseful than I remembered, probably an affect of having seen the films and knowing the danger that the hobbits were in from the beginning, before they realized it. From Bree onward, the pace is exciting, but still finds quiet moments of reflection, particularly when a song or poem is recited.