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Summary: We Hate Hobbit Haters!
Review: Anyone who does not enjoy this book most likely does not understand the use of language. Anyone who says it does not have a begining, middle or an end and/or compares it to the hobbit obviously lacks the knowledge that The Fellowship of the Ring is the begining to the ongoing story that is The Lord of the Rings. As for The Hobbit, it is one story, one part, it is the prelude to The Lord of the Rings, which is one story, three parts. And all three parts are very good...very entertaining...very WONDERFUL. Generally speaking, The Lord of the Rings was intended for an intelligent audience. If you have a vocabulary of 350 words or more...CONGRATULATIONS...this book is for you. Some people may argue that Tolkien created hollow characters, that is a falsity. He, in fact, created complex characters. They each have very different personallities and internal torment (at times in the book). Gandalf is an exception to this because Tolkien does not want you to know more about him than the characters. His personallity is mysterious, it would take away from the suprises in the story if it were any other way. Tolkien's advid decription of the characters' surroundings gives reality to the story. Some may say it is excessive, however, without it the story would lack individuality (which is why it it so great in the first place). Most readers are used to seeing this: "The door knob was shiney." Tolkien readers would see this: "The glistening morning sun reflected cheerily off the now luminous surface of the door knob." (This line is not in anyway of/by or related to Tolkien and is only intended to give a vague idea of his writting style.) He uses literary devices to enrich his stories much like the ancient Greek poet Homer. (Do not let this referance of history discourage you from reading this book.) THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING IS NOT BORING IN ANYWAY, SHAPE OR FORM! It is magnificently entertaining to the last page...AND BEYOND! We recommend this book to anyone who loves a good fantasy epic (and anyone else with the capability to read. Do not overlook this book, hidey ho!
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Summary: The Greatest begining to a series of all time.
Review: The Fellowship of the Ring was one of the greatest books that I have ever read. It had everything you could ever ask for in a book. It had action, excitement, and even a little bit of romance. Although this was a grear book, I believe that the next book in the series, the Two Towers, is the greatest book that was ever written.
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Summary: A Great Adventure for Everyone
Review: After seeing the animated movie as a child and then the feature film this past year I committed myself to reading J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings. A true masterpiece of adventure and imagination and once I started reading I couldn't put it down. Tolkien really puts the reader inside the realm of middle earth and never let's you leave. The characters are wonderfully described and give you sense of wanting to be right there with them, side by side part of the fellowship.
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Summary: The opening act in a classic story
Review: In modern fantasy, Tolkien is easily the most influential figure. This book helps indicate why. The Lord of the Rings was intended to be a single story, not a trilogy, so this volume is not a stand-alone novel. Instead, it is the first two of six "books" into which Tolkien has divided his work. Book one introduces the principal characters of Frodo, Sam and Aragorn and reintroduces (from the Hobbit) Gandalf and Bilbo. It also outlines the dangers of the One Ring and the evil forces out to retrieve it. The second book deals with the adventures of the fellowship in the title as they set off on a quest to destroy the ring. Unlike the Hobbit, this is a work aimed towards adults. Tolkien does a wonderful job in telling his story and is unsurpassed in creating a setting that is rich in detail and history. As fantasy, or just storytelling in general, this is top-of-the-line stuff.
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Summary: A review of the READER -- not the BOOK.
Review: Now, this is probably going to be an unpopular review because people will see the three stars and think, "What, is he out of his mind? The Lord of the Rings is one of the best books ever written". And it is. But this is not a review of the book, it is a review of Rob Inglis' READING of the book. And the editorial raves not withstanding, I am sorry to say that this is not a reader that EVERYONE will like. Before I get lynched, here's why I think so. I have listened to HUNDREDS of audio books. All unabridged. Inglis falls somewhere in the middle of the pack. He has a deep voice -- this would not normally be an issue were he reading a historical work. But Inglis is one of those readers who does "voices". NOw some people are genius at this. For example, the incomparable Frederick Davidson. But for Inglis, the deep voice is a liability when he tries to pitch it high to do an elf voice or, good heavens, a woman's voice. The result is very annoying. Also, fans of the Trilogy will know that it is filled with song. Inglis' rendering of the songs was grating (at times almost embarassing) -- and got my fast forward finger working over-time. He is over-matched by this, particularly when it comes to Galadriel or Legolas. Next there is the manner, or tone, in which Inglis has chosen to pitch his reading. He has adopted a wistful, elegiac, far away manner -- it is almost pretentious, I have to say. And it becomes tedious because he almost never varies it. He is, as the saying goes, "a bit one paced". Now, some people will like his voice and manner, I do not deny this -- because it does, as one of the editorial reviews says, emphasize the fairy tale aspect of the Trilogy. But to me is drains some of the manliness and power from some of the dialogue. Aragorn, to me the quintessential man of action and mystery, a true hero, comes across as a man obessesed with what has been lost; a man trapped in the past. Which he clearly isn't. Some examples. Aragorn and Boromir are virtually indistinguishable. The Hobbits (apart from Frodo), Sam in particular, are rendered in a country bumpkin voice that is out of all keeping with what I see as the inherent dignity of the Hobbits. It also serves to underscore Sam as the servant of Frodo, rather than his friend. Legolas ends up with a reedy, strained voice, because Inglis can not get into the higher register. I was left thinking, "who ever made the rule that Elves had little high voices?" HAVING SAID ALL THAT, this is the ONLY unabridged version. And as such, falls into the "must have" category. For all of the foregoing quibbles, Inglis' reading is serviceable and entertaining. Buy it -- you will enjoy it -- but do not expect the definitive reading -- that awaits us! Which is an ocassion for celebration I suppose. Because surely it will come.
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Summary: An Inspiration to Us All
Review: This is a long review for a long book and yet there has so much more I have wanted to say that I could not due to limitations of space.
The first part of the famous epic of The Lord Of The Rings , The Fellowship Of The Ring begins in the tranquil , rural setting of the Shire .It is from here that we get our first view of Middle Earth with the preparations for the 111 th birthday party of Bilbo Baggins (the hero of the children's classic The Hobbit ) . We are introduced to the many relatives of Bilbo and of course the hero of LOTR , Frodo Baggins (Bilbo's favourite nephew ) and his faithful gardener Sam Gamgee as well as his two favourite cousins Peregrine (Pippin ) Took and Meriadoc Brandybuck.
It is after Bilbo's carefully planned disappearance and during visit from the Wizard Gandalf that we are introduced to the horrible threat to Middle Earth involving the Dark Lord , the enemy , Sauron and the Ring of Power which was introduced as a minor theme in The Hobbit and has been inherited by Frodo .
Frodo sets out on the grand adventure with Sam,Pippin and Merry and it is in the Shire itself where the Hobbits encounter the absolute evil of the Black Riders (Ringwraiths) and the magic and beauty of the Elves . Throughout the novel they go from one diabolical danger to another , but are relieved by their stay in certain havens where the dangers and darkness of Middle Earth are kept at bay - The House of Tom Bomabadil and the Elven Kingdoms of Rivendell and Lothlorien. Together with their companions Gandalf , Aragorn the mysterious ranger (and heir to the ancient Kingdom of Numenor ) , the young warrior from Gondor , Boramir , the Elf Legolas and the Dwarf Gimli we are introduced to the scope of Middle Earth from the beautiful to the diabolical , from the homely to the mysterious , from the noble to the villainous . We also see the brilliance of Tolkien as a poet as we are introduced to a variety of Poems and Songs recited by different characters.
Tolkien stressed that LOTR was in no way meant to be an allegory and was not meant to parallel any events taking place during the time , in this case the Second World War.
Instead he says he approves of applicability which he distinguished from allegory by writing that the one refers to the ' freedom of the reader and the other in the proposed domination of the author ' . Thus while we must always bear in mind that LOTR is in now way an allegory we are free to draw our own analogies and parallels with events in our world .
The Lord Of the Rings was published in 1954/55 .
At the time there where many similarities between our world and Middle Earth . The world was divided into the Free World (as was Middle Earth ) which was engaged in a titanic battle with the Communist World and its surrogate Revolutionary Movements which aimed to destroy the way of life of Middle America and Middle England (which was mirrored in The Shire of Middle Earth ) . It aimed to destroy our Judeo-Christian heritage and all that we knew as right and good (as Mordor aimed to destroy everything noble and beautiful on Middle Earth ) through the use of terror and their disdain for what they saw as 'bourgeois ' mirrors the scorn expressed by Saruman ( in his meeting at Isengard with Gandlaf described in Chapter 11: The Council of Elrond ) for the values of old , and replace it with a system of total power and enslavement . Therefore it is hardly difficult to draw a parallel between Mordor and the old Soviet Union ( or during World War II Hitler's Third Reich ) , between the Orcs , Trolls and even fouler things infesting Middle Earth during Frodo's journey and the Revolutionary regimes and movements around the world at the time of The Cold War held in thrall by Moscow or Peking such as Nasser's Egypt , Castro's Cuba , the Viet Cong and Gadaffi's Libya .
As Robert Foster , who has made detailed studies of Tolkines works and written various volumes on the topic once said : ' I remember at a Tolkien conference watching a Polish woman reach out to shake [daughter] Priscilla Tolkien's hand , This was in the dark days before Communism fell, and she said, 'You have no idea what your father's books have meant to us. They kept us believing that the Orcs would not always win.'
"The Lord of the Rings is the story of a long and difficult battle against great evil, taken on by the humblest," he continued". Indeed LOTR encapsulates all that great values of Western Civilisation - Freedom ,faith , the importance of the individual and the heroism of the common man . We can take faith again from LOTR as in the words of writer JP Zmirak '' A SHADOWY, evil overlord hides himself amid an unmapped mountain range. There he wields absolute power over fanatics and slaves, scheming for domination over the free peoples of the world. He sends forth assassins into peaceful lands and cities, spreading terror among civilians" : which refers to the network of terror supported by Radical Islam and Revolutionary Movements today which once more aims to , through an evil theology , spread terror to the innocent (whether in New York , Antwerp , Geneva or Jerusalem ) in order to destroy Western Democracy and our Judeo-Christian civilisation . Once more we need the faith of Tolkiens World to know that the forces of evil , no matter what the odds , will not win.
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Summary: One of the Best Books Ever Written!
Review: Four words: I love this book. The way it is constructed and the way it is so in-depth and visual just blows my mind. This book should be required reading for high school. It is the epitome of great English literature. I read this book over the spring of 2001 in anticipation of the movie which was to come later that year. The movie stood true to the book, but I was dissapointed that they left key points out, especially out of the first half. I love Tom Bombadil. Tolkien created this world which reflected our own but was totally his. It took him years to make this book and the effort shows. You NEVER at any point in the book get bored of it. The people and cultures of Middle-Earth enthrall you. The story is about a ring. A ring that once belonged to an evil king. It gave him power beyond imagination, and he used it to rule Middle-Earth. The dark lord was defeated in a brutal war, but the ring wasn't and the spirit of him still lived on. The ring somehow finds it's way to a Hobbit named Frodo. Hobbits are halflings with hairy feet and habit of smoking tobacco. They are the most peaceful race of Middle-Earth. Once he finds out that this ring is evil, and that it is his job to destroy it, he flips out, but he does it anyway. He takes three of his hobbit friends along and have adventures and meet cool people. In the second half of the book, a fellowship is formed between the four main races of Middle-Earth. The Elves, the Dwarves, the Humans, and the Hobbits. The job of the fellowship is to destroy the ring by taking it and throwing it into the cracks of Mt. Doom where it was forged. Frodo is the Ring bearer of the fellowship, the one who carries the burden of the ring, which means that he is most vulnerable to it's wicked powers. Some people say it's a social commentary but I can't really tell besides the fact of the Elves and the Dwarves as peoples hating each other, and the fact that two members of the fellowship, Legolas and Gimli make a bond which comparable to brotherhood. The Fellowship in my opinion is everyone working together in peace despite our differences. This is one of the best books ever written and I give the biggest five stars it can possibly get.
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Summary: Fun Fantasy
Review: Cory from Ms. Sullivan's 3rd grade class says: It was about a journey and I like journey books. It was one of those books you never want to stop reading.
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Summary: Great book its like watching the movie with extra scenes
Review: This book was great and had alot more too it then the movie but the movie was more concise and to the point which was good. Too many songs that get really annoying around page 130 when Tom Bombadil rescues them. After they get past that part the books action increases and you don't wan't to stop reading until they rest which happens alot in this book and its a good thing or else I would have read the book straight through until the end and wouldn't have savoured the flavor so to speek.
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Summary: Fellowship of the ring is awesome
Review: Tolkiens Fellowship of the Ring is the best book I have ever read. It may be long, but once you finish a chapter you want to read the next. This story has a lot of adventure and great detail. It's about a Hobbit named Frodo. A Hobbit is a very short person who lives for a long time. Frodo gets a powerful ring that he needs to destroy. The ring can maked Frodo vanish in thin air. The reason Frodo wants to destroy the ring is because the Dark Lord wants to use its power for evil. Frodo goes on an adventure with his friends Merry, Pippen, and Sam. During the book new characters appear in each chapter. They pass through towns,villages, and end up fighting Lords, monsters, and the Dark Lords warriors. This is a really good book. If u like books with adventures read Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R Tolkien.
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