Rating: 
Summary: Wonderful!! Hilarious just doesn't cut it!
Review: First of all, I was only 11 when I first read this. Now I'm a little older and a little wiser, and every time I read this I end up rolling on the floor.I am a huge fan of Tolkein, and still love the Hobbit and the Trilogy today. This, if not the funniest book I have ever read, is at least the closest to the top. If you're a Tolkein groupie, nobody's forcing you to read the book, but I would recommend it. Anyway, just read the back. " If you respect certain other authors, you will not touch this gobbler with a ten-foot battle lance." See what I mean? I loved the idea of Tim Bendrizine on speed, and The idea of Frodo into Frito and Sam into Spam is just plain hilarious.
Rating: 
Summary: Too much
Review: The book could have been written better, without the extra ludeness and idiocy. Some of it was clever, but the authors could have frankly done a better parody. I can understand people who like this book and LOTR, but I have read LOTR and find this in no way compares too it. A little too disgusting, and it turns the characters into mush. The original was a fantasy epic and although I dont hold it Sacred and all that, this spoof was just a bit too silly. True humour should be written without the extra slapstick comedy. Wordplay and Satire this is not.
Rating: 
Summary: boring
Review: It is suggested that devotees of Tolkien will be offended by this parody. I wasn't offended, just bored. My advice is to save your money.
Rating:
Summary: 4 stars if you were born after 1970
Review: It was in order to read and enjoy this book that I first read "The Hobbit" and the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy. One of my high school buddies, now a struggling author, was tossed out of English class for laughing out loud while reading this book during class. I read it in 1974, and remember laughing out loud frequently. [Unfortunately, LOTR and BOTR led to the Dungeons and Dragons(tm) role playing games, which cost me points off my GPA in college. ] Here it is, 25 years later, and rereading this book made me chuckle with delight. My kids want to read whatever it was that made Daddy laugh, so I have promised them that when they have finished Tolkein's books, which are good, clean heroic fantasy based on a variety of Western Literary archetypes, that they can read this short and humorous spoof.The book has not aged as well as it might have, since it has many pop culture references from the late 1960's/early 1970's. Back then, drugs were "cool," writing dirty passages was a daring/shocking assault on the perceived prudery of American society, the anti-establishment theme was still a vibrant part of American culture, and National Lampoon was becoming a very funny (albeit sohpomoric) magazine. Cultural norms change, and some contextual humor will be lost to the current generation. All that notwithstanding, BOTR is a great spoof of LOTR and an integral part of any Tolkein collection. For those of you offended by a spoof of JRR Tolkein's trilogy, including the indignant 8th grader, I challenge you to write a parody of the LOTR for Generation X. You will find that it takes great love for a work to spoof it successfully. Example: Monty Python's Quest for the Holy Grail movie, a spoof of the most beloved legendary figure of English culture. I suspect there are a lot of sharp wits out there who could equal, or even better, the original spoof and in so doing make a whole new generation laugh without losing their affection for the LOTR. I for one would love to see a Generation X spoof of Lord of the Rings. Laughter is good for you. . . so read this book.
Rating:
Summary: Still Funny After All These Years!
Review: As a bona-fide fanatic for Tolkien's magnificent work, some might find it odd that I love this too. But the whole point is that the authors, also, loved The Lord of the Rings-- indeed, only one who is deeply acquainted with the original will get the full impact and hilarity of the parody. It isn't, as some have said, a denegration of Tolkien, but an affectionate spoof. And it is SOOOOO funny -- of itself, as well as a lampoon. The periodic send-ups of Tolkien's more mannered portions and styles are delicious ("...The evening sun was setting, as is its wont,...") and the "Elvish" poetry equally funny, both in "Elvish" and "translation" ("Oh, Dago,dago, lassi lima rintintin"... translated into "Oh, the leaves are falling, the flowers are wilting, the rivers are all going Republican..."). Though the invention flags a little toward the end, it's still something I can pick up for some comic relief, and always find it. A pity a glossed version isn't around to explain the Sixties references for the uninitiated!
Rating:
Summary: So so.
Review: Read. Laughed. Yawned. Chuckled. Fell asleep. Finished. Can't say much more. This book had a few funny spots -- a few. So there.
Rating: 
Summary: Ahem...
Review: There should be two sets of reviews for this book: Loved it, or Hated it. This isn't a review column anymore, but a bunch of people fighting over a guy who died a long time ago. I liked it, but I also liked LOTR. I am not a fanatic of either one. I do not consider either great, nor stupid or filthy. Can we leave it at that?
Rating:
Summary: A Classic... Still hilarious after a million re-reads
Review: I had read the Trilogy and the Hobbit numerous times when I first came across this little book in a bookstore not long after it first came out. I lent someone my copy, and, as noted by several reviewers, it never came back. I personally think many of the previous reviewers are totally "out to lunch" with their comments about how it is taboo to parody the immortal J.R.R. Tolkien, as if "Lord of the Rings" were the Bible or the Koran. Nuts! You need to GET... A... LIFE... I suspect you are the same type of people who actively (and in seriousness) debate whether Kirk's Enterprise would defeat Picard's Enterprise in battle. You know who you are. You probably named your daughter "Arwen." Icky. Double icky. This book is clearly a parody despite comments to the contrary attempting to define what a parody is and isn't. In fact it is a brilliant parody and I bet old J.R.R. would have found it quite funny himself. Beard and Kenney were pretty smart and creative in their parody, even paying homage to A.A. Milne, with Frito and his companions following their own tracks (and scraps of breaded veal cutlets) much as Pooh and Piglet followed theirs around the Hundred-Acre Wood. And each chapter has its classic moments, such as the description of the results of the attack of the Jolly Green Giant and the VeeAtes on Serutanland (Treebeard and the Ents attacking Saruman): "But the narcs still fought back desperately, their long blades flashing, dripping with vitamin-packed gore. The ramparts were littered with chopped parsely, diced onions, and grated carrots. Rivers of red tomato juice ran over the stones, and a ghastly salad floated in the moat." As Wile E. Coyote might say, "Genius. Sheer, unadulterated genius." As you can tell, I love the book and always have. From Dildo betting against Frito arriving at Riv'n'dell and losing to Orlon, from Bromosel saying "this is indeed a queer river" as the water lapped at his thighs, from Frito's ears ringing like a dwarf's cash register to Goodgulf lifting Gimlet's watch, from Frito's Oink-Oink burger seeking repatriation with Spam's Bow-Wow burger to the amazing description of the trips the boggies took in the company of Tim Benzedrine and Hashberry, this book is wonderful. If you know and love the "Lord of the Rings" AND you have a sense of humor and don't think Tolkien was akin to God, you will love the book and you will love it every time you pick it back up. Those of you who don't like it, don't read it. And to you I say, as that witty old conjurer, Goodgulf Grayteeth, once said, "why do not thee make a cuckoo clock or whatever you do with your spare time?" And... get... a... life.
Rating:
Summary: A Masterpiece...Well, not really.
Review: Is there a novel of greater literary merit than Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings"? YES, the harrowing yet subtle ripoff "Bored of the Rings" surpasses even the original masterwork in imagination and characterization. Names are altered to give them greater significance (Frodo->Frito, Sam->Spam, etc.) But the real masterstroke is condensing the epic into a mere 160 pages (for those of us whose attention spans have decayed from TV and computer games). And the poetry is... oh, who am I kidding? It's a load of crap, but there are a few laughs. If you take Tolkien too seriously then you might want to skip it though.
Rating:
Summary: 5 stars insults this masterpiece!
Review: I know it will sound redundant after all the other people saying it, but this is literally the funniest book I have ever read. Everything about it is insurpassible in any other parody. I've laughed aloud while reading other books before, but this is the only book where I laughed so hard that people sitting near me gave me nervous looks and moved away (I was in the park). Contrary to the all the doofi who whine that one star is too much, in reality five stars are to few to sum up the sheer and blatant magnificence of this novel. BOTR is my second favorite book of all time, my first being that which it parodies. I have read it so many times that I can now quote entire passages such as the classic "Snorting, sporting, speeding through the arbor...", "I'd like to poo-poo the both of you...", the outrageous fight scene at the end, and the hilarious introduction. Once again, to all the shockingly useless people who don't like this wonder of the world, get a life and learn to love the funniest book ever written.
|
