The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings

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Summary: Perhaps the Greatest Stories Ever Written...
Review: The LOTR Trilogy and The Hobbit are, as said, perhaps the greatest literary works ever written! The absolute genius of Tolkien blindingly shines through the pages of these epic novels. Regardless of the edition you have, the quality of his words are the same. Tolkien's exceedingly detailed descriptions of the places, people and creatures of Middle-Earth make the tales even more pleasing to read. His incredible imagery, symbolism and superb talent lend themselves invaluably to these terrific volumes of fantasy. Like a spider's web, Tolkien intricately and expertly weaves several subplots around the main plot of Frodo's quest to cast the One Ring into Mount Doom. Each member of the Fellowship is created and fully developed along with several other essential characters. I simply cannot rave enough about these books!

On a side note, some who have written reviews compare the novels to the fantastic films, both favorably and unfavorably. My suggestion is to keep them as separate as possible in your mind's eye. While, of course, acknowledging that Peter Jackson's film were spawned only because of Tolkien's brilliance, remember that no film could ever truly capture the essence that is Tolkien's LOTR because the stories were intended to come to life in the imaginations of their readers. Similarly, the theatrical editions of the LOTR trilogy have the advantage of a multi-million dollar budget and special effects teams to create the spectacular scenes.

I recommend these stories to anyone who can read. They are fantastic, incredible, amazing, epic and a must-read for all!

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Summary: Tradition heroism? Please actually read it!
Review: There is some truth in many complaints of The Lord of the Rings - it contains diversionary episodes that fail to forward the plot, it fails to fully develop some characters, it even falls short of the demands of style-mongers. Nevertheless, other critics make one wonder if they have actually read it - those complaining that he espouses some Conan-the-Barbarian ideal or " Wagnerian pomposity".

Tolkien goes out of his way to give us an example of this type of ideal and show us what he thinks of it - he portrays this very ideal in Boromir, the foolheaded character that blows his horn as he sets out on a secret mission because tradition commanded it and it made him feel all heroic inside. While brave and a great swordsman, he also falls easily into the temptation of the Ring and is dead before a third of the story is out. No - Tolkien's ideals are clearly otherwise: it is the small and weak and hierarchically ignored that are the true heroes of this novel. It is the Hobbits and the women that destroy the evil in the land. If critics are blind to a point even this central, then how are we to value their opinions?

In sum, while Tolkien's prose is admittedly not that of Jane Austen, Tolkien's remarkable gift for imagination is unequalled by any other writer modern or ancient - it is rivaled only by whole peoples. Read it.


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Summary: In the words of W.H. Auden and the author himself. . .
Review: H.H. Auden, considered one of the greatest English-language poets of the 20th C., said that if someone didn't like LOTR he would never trust that person's literary judgement again.

J.R.R.T. said of those who found the work 'boring, trivial, or contemptable' that he didn't mind, as he had similar opinions of those people's works, or the sort of writing that they apparently preferred.

"The Hobbit" is the story of a well-to-do middle-aged bachelor who is pulled out of his narrow, smug, snug existance and is introduced to a larger world. Some of it is beautiful, some of it is horrible, but all of it is larger, bolder and more exciting than what he had known hitherto--and he finds that he's a lot braver and a lot cleverer than anyone (including he himself!) thought he was.

"The Lord of the Rings" is all about the uses, abuses, and corrupting effects of power, and the difference between domination and leadership; it also deals, the same as in "The Hobbit", although on a larger scale, with the inner strength that small, ordinary persons find within themselves when placed in extraordinary situations.

Also, J.R.R.T. was an environmentalist before it was fashionable.

If these themes are dull, what could be called exciting?

Rating:
Summary: Great for the price.
Review: This is the best collection set I have found for LOTR without drying up your wallet. It doesn't cost near as much as the hard cover sets yet its quality is far better than some of the cheap paperback collections. The books are very durable and stylish (great cover art). The print is also small enough to keep the books compact yet not so tiny that you need a magnifying glass just to read. There is also a matching copy of "The Silmarillion". If you are looking to get a nice collection set of LOTR and The Hobbit without spending an arm and a leg, look no further.

Rating:
Summary: Words cannot describe the Brilliance.
Review: These two book are possibly, no are, the best books ever. Tolkien creates realistic characters and makes a vivid world that seems like it existed long ago. Read these books, you will not regret it. If you ebjoy these read CS Lewis's Chronicles of Narnia.