Rating: 
Summary: Weird
Review: When I read The Fellowship of the Ring , I found it boring because J R R Tolkien spent ages in the forest with Tom Bombadilo and his dodgy hat. I don't know what happens next because I stopped reading then. I am now reading the two towers and are finding it good( probably because I have seen the first film)
Rating: 
Summary: The best fantasy epic ever written
Review: This was the best book I have ever read because of the way Tolkien had written it. As I read this book I felt that I was actually in Middle Earth. Every thing Tolkien discribed was so real to me. I would recomend this book to anyone who likes a good story and likes to read about the classic strugle between good and evil.
Rating:
Summary: My opinion on my book
Review: Contrary to the reports that I am dead, I am actually hiding in southern brazil from the hoards of fans who were unintentionally burying me under thousands of pounds of fan mail.This book is REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY good. I know because I wrote it. I repeat, I AM NOT DEAD. Thank you, JRR Tolkien
Rating:
Summary: A series about victory, heartbreak and defeat.
Review: I first read this series when I was a child. I have to admit the experience did not impress me. At the time, I knew I was reading something special but lacked the maturity to define it. However I was impressed by the hobbits and elves. I picked up these books again recently because of the new movies. Again, I was enchanted by the story and richness of the detail. But there was something in the series that I could not pinpoint. The good characters sometimes seem too good and the bad ones too bad. They have a simplicity that is sometimes disturbing. Especially when offset by the mysterious Tom Bombadil character and the haunted Ents. It was the last novel that finally enlightened me after all these years. This novel is not really about Frodo and his battle against Sauron. It isn't about the return of Aragorn, the king. It is ultimately about the death of Middle Earth, of which Sauron is only a symtom. All throughout the novel Tolkein drops hints of the deeper problem that none of the characters notice. Even after their victory over Sauron they do not solve this problem. Because it was only a surface victory. If it hadn't been then Tolkein would have ended the book after the war. But it goes on. Frodo despite saving everyone loses everything. The magicians and elves who are powerful and almost immortal, eventually die out. And Aragorn turns out to be just another king in a long line of kings. The ones facing real danger are the Ents, who can no longer find their female mates. Hence they can no longer marry and create new forests. Hence the disappearance of the Elves. And so on leading to the slow death of Middle Earth. It also sheds light on why Tom Bombadil( the most powerful god in the book) is so cavalier about Frodo's quest. It ultimately doesn't matter if Sauron wins or loses. After this revelation, I finally understood the quality of this novel that eluded me. It is about heartbreak, and eventual mortality. This is why Tolkein treats his heros with such sweetness, knowing that their mission is fruitless. I love this book even more now that I can understand it better. I am curious to see how the movie will resolve itself. Will it end heroically or with tragic bittersweetness? Read this series because Tolkein was ultimately writing not about fairy creatures but us. Humans who are in the midst of losing earth itself.
Rating:
Summary: This isn't new
Review: Why is this in the new releases? The last time I checked the Lord of the Rings was nearly 50 years old. I would rather see something NEW in the NEW Releases...silly me
Rating:
Summary: Overlong, boring and too generic after 50 years
Review: There's nothing in this book that is new to the crowd that's been playing RPGs in the last ten years. Orcs, elves, trolls, dwarves, been there done that, from AD&D via Warhammer to Warcraft. If you're familiar with the last three, you'll probably find LOTR to be an overlong travelogue wrapped around a WWII kind of story with orcs and trolles instead of Nazis. But you should read it, it won't leave you fascinated and amazed but it's a classic, an inspiration for about the half of RPG titles and swords & sorcery books right up to Harry Potter.
Rating:
Summary: Richly Detailed Fantasy
Review: My copy is published by the British firm Harper Collins - bought long ago and not available here. So I cannot comment on the printing quality, etc. of this particular edition. Other reviewers of various American editions have complaints about the spelling errors (more like spelling "horrors" when it comes to a book written by a linguist where every letter counts), missing pages, etc. Overall, the books are simply fantastic. Tolkien's brilliant scholarly mind is married to a wonderfully creative side, and the product is unbelievable. The beauty of it all is in the details - about places, names, people, monsters, languages, etc., and it's almost hard to conceive that all these are figments of the imagination. And Tolkien invented a name for each and every one of them! I can name another work which can compare - the Chinese classic Journey to the West. But this book was written by more than one person. Tolkien did it all by himself. Nevertheless, one wonders to what extent was Tolkien completely original. Is it possible that he was not influenced in any way by the mythologies and folklore of the British Isles, Germany, and Scandinavia? No, it's not. For instance, the Elvish language which he created for his imaginary world was colored by his study of the Finnish language. But I'm not in a position to elaborate on that, not being an expert of the subjects in question. My biggest disappointment of The Lord of the Rings is the total lack of dragons (although there IS a dragon called Smaug in The Hobbit). These are alluded or referred to a couple of times, as when Gandalf tells Frodo that not even the fires breathed by dragons can destroy the One Ring. Otherwise, these creatures, which always play the most exciting roles in Northern European mythologies, are not present in Tolkien's LoTR. But this is only a minor complaint of mine. Another one would be the lack of illustrations by Tolkien himself. There actually is another book about Tolkien's works of art. Having seen them, I'm amazed - he really knew how to draw. To incorporate some of these into his novels would be fantastic. Tolkien's own complaint was that the book, i.e., the LoTR, is too short. (JK Rowling's four Harry Potter books are together almost as long, and her writing career has only just begun!) I'd have to agree with him. I guess his excuse could be that he had a real full-time job as an Oxford don. If only The Silmarillion - the "prequel" - could have been expanded to another full-length book! There is an interesting little anecdote about Tolkien's books: it was an Oxford undergraduate student who gave Tolkien, the Merton Professor of English Language and Literature, the necessary passing grade to publish the LoTR. It had also been the same boy who gave him the go-ahead to publish The Hobbit, and who later infuriated Professor Tolkien by withholding a passing grade to publish The Silmarillion. (Of course, it helped that Rayner Unwin was the son whose judgment his father, Stanley Unwin, the publisher, trusted.) Tolkien will have more lasting fame and more enduring academic influence than many a Nobel prizewinner of literature in any language. These two books alone, apart from his other works, deserve a high place on anybody's reading list.
Rating:
Summary: Daniel
Review: Frodo Baggins finds a magical ring. If he does not destroy it all of middle earth will be destroyed by evil. Will he destroy it, or will he be sucked in by it's power? Is this the end for all of middle earth? Find out and read Lord of the Rings the Fellowship of the Ring.
This book is for anyone who likes action packed books. The main story is amazing. There is so much to imagine. If you have seen the movie you know what I am talking about. My opinion about the book is WOW amazing.
Rating:
Summary: The Hobbit, allegory of Christ and Greed??
Review: J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit tells an epic story of the search for a lost treasure on a mountain guarded by an evil dragon. This is the literal device of the novel, but Tolkien also implies an allegorical device. An allegory is "A speech or discourse which conveys a meaning different from the literal one." (New Expanded Webster's Dictionary. 1988 Ed. Page 13.) The Hobbit is an allegory of Christ. This is reflected through Bilbo Baggins, the main character of the story. Tolkien also makes another allegory of greed through the magic ring Bilbo discovers inside Goblin Mountain. J.R.R. Tolkien uses allegories to explain his views on life.
Bilbo Baggins is a direct allegory of Christ in The Hobbit. One example is how Bilbo becomes the leader of the dwarves during their journey. This is depicted on page 220 where is says:
"After that of course the dwarves begged his pardon. "What then do you propose we should do, Mr. Baggins?" asked Thorin politely."
This is the scene where the dwarves are confused about what to do with Smaug, the evil dragon protecting treasure, so they ask Bilbo what to do. This is an allegory of Christ because Christ was always turned to when his disciples did not know what to do. Another example of an allegory of Christ in The Hobbit is the dwarves. The dwarves represent the disciples of Jesus because like the disciples of Jesus they learn to love Bilbo as their leader and look at him to guide them when they are in trouble. The last example of the allegory of Christ is the journey Bilbo and the dwarves make around Middle Earth. Bilbo's journey takes him all over Middle Earth, which consist of many evils, from Goblins at Goblin Mountain, to the spiders in the forest, to the Woodland Elves, to the evil dragon Smaug. This is like Jesus' journey through out Israel because Jesus also faced much evil such as the Jewish Pharisees and the Roman Republic who believed in pagan gods. He faced persecution from non-believers as Bilbo did from all of his enemies. Tolkien uses Bilbo Baggins to relate Bilbo's life to Christ.
Another allegory depicted in The Hobbit is the ring found in Goblin Mountain. This ring represent the greed of the world because it gives whoever posses it supreme power. One example of this is shown in Gollum. On page 82 Gollum says:
"Where iss it? Where iss it?" Bilbo heard him crying. "Losst it is, my precious, lost, lost! Curse us and crush us, my precious is lost!"
Gollum had control of the ring for such a long time that he believed he was useless without it in his possession. He realized that Bilbo has picked up the ring and would actually kill Bilbo to get it back, which shows the greed the ring bearer has from the ring. Another example us Bilbo himself after he obtains the ring. On page 93 it says"
"Indeed Bilbo was so pleased with their praise that he just chuckled inside and said nothing whatever of the ring; and when they asked him how he did it, he said: "Oh just crept along, you know-very carefully and quietly."
Bilbo does not tell the dwarves or Gandalf about the ring. He does this because he is so happy that he pleased the dwarves that he does not want to tell them that the ring is the only reason he sneaked into their camp because he does not want to share the ring with the others. It consumes him, he eventually abandons all of his hobbit skills of being able to sneak around and steal things and turns to totally relying on the ring to hide him. The ring consumes whoever is the ring bearer, and the only ring bearers in this book are Bilbo and Gollum. They do not realize the power they are given from the ring because they are to greedy to think about the power they just think about how they can use the power. Bilbo uses to the ring mainly when he is in a dangerous situation, but he would never give it to a dwarf to use because the greed for the ring consumes him. Gollum used the ring to hunt the goblins, and he would not give it away for the world. He actually goes insane when Bilbo takes the ring away from him because he no longer possessed the power given from the ring and the greed had actually taken over his whole way of thinking. Tolkien uses the ring as an allegory in The Hobbit, which is depicted in Bilbo and Gollum.
J.R.R. Tolkien uses The Hobbit to show his views on human life. He is a strong believer in Christ and the Catholic faith, which he shows in Bilbo Baggins. He also demonstrates his belief of greed through the ring. He shows how greed changes a person's way of thinking and way of living life through Bilbo and Gollum. All of this is written in an allegory. Tolkien uses the allegory to open the readers view on life and human nature. Allegories added into The Hobbit, created an image of Tolkien's view of life through allegories, which greatly improved the novel.
Rating:
Summary: WOW!
Review: This is one of those "Once-in-a-liftime" boxsets, for one reason only! That reason is I don't think I will ever be able to find a boox so..... soo..... Adventurous! I havn't finished the series but The books are GREAT! Get yourself one NOW!
| 
