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The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings

The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings

List Price: $29.96
Your Price: $19.77
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: What Can I Say!
Review: What can I say about Tolkien except that he either lived these stories in a previous life or is one of the most gifted and imaginatively creative authors that will ever be. I like to believe it's a little of both. All that needs to be said about these novels is that I am utterly disappointed that I will never have the joy of reading them again for the first time.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: THE GREATEST FANTASY WORK EVER!
Review: J. R. R. Token was a genius. Oh yes about you, NAACP people, there are no racist undertones in this book. I have read it six times and counting, and there is nothing of the sort. This is by far the greatest book ever written, if you haven't read it yet, BUY IT! I think this book has sold as many copies as the Holy Bible. You can find one used for cheap. I'm kinda glad the movies came out. I've been waiting for them to come out for a long time.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The definitive work of epic fantasy
Review: Maybe it is pointless for me to give this book (which is split into three volumes, but is really one book, and which I will refer to as a book) its 443rd review. There isn't really anything that will make this text stand out from all the other five-star reviews around it. I will say, however, that this book is every bit as good as people make it out to be, and I'm not some seventh grader who sings the praises of every fantasy book he comes across because he doesn't know how much better books can get. (I used to be, though.)

Of course, this doesn't answer the question that is really worth answering: why is it so good? The reason is not obvious. True, I like the characters, but they are heavily polarized and not good enough on their own to make a great book. The writing style is grand and epic, and that certainly adds something, but it wouldn't help if Tolkien had had nothing to write about. The plot was much more original when the book came out than it seems today, but it isn't superlative.

The only thing left is the setting, and I think that this is indeed where the secret lies--but what, exactly, is it about the setting? I've seen other settings that should, by rational analysis, have been just as good, but they weren't, and as the Tolkien-mimics have shown, a setting that resembles this one quite closely isn't necessarily as good as it is, or good at all, for that matter. I think the answer is that Tolkien put his soul into this book in a way few authors could. His deep love for his creations shows through, and I can't help sharing it. This is also why Tolkien's imitators are not good authors, for the most part; they take him as a model in exactly the wrong way. Tolkien wrote a book based on his own interests and passions, and fantasists should emulate that, rather than the specifics of his creation, which can't work correctly in other hands.

Of course, just because I consider this book an amazing work of art doesn't mean that I agree with all the ideas it contains. Tolkien seems to equate the East and South with evil, and gives the Orcs curved swords and slanted eyes. He also places great importance on descent. Hereditary rulership was all well and good in the pre-democratic Middle Ages, since it prevented wars from breaking out every time the monarch died, but we don't need to promote genetic determinism today. (Of course, we must also consider Tolkien's choice of protagonist; Hobbits are not marked out for greatness.) The book sometimes also presents a romanticized view of warfare that I don't consider desirable, though there are other passages that contradict that view.

My only other criticism of the book seems pale in comparison to the previous ones: the first few chapters of The Fellowship of the Ring seem like a sequel to The Hobbit. I love The Hobbit, of course, but its lighthearted tone doesn't mesh well with the epic scope of LotR. If you have started to read the book and are getting impatient, keep reading! Once Strider appears, everything will change, and you will get what you came for.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Collector's item
Review: Not mentioning much about the fantastic story, wich I just finished now and felt compelled to write this review, all I have to say is that this is a must-have edition, the books I'm the most proud of. The front artwork (not shown in the pic, what a shame) of each book is marvelous, and the hole collection seems to be apart of the rest of my books - for they are my precious!
Definitelly worth buying!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: You gotta have it
Review: If you haven't read Tolkien's classics, it's time. I waited ten years, and I was embarrassed to discover what I had missed when I chose to ignore the advice of my flower-child friends. First *The Hobbit*, one of those books "written for children" but worth reading by adults, and then *The Lord of the Rings*, written for adults but worth reading to children.

The movies are Ok, but the books are the real thing, a master story spinner weaving our language into steel and gossamer. And the imitators are, as the best of them will admit, mere imitators. Before Tolkien, fantasy was a pejorative.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: *attention grabber, book worthy of 10 stars*
Review: Ok, i know, another attention grabber but i feel i must interrupt these morons critising The Lord of the Rings.
Firstly, this book has no racist undertones which 3 or 4 people claim it has. People have being trying to find hidden meanings in it since it first came out, suggesting it was about the world wars, religion and countless other things. Tolkien himself writes in the introduction that there are no undertones of this kind and it is simply a story.
Secondly, for those stating that more recent fantasy novels are better, you are a small minority with that opinion. Tolkien was the one who laid the basics of fantasy novels and is more popular than all other fantasy novels by a long shot. Maybe you cannot face that a 'damm limey' has produced a better book than all the American fantasy novels, but, thats your problem.
For those of you saying it is boring, you obviously either cannot grasp mature literature and prefer 'Pow, zap, kablam' books or have a very short attention span. Half of the people who claim it is boring admit they have not finished the book and therefore have no place to comment.

This is one of the greatest pieces of literature written and will go down as a classic, fortunatly the majority of people appreciate its brilliance.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The Best of Fantasy Epics
Review: "The Hobbit" and "The Lord of the Rings" can stand separately, but tell a bigger, better story, if read together. The four books represent one of the earliest fantasy epics, and none have surpassed it. J.R.R. Tolkien created a complex, unreal but realistic world inhabited by many creatures, good, evil, and in-between. The story itself is simple in plot: Bilbo Baggins gets semi-shanghaied into helping a band of dwarves reclaim their family treasure, which was stolen by a dragon. After many adventures, they succeed, but Bilbo happens to acquire a mysterious ring along the way. Without fully understanding its power, Bilbo's cousin/nephew, Frodo inherits the ring, which turns out to be the key to the power of The Enemy, Sauron, who wants to rule the world. The ring gives its wearer long life, invisibility, and the potential to command others, but it is basically evil and corrupts the wearer. Therefore, Frodo must journey into the heart of Sauron's territory to throw it into the volcano, Mt. Doom, as that is the only way to truly destroy it. Frodo is accompanied by a group of (mostly) faithful companions. The ending is predictable, but "God is in the details" and the journey is fraught with danger, plots, treachery, unpleasant surprises, a few pleasant surprises, and many strange beings.

J.R.R. Tolkien took pieces of many myths and legends, along with pieces of English folklore, put it in a blender, and produced a masterpiece of imagination and literature. The story is good for any avid reader from age 10 to 150. When a book stays popular over several generations, you know it's something special, and this is a prime example of durability. Enjoy!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: I was there
Review: From the moment I picked up and started reading these books, I found myself there- in Middle Earth.

I was there, in the Shire, when Bilbo celebrated his eleventy-first birthday party under the Old Party Tree.

I was there when the Ringwraiths persued the wounded Frodo accross the Ford of Beuinen.

I was there, at the Council of Elrond, and I heard Gandalf recite; 'One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them,
One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them' and proclaim that Frodo's quite plain and unadorned ring was indeed the Master ring.

To say that these books had an impact on me just doesn't do them justice.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The Two Towers
Review: The book I reviewed is The Two Towers. It is the second book in The Lord of the Rings trilogy.
In The Two Towers, you will leave Frodo and Sam and return to Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli. They are in search of Merry and Pippin, who have been taken captive by Orcs. If you desperately want to know what happens to Frodo and Sam, you'll have to wait. They come back into the story in the second part of the book.
Smeagol...you all know him whether you like it or not. Some may know him by his real name, and others may know him by Gollum. Either way, you still know his evilness. Unfortunately, he will play a large part in this book.
When you finish this book, you'll want to read the next one. If won't be able to get The Return of the King (the next book in the series), I would suggest not to read this book! At the end, it leaves you wanting to know what happens next. If you have to wait, you might not be able to stand it.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The Fellowship of the Ring
Review: The book I'm reviewing is The Fellowship of the Ring. It is the first book of The Lord of the Rings trilogy. As most of you may know, they have made a movie about this book. The movie follows the book very well except for one part. In the book, the Lady Arwen, Elrond's daughter, doesn't do much, but in the movie, she plays a big role.
In The Fellowship of the Ring, Bilbo decides to have a little fun. On his 111th birthday, Bilbo mysteriously disappears. Not by accident, but on purpose. By Bilbo himself!
Join "The Council of Elrond" as they decide what to do with the Ring. Frodo, Sam, Merry, and Pippin (hobbits), Strider (Ranger), Black Riders (Ringwraiths), and many others come to life in this story.
If you read this book and like it, I would suggest getting the next book in the series- The Two Towers.


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