The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings

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Summary: A few mixed comments about The Hobbit
Review: I remember reading The Hobbit 20-some years back. I felt it was a good book, but not a great one. Rereading it a few days ago, I still feel the same.

Others have mentioned how Bilbo develops as a character. This is done well, and should be the standard in any book.

I particularly liked the treatment of Gandalf. While many a wizard is treated no more as an accompanying artillery tank, Gandalf truly has levels of responsibility commeasurate with his power. He has other work he must attend to, making Bilbo's otherwise straightforward journey a dangerous, calculated risk. Yet, interestingly enough, Tolkein provides enough hints and evidence that Galdarf is a resourceful person, more than a powerful wizard.

The book, however, has its weaknesses. The most obvious ones are Bilbo's companions, fourteen dwarves, named Thorin, Blorin, and a few other 'orins. While Bilbo is well-fleshed out and develops through the story, the dwarves are little more than the Keystone Cops. (The dwarves may be a commentary on greed. It still detracts from the story.) The power of the ring's corruption is hinted through Gollum himself, yet The One Ring seems to have no effect on Bilbo, who wears it quite a bit through the story. (Perhaps it hasn't awakened yet.) And there's all that wretched singing. Ugh. (:

My favorite part is actually towards the ending, before the last climax. It's an interesting comment about how those who should be allies can almost declare war amongst themselves in peace.

I'm now reading the trilogy itself. I particularly enjoy the painstaking realism Tolkein is putting into the culture and history of the hobbits. It **does** read like a history text, but at least it's not singing!

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Summary: The Best Set of Books Ever Written
Review: "The Lord of the Rings" and "The Hobbit" are most likely the best set of books that were ever written. What's better than getting all four of these great novels in a beautiful set like this one? Most likely in the literary sense, nothing. These books were the books that started the whole fantasy genre and are the stories of people that go on quests to do something and along the way discover the meaning of true friendship, what they have inside of them, and many other things. These books give great messages to children and adults alike.

"The Hobbit" is the story of Bilbo Baggins, a band of dwarves, and the wizard Gandalf the Grey as they set out for The Lonely Mountain to reclaim the lost treasure that was taken by Smaug the Dragon from an ancient dwarven civilization. Along the way we meet wonderful creatures, friend and foe. Bilbo Baggins finds a ring in this story and we learn more of it in "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy.

"The Fellowship of the Ring" is the first book in "The Lord of the Rings" and it tells that the ring that Bilbo found is actually The One Ring that was forged by the Dark Lord Sauron and this ring has he power to rule over all of Middle Earth. Frodo Baggins is the heir of the ring and along with a fellowship of eight others they set out to destroy the ring. It is not until the next two books of the trilogy that we know the rest of the story.

"The Two Towers" and "The Return of the King" are the next two books in the series and continue the story of The Fellowship of the Ring. These two novels are even greater than the first due to more adventure, suspense, world building, character development, and a wonderful cast of new characters that are met in these novels.

"The Hobbit," while not as good as "The Lord of the Rings," is still a very good story. I consider "The Lord of the Rings" to be one novel and the best novel that was ever written. The characters that J.R.R. Tolkien created are the best that I have ever read of and he develops even the most minor chacaters through the set of books with great skill. His world of Middle Earth is bretahtaking and each time you open up one of the books you feel as if you are there in Middle Earth. J.R.R. Tolkien happens to be a writer that knows the english language very well and writes very precisely and with great beauty. His invention of other languages is astonsihing and it is great to read and hear the Elves speaking and singing in their native tongue. These books for all of the reasons above and many more make this book so wonderful.

"The Hobbit" and "The Lord of the Rings" are the best books that were ever written, in my opinion. There is no reason that a fantasy fan should not read these books. They are the greatest works of fiction and with each new book you read of these four you will realize how great these are. These are books that I will be reading over and over again for many years to come. I strongly recommend that you purchase these books; they are too great to be missed out on.

Happy Reading!

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Summary: realy great
Review: I read four book in this semester, ‚hread more than 500 pages. I read gHarry potter and the Philosopherfs stoneh, gHarry potter and the Goblet of Fireh, gHarry potter and the prisoner of Azkabanh and gLoad of the Ring part oneh. I donft finish read gLoad of the Ring The Fellowship of the Ringh
I like gLoad of the Ringh because it is fun and cool. I personally enjoyed this book. The story follows this theme, "Three rings for the Eleven-kings under the sky, Seven for the Dwarf-lords in their halls of stone, Nine for Mortal Men doomed to die, One for the Dark Lord on his dark throne, In the land of Mordor where the Shadows lie. One Ring to rule them all, One ring to find them, One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie." The story begins with Frodo the little hobbit, who inherits a ring from his uncle Bilbo. Unfortunately, he learns from his friend, Gandalf the Wizard, that the ring is extremely evil, and wants to get back to his master, The dark Lord Sauron. Then starts the adventure of the Hobbit, who goes on a journey with a few companions to the only place where the ring can be destroyed, the Cracks of Doom in the fiery mountain Orodruin, inside Sauron's realm of Mordor. Chased by evil that does not sleep, this book gives you more than just entertainment, it also throws in some values and other ideas, like friendship, loyalty, courage, respect for one another. J.R.R Tolkiens did a great job developing the characters, and I recommend this book to the fans, but also to those who don't know Tolkiens, because this is a true piece of art, and also the best book I ever read.

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Summary: I love this stuff!
Review: I used to not like fantasy or any of that whole genre, but this opened my eyes. I thought that reading about mystical little creatures was for the idiots of the world. Then I started reading, and I was hooked. I actually didn't start reading voluntarily-I was acting in a version of the Hobbit, and I wanted to know what happened in the rest of the stories. So my mom gave me her old copies of the Lord of the Rings sets and I started reading. I thought that at the beginning it was kind of slow, but then I started to REALLY like it. The stories were so engaging that once I picked it up I couldn't put it down. The weaving of the stories is so amazing and enthralling. While I wouldn't recommend this to everyone out there, but if you saw the movie, and you want to read the books, I highly suggest it. It's the only way to not have to wait 3 years to know what is going to happen to Frodo and Samwise and the rest of the Fellowship. Each individual story (from when they split up at the end of Part 1) is wonderfully developed, leading the reader farther and farther into this wonderful world.

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Summary: The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings
Review: The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings stories are four of the most intriguing books I have ever read. While reading them as a 6th grader back in the 80s, I never understood the meaning of many things and the messages of the books. I had the imagination to take myself to the lands, but lacked the understanding of the books. Now as I reread the books, I am transported to the places and am having the experiences that the characters have. It's an amazing set of books and I highly recommend them to everyone...old and young alike!

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Summary: Nothing can compare to The Lord of the Rings
Review: This is an out of this world masterpiece. I was captivated by all of these books, starting with "The Hobbit". This was the most fun I've had for a long time; although I found it very sad that I didn't read these books as a child. As adults it is difficult to actually have a mental picture of these wonderful creatures in your mind while you go with them through their adventures, where as a child there would have been no question in my mind that they actually did exist. If you want to stimulate your mind and let yourself be swept away to Middle Earth, read this masterpiece of all times.

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Summary: The Lord of the Rings Part One:The Fellowship of the Ring
Review: I chose this book because everybody at my school said that the movie was wonderful. I wanted to see the movie, but when I called the theater they said that Lord of the Rings was gone. I was really sad. One day I saw somebody reading the book so I quickly bought it and started reading. Right when I started I began to understand why everybody liked it. Some parts were kind of hard to understand, but other sentences gave me clues about what it meant.
I recommend this book to anybody that liked Harry Potter because this book is also fantasy and it is about a Hobbit named Frodo Baggins. One day on Bilbo Baggins and his birthdy Bilbo suddenly vanished with the ring. He left it for Frodo and Gandalf told him that Frodo was chosen to get rid of the ring because it had evil powers. The dangerous part is that Frodo must watch out for spies that are looking for the ring. For example there are people that wear black hoods to cover their face and they ride on horses. These people look for the one ring so that they can give it to the evil lord.
My favorite part in this story is when the willow tree made everybody sleepy. It sucked in Pippen and Merry,but Frodo fell in the brown colored river nearby. Sam saved Frodo and they tried to make a fire to scare the willow tree, but Merry cried out to them to blow out the fire before the tree squeezes him in half. A stranger named Tom Bombadil walked by and heard Frodo and Sam shouting to him to come over and help them. Tom said something to the tree and it kicked Pippen and Merry out. Tom invided the group to come to his house to stay for awhile.

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Summary: The best movie and books
Review: All I can say is read it and watch the movie.

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Summary: 5 stars!!!!! Thats as high as i can go?!!
Review: OK. this is my second review to write on this book!! I'm sick of how many people say this book is horrible! i am 13 and have read it twice! the books are great. Tolkien created a world that one one else will ever be able to do. Just listen to this:
Three rings for the elven-kings under the sky
seven for the dwarf lords in there halls of stone
nine for the mortal men doomed to die
one for the dark lord on his dark throne
In the land of Mordor where the shadows lie
one ring to rule them all, one ring to find them
one ring to bring them all, and in the darkness bind them
In the land of mordor where the shodows lie

Isn't that Awsome?!! these books ARE THE BEST OUT THERE!!! NOTHING EVER HAS OR MOST LIKELY NEVER WILL BE BETTER!!!
you just have to get these books.

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Summary: We've all seen the movie but have you read the book?
Review: We've all seen the movie, but have you read the book? The Fellowship of the Ring is the first book in the Lord of the Rings trilogy and it is a must read for everyone.

Based around the timeless story of good verses evil, Frodo (the Hobbit hero) and his companions embark on a mission to destroy the potent Golden Ring before Sauron, the Dark Lord, finds it and destroys Middle Earth as they know it. Although the story is complicated with many sub-plots and minor adventures, the true plot of the story is always clear and for me the pure story line allowed me to enjoy the little moments in the book whilst never loosing sight of the major adventure.

Many people, including myself, have been put off reading this masterpiece due to its fantasy classification. But let me tell you, the world of this book, Middle-Earth, is so well defined you read it as fact. The many different races of creatures, the believable history of Middle-Earth and the unique alphabet all contribute to creating Tolkins' world of 'factual fantasy'. It reads the Bible and not once did I question the story's validity.

Tolkins epic story is filled with details of every person, place and event, from the beautiful features of the rustic countryside in the Shire, to the elaborate detailing of the incised Ring. Initially this detail overwhelmed me and all the different creatures were confusing as were the invented languages, yet I guarantee that with a little persistence and a thorough reading of the Prologue it will all eventually make sense. As you read the book you will no doubt become immersed in the intricacies of the story, Fordo's quirkiness, Sam's ever-faithfulness to Frodo and the Elves quietly spoken knowledge. It is these delightful descriptions that bring this book to life for me and I hope they will do the same for you.

On the other hand, Tolkin's characters are not highly developed nor do they have complex personalities. This is a wonderful advantage for us, I was able to read the book taking everything for face value and enjoy this fantasy epic for all the magic and excitement it presents. No analysing, no interpreting, what you see is what you get. This focus on the real adventure of the story, rather than the development of characters, makes the book accessible to anyone of any age and will make it, like Homers Odyssey, a timeless classic to be enjoyed by many generations to come.