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Summary: Two Rings?
Review: I read Tolkien's books long ago, and thoroughly enjoyed them. Now, as I begin to explore the world of opera, a startling similarity between Richard Wagner's "The Ring Cycle" and Tolkien's books has me intrigued. Not to take anything away from Tolkien, but I now understand where he got the basis for his books. Just goes to show you that there's very little "new stuff" floating around this planet of ours. Having said that, I heartily recommend anyone buying these wonderful books (or, if they can stand it, watching Wagner's operas). I'd opt for the books.
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Summary: Another vote to read the books before the movies
Review: Even if the movies are very well done I can't imagine they will capture the moral dimensions and the epic scope of the Lord of the Rings, indeed, of Middle-Earth. Superb thrillers on par (or even beyond) Indiana Jones and Star Wars they might be, but they will still pale in comparison with the written word.Moreover, once you see a movie it is stuck in your mind. You can never really go back and read the books with an open mind, to form your own opinions about what Gandalf should look like, or how ruggedly sylvan Rivendell appeared, or Minas Tirith shining in the morning sun. And that's a shame, because it takes away a wonderful opportunity for you to exercise your imagination. Read the books first and then you will have something to compare the movies against in your own mind, and appreciate both all the more. Another reason to go for the books involves the moral coherence of the books, something likely to be lacking in the film. Now, this moral coherence is not perfect, being the work of a morally imperfect author like any other human work. But modern sci-fi and fantasy is astonishingly lacking when it comes to presenting novels with a coherent moral framework. To the morally sensitive person much of the genre is simply obnoxious - even the most highly praised works, by other criteria, are like a manuscript filled with typographical errors from this perspective. So check out the work of a master, not just of words but also of worldviews.
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Summary: Tolkien, an astonishing and brilliant literary Merlin
Review: You couldn't go wrong with this selection. Throughout the series Tolkien explores the adventures of the Hobbit, a species small in stature, yet overflowing with courage, love of food, and a good time. Along the way Tolkien chronicles the adventures of the hobbits as well as the saga of a dangerous and all powerful sorcerer in his quest to reclaim the one ring which would solidify his malevolent powers. With an upcoming theatrical rendition set to release this summer, reading up on this classic is a must.
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Summary: A Classic for all ages
Review: When I was younger (late teens) I read The Hobbit and was immediately drawn into the tale of the Rings taking no time at all to finish reading the whole series. The rich background of the worlds described in the books makes the stories much deeper than most stories written by lesser authors. I have now shared the books with my two boys. The older one, now 14, is fully entranced in the series. I recently spent a month reading the Hobbit to my youngest son, a Harry Potter fan, and he too has been drawn in by elves, trolls, dwarves and hobbits. The stories are timeless and the simplicity of the message is universally appealing at 15 or 50.
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Summary: These books will spoil you.
Review: I read these books as a young man of thirteen. Now fourty-seven years old I have still never read anything as satisfying. You will cry when it's over. You will miss the characters so much that you will re-read these books for the rest of your life, and every time will seem like the first. I am so fortunate to have spent my life with the knowledge of these characters and their endeavors.
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Summary: Please read the books...
Review: ...before you see the movies. I'm sure that the majority of the public will read the books after the movies. I hate movie adaptations of books, I'm one that prefers the use of my own imagination rather than the one of an overpaid director. But I digress. These books stand as the epitome of the fantasy genre, as the cliched saying goes: "Often imitated,never duplicated." The story is rich with a background that is incrediblely detailed and very realistic. The characters are layered and realistic. Anyway, I could go on and on, but just buy the books and see for yourself.
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Summary: Why do most like this series so much....
Review: For the life of me, I can not figure out why so many people live by this series and preach about how good it is. Now, I've been reading fantasy novels for many years, and have found many I like, and few that I dislike..but this series is truly one of the worst. There is no doubting the excellence of the plot, and its originality at the time. My biggest problem with it, howerver, was the lack of any real character depth. The only thing that actually told you what type of person, or hobbit, Frodo was, was the adjectives Tolkien used...he said words like brave and strong, but the story itself didn't impress any real sense of character on me. I like to read a novel and put it down feeling like I 'know' the main characters, as if they were friends of mine that I just shared an adventure with. I never had the pleasure of doing so with this book. I also felt the book was unrealistic in that you knew that nothing truly bad would happen to the characters. You discover early on in book one of LoTR that two of the hobbits are 'eaten' by a tree, but both pop right back out again with no scratches. Heck, the only thing that comes of it is one shivers and says he doesn't want to talk about it again. What kind of way is that to deal with a situation that had so much potential for character developement, and even pure old fashion action?? This combined with simplistic character interaction, I just got an impression the whole way through that the books were written for children, with a whole bunch of pretty words thrown in to please the adults who get off feeling smart reading intellectual gibberish. Perhaps I'm bitter after waiting so long to read what is known as the first real fantasy novel after reading so many from the genre, only to be disappointed, but I honestly feel that authors like Jordan, Brooks, Eddings, and Goodkind blow Tolkien away, and should certainly recieve more credit than this dusty old book
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Summary: One Ring to Rule them All...
Review: I was delighted to reread these books with my adult eyes, as I had not read them since a youngster. My favorite line in the Hobbit to parapharse was, "All of Bilbo's adventures had led him to this point, where he had to face the ultimate horror (Smaug the Dragon) alone." There are points in all the books where the primary character faces an ultimate challenge alone. It is a wonderful lesson and a great psychological truth, we all are ultimately alone. It is the moments of merry making after overcoming the milestone fears that make life truly worth living.
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Summary: No way not to love these!
Review: If you love magic and adventure and warmhearted characters, you will be enthralled by these books. You would also love SIGHTS by Susanna Vance and the Mists of Avalon books.
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Summary: JRR TOLKIEN'S OWN LITTLE MIDDLE-EARTH
Review: If JRR Tolkien hadn't written the Lord of the Rings, I don't think anybody else would have had the skill to. Tolkien makes his own world with lore, legends, and a history. The history is what really makes me think what a person Tolkien must have been. All of his books are exciting and although, as I found out when we read The Hobbit in English, the language that he uses (when he says "they tied him up in thongs" the whole class went bonkers) is intricate but maybe a bit out-of-date. I love his characters and his settings. All of these are must-reads!!!!
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