The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings

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Summary: Reading rooted in the unconscious mind
Review: I first read Tolkien when I was skiing in the Rocky Mountains. A copy of "The Hobbit" was lying around the cabin where we were staying, and I innocently picked it up. Some twenty years later, I still can't put down any of Tolkien's writings. And in the "The Lord of the Rings," Tolkien distills his already phenomenal talents, imagination and learning into its most potent form.

But what is the power of the trilogy? There are stories that are more action-packed, more prolix in their descriptions and (with the notable example of Robert Jordan) much longer. But Tolkien has created a peculiarly bewitching book, with a blend of his love of mythology and folklore, his vast learning in the area of languages and the skill at writing he honed through being a part of the academic world at Oxford University. Tolkien participated in a group at Oxford called "The Inklings" who included several people including C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams and (by honorable mention) Dorothy L. Sayers. From the reading of several of their works, they had a particular concern for the "Mythopoeic" aspects of literature.

Recently when dabbling in some of the collected works of C.G.Jung, I was struck by how much his ideas of the collective unconscious tapped into the same vein of inspiration that is so present in Lewis and Williams, and above all in Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings." I went back and re-read my "Lord of the Rings" after reading Jung. The experience was astonishingly vivid. Figures with terrible primeval power seemed to stalk from Jung through Tolkien into my imagination. It made our conscious world of rational cause and effect into a pale shadow beside the images Tolkien has conjured out of the dark misty world of the unconscious.

Like most epic myths, the characters are in some way secondary to the vividness of the story. While Tolkien's characters are human (or a reasonable variation thereof), they are also representatives of elemental ideas. Strider/Aragorn is more than a mere heir of Kings, he is the essence of Kingship. Gandalf, more than just the leader of the Fellowship of the Ring, is the very archetype of the wise old man who leads people to mature self-knowledge. Frodo Baggins (the protagonist and hero of the trilogy) moves inexorably from being a part of the mundane world into the realm of being a hero in the mythopoeic world. As Frodo changes, the "viewpoint" of the story changes - from being Frodo's own personal viewpoint to being that of him observed by his servant Sam Gamgee. Frodo, through his actions, moves from history into myth, from prose into poetry, from flesh into spirit.

The "Lord of the Ring's" epic power springs from its ability to connect with deep human intuitions or beliefs or attitudes about the nature of life, of good and evil, and of time and eternity. Vivid and flashing, the images move directly from the written page into our own unconscious. To those with whom Tolkien connects, the response is visceral and overwhelming - and something that can't quite be explained by the rational mind. I suppose to someone, with whom Tolkien doesn't connect, this is all vaguely unsettling and a bit mystifying. To someone who was expecting a standard sword and sorcery confection, Tolkien must appear ponderous, heavy and leaden.

In summary, for everyone with the slightest interest in mythology or folklore, Tolkien's work can not be missed. Go elsewhere if all you want is a quick-read escapist confection of swords and wizards.

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Summary: TIMELESS
Review: The epic fantasy story that started it all.

Arguably one of the most influential series of books in English literature. Timeless and Engrossing.

I read the 4 books 3 times each and want to read them right before the movie comes out in December of 2001. When you read these books, you are not just reading a book, but entering a whole new world that completely swallows you up until you are lost in it.

Highly recommended...you will NOT be disappointed.

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Summary: Excellent, the father of modern fantasy!
Review: I picked this book as an assignement to read for a college course as a change of pace from my usual political thrillers and science fiction, and I have found a whole new genre! I fully intend to find other fantasy books to read, in addition to the forementioned.

This is the source of the whole genre. Most every fantasy world, be it Middle Earth, the Hero Quest world, Norrath of EverQuest fame, or the Old World of Warhammer, most worlds to this day in fantasy contain Orcs, Trolls, different kinds of Elves, who delve into magic and are alienated from the world's Dwarves, who are the tinkerer's. Of course, it would not be complete without wizards. These are the staple creatures in modern fantasy, and this is the series that started it all, and all fantasy books since then are measured by this series.

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Summary: "The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings"
Review: J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Hobbit" and "The Lord of the Rings" are arguably two of the finest books ever written in the English language. Beloved by millions around the world, few books have had such a magnificently profound effect on so many people. His influence on popular culture is undeniable, Led Zeppelin was extremely influenced by the writings of Tolkien. Tolkien was a true genius, a master in the use of language to convey both the mythological and spiritual themes that are pervasive in his works. Read the Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings for nothing more than entertainment, but delve deeper and you will fine treasures of profound thought.

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Summary: sublime
Review: I believe the Lord of the Rings to be the greatest fiction of the 20th Century and perhaps the greatest of all time. The failure to include it on the Modern Library Top 100 is completely inexplicable. Happily, the Amazon Top 100, which was voted on by actual readers, put it at number one. Allow me to offer the reasons, both objective and personal, why I think that is it's rightful place on any list.

When we speak of authors as gods, or more likely they speak of themselves as such, there is of course an element of hyperbole, but it accompanies a kernel of truth. Within the boundaries of their fiction, authors are in fact Creators and wield godlike powers. They define reality, control events, decide who lives and who dies. The best of them create characters and situations that the reader genuinely cares about and a very few of them, the best of the best, create characters and situations which seem to exist beyond the bounds of the story. To take an easy example, there is Sherlock Holmes. Not only do many people simply assume that he actually existed, not only did readers demand that he be brought back from the dead, there is a continual flow of further adventures and prequels being written all the time. Holmes is so "real" to us that an author can write about his childhood or his old age and easily carry us along because in our guts we feel that he enjoyed such phases of life. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle created a character whom we feel must have had a past and a future independent of the tales the author left us. This is truly a remarkable accomplishment.

On the other hand, consider Leopold Bloom from James Joyce's Ulysses (see Orrin's review). Because the entire novel is technique and artifice it is impossible to imagine a Bloom who exists outside of the author's head. He has no past or future because Joyce didn't write them. This in itself does not make Ulysses a bad book--there are plenty of other reasons that it is a bad book. It is certainly possible to create a great book or a great protagonist within these bounds. Holden Caufield, for instance, is a great character and Catcher in the Rye a great book (see Orrin's review), but he is unimaginable as an adult. Though memorable and sympathetic, his existence is intrinsically enmeshed within this particular novel.

All of which is by way of introduction to what is perhaps the greatest feat of creative imagination in all of literature, Tolkien's Lord of the Rings. Tolkien created not merely one or two characters who seem to have an external existence, he created an entire world, several races, entire languages, mythologies, songs, poetry, and so on, until finally it comes to seem that he is merely the historian of a separate world, rather than it's Creator. The thoroughness with which he realizes his unique vision gives to his fiction a texture and a substance which may never be equaled. He was able to achieve this remarkable effect in large part by spending years working on the background elements of his story before ever turning his attention to the main narrative thread. For example, dwarves are a common enough staple of fantasy and fairy tales, but because Tolkien had spent years developing a dwarvish language and writing a history of the dwarves and imagining a dwarvish mythology, when we come upon a dwarf in Middle Earth, he seems not to be a convenient imaginary figure but an actual being with his own life story, racial history and tongue. This is likewise true for the elves, the hobbits, even the orcs--a pretty amazing achievement.

All of this would suffice to rank these books among the world's greatest, even if he just put the characters through some fairly pedestrian paces, just some standard quest or adventure. But Tolkien's has a much higher ambition here. His religious influences and aims are well understood and I'll not dwell on them here. I'm more interested in the way the stories function as democratic myth. The great tension in the series is not truly between good and evil, rather it derives from the capacity of power to corrupt good people. Elves and men and dwarves and even Gandalf must all struggle, some successfully, some not, against the temptation to take the ring of power themselves. Each is able to imagine that committing acts of short term evil will allow them to act for what they perceive as the greater good. But in fact it is only the lowly hobbits, Sam and Frodo, with no aspirations towards greatness, who can wield power selflessly and even they ultimately require divine intervention to finally destroy the ring. This political understanding further elevates the series and provides it with a message that resonates with our experience, particularly in the 20th Century. The various races who are tempted by the ring resemble New Dealers and Bolsheviks and Maoists, each of them thinking that they are uniquely capable of using power toward good ends, failing to perceive that the seductive qualities of power itself is warping their souls. In the end, in Middle Earth as on Earth, only the humble folk should be trusted with power and even they bear watching.

Finally, to my subjective reasons. If my Mom is to be believed, and I think we can trust her on this one, it was around 5th grade that I really became a reader. As I recall, my teacher Mrs. Deakens got me going on books about explorers. Like any young boy I was captivated by such tales of adventure. I devoured comic books swashbucklers and science fiction. I read every Doc Savage I could get my hands on, Tarzan (see Orrin's review), John Carter of Mars, Conan, and any other pulp fiction I could find. Meanwhile, our neighbor, Mark Farris, read the same books over and over again in an unending cycle--the Chronicles of Narnia (see Orrin's review) straight through, then the Lord of the Rings from start to finish and back to Narnia--and he swore by them. Now the Narnia books weren't too daunting. each one is pretty slender, so I managed them. But the Lord of the Rings offers quite an imposing structure to the kid who contemplates reading it. Taken together the four books are what? maybe 1700 or so pages? Well, of course I did eventually screw up my courage and tackle this daunting task and not only was I ensorceled by the story, but having finished I was naturally inordinately proud of myself. Add that sense of self satisfaction into the mix and I'd imagine that for most kids who read the series at a certain age it inevitably becomes their favorite. In fact, I'd like to get these kids who are so enraptured by the Harry Potter books (see Orrin's review) and make sure that they continue on through C.S. Lewis and on to Tolkien. The Potter books are fun; Tolkien is sublime.

GRADE: A+

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Summary: The Father of Fantasy
Review: Epic fantasy just wouldn't exist as we know it without the master. There would be Brooks, no Goodkind, no Jordan, no Feist, no Martin, etc. etc. etc. It takes literature of a high degree to spark such fascination and enthusiasm in readers and writers alike. It took something like the Lord of the Rings.

To be sure, The Lord of the Rings is a mythical tale, a legend documented in detail by a faithful historian. It's paradoxically fantastical and yet so real. The characters are archetypical, but that is how they should be, for legends are after all, the beginnings of all fiction. Everything about it screams refinement. It seems like a good tale passed down from generation to generation, with all of the diluting that occurs along the way.

Don't get passed by the bandwagon, jump now! Buy this collection immediately and be a part of literary history.

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Summary: Tolkien IS the Master of High Fantasy
Review: He is the Shakespeare and Homer of the 20th century. He takes a genre once associated only with acne-faced teenage boys and elevates it to literary excellence. His selection as Writer of the Century was well-deserved to say the least.

Written mostly during Europe's WWII years, the symbolism of that war lies heavily in his novels (See especially "The Scouring of the Shire" chapter in Vol. 3 "The Return of the King")

His epic story has a background color and richness that rarely exists in today's literary works. He built his own languages from the syllables on up, his appendices and notes lend depth and history to his works, he is truly the only fantasy write to literally create a world. Every sentence that spills from the mouths of his characters hints at a world that we are only scratching the surface of.

The poetry and lore that his characters express hint at the many volumes that Tolkien could have written if time would have allowed it. Rarely have I seen a fantasy writer who could put such a large amount of high quality verse and rhyme into their works.

Almost every fantasy author of the last 30 years must tip their hat in Tolkien's direction. I have yet to find a noteable fantasy author who didn't mention Tolkien in their list of inspiring/influencing authors.

I can only hope that on the eve of the long awaited Lord of the Rings movies that would-be Tolkien Cinema fans take the time to read the epic fantasy saga that made the movies possible.

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Summary: King Of Fantasies
Review: The Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit are books that fantasy readers should not pass up. I have read these books every year since I was 9 ( I am now 14) These are the Bibles of Fantasy. These books are an excape from the surrounding world. They bring you to a place of enchantment, and beauty, treachery and despair. If you like fantasy and haven't read the Hobbit or the Lord of the Rings then you should.

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Summary: Magic, Awe and Wonderment
Review: First of all, if you've never heard of "The Hobbit" or the "Lord of the Rings" Trilogy, I'd be very surprised. Some have deemed them the "greatest works of the 20th century." (But not having read all the books this century, I couldn't say.) But you will be VERY hard pressed not to justify spending ... for these four books.

First of all, "The Hobbit" is basically a prelude to the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy. Tolkien didn't know what he was getting into when he wrote "The Hobbit," but once the public swallowed it hook, line, and sinker, he delivered the rest with the same kind of magic that has made this a classic.

"The Hobbit" is about Bilbo Baggins--a simple hobbit (a race of gentle, liesurely, dwarf-sized people whom Tolkien created)--who gets wrapped up in adventure when he has absolutely no intention of getting involved in one because of Gandalf, the wizard. (Probably the second most famous wizard in literature, after Merlin.) Anyway, Bilbo, Gandalf, and 12 dwarven companions set out to reclaim the dwarven mountain city which was stolen years ago by Smaug, the dragon. And as the case is for many great books, the adventure is both in the destination AND the journey.

The trilogy which follows is a tad grittier than "The Hobbit," and does not center around Bilbo Baggins, but rather his younger cousin, Frodo. It's simply a matter of taste on which you'll prefer--some will enjoy "The Hobbit" the best, while others the following trilogy.

They are books I'd read to my children (someday when I have them) and I can't wait to watch their eyes widen with imagination. They are not "children's books" but children will still enjoy them (especially "The Hobbit") as will adults. They are those rare books that anyone at any age can enjoy. I and my wife are reading "The Hobbit" together (she's never read it) and though she doesn't like fantasy, she is LOVING this book and can't wait to find out how it ends.

The only reason I can think of that you would not get these 4 books for a mere $20 is that you already have them, or you'd rather get them in hardcover as nice display pieces on your library shelves. Understandable. But otherwise, give this a try, either for the first time, or the 3rd as is my case. It's the great grand-daddy of the whole fantasy genre, and deserves the credit it's due for that, but primarily because they are great stories.

By the way--there is work being done on a movie trilogy for the "Lord of the Rings," with the first one coming out Christmas of 2001. I would recommend you read the books first. Hopefully, the movies will catch that same awe, wonder, and magic, but just to be safe--read the books!

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Summary: Magnificent
Review: A fabulously crafted story of good against evil, heros, villains and epic battles. I only wish I could read it for the first time again. I've read a lot of fantasy and this is the saga that got me started. I still consider it the best I've ever read.