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In a sleepy village in the Shire, a young hobbit is entrusted with an immense task. He must make a perilous journey across Middle-earth to the Cracks of Doom, there to destroy the Ruling Ring of Power - the only thing that prevents the Dark Lord's evil domination. Thus begins J. R. R. Tolkien's classic tale, which
continues in The Two Towers and The Return of the King. |
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I can't believe I've spent the last 15 years intimidated by this book. How is it I never realised that Tom Bombadil was less than 10 pages of this thing, and sure I had to bite my lip to get through it but I did! So, impressions so far. As this is one of the great works of 20th century literature I feel I should give it some reverence, but my main feeling is that the language is far more simplistic than I imagined it would be. Perhaps that's the real beauty of Tolkien. His sentences are often short, but descriptive and very direct. If he wants you to know something, he tells you and doesn't make you use a lot of guesswork. At the same time he is able to create an air of mystery by what he doesn't say, which is often more important. For example the hobbits are described in intimate detail, from their bright eyes to the tips of their curly-haired toes. The familiarity makes them unthreatening, and comfortable. In contrast the dark riders are barely described, hinting at their evil and the air of terror they carry with them but never really giving a clear image of what exactly they are. Strider/Aragorn is another example of Tolkien's descriptive skill; initially we see nothing but a shadow in the corner, smoking a pipe but as he begins to talk to the hobbits more detail about him is revealed and though his threatening aura hasn't yet vanished, it's now lessened. Having been on a Lord of the Rings binge since Peter Jackson's movie came out I was really interested to go back to the source material and not only revel in the story, but see how the movie got the way it did. I'm beginning to see where some of the dialogue decisions came from, but I'm still bugged that the relationship between the four hobbits prior to the quest was never touched on. The book is a delightful
read, and Frodo Baggins is a gem. I love hobbits, and I've survived Tom
Bombadil...my journey towards Mordor is well under way! |
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This has become a very slow read, but that has nothing to do with the level of my enjoyment here. I'm just going through a phase where if I read I sleep, and so I'm only able to read a few paragraphs at a time. There is a reason this book is a classic, and that's because it is so skillfully written. Tolkien's style is a crash course in character creation for any wannabe author, and the last chapter of the book (The Council of Elrond) floored me with its brilliance. During the chapter there is a gathering of the Elders of Middle-earth, and each tells their own story. The fantastic thing about the writing is that each character has a completely different voice. Not just the characters, but even the places have different feels, with Tolkien using different techniques of storytelling for each location. For example in The Shire his language is somewhat child-like and simplistic, not easy so much as straight forward and to the point. As the tale progresses the style changes, but you don't realise it's happening until you look at it in retrospect...and then awe strikes. The language of The Old Forest is highly descriptive and moody, whereas in Rivendell the prose is far grander and somewhat old-world in construction. The dialogue of the characters remains the constant throughout, and so has to be on purpose rather than serendipity striking due to the length of time it took to write. I am loving
the reading of this book, and can't wait to continue. The story has
really begun now, with The Fellowship of the Ring now formed and about
to go forth to Mordor. The thing I'm most curious to discover is if the
personalities of Legolas, Boromir and Aragorn will come out, as when I
first heard the radio play I couldn't really work out who was who. I
think I'll know in the next chapter or two. With any luck the reading
will get faster at some point, but right now I'll take my page at a time
approach, and get to the end eventually. |
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Reading at the moment is really slow going, but it's not stifling my enjoyment of this book. What's interesting is that much of the problems I had with LotR before seeing the movie remain while reading the book. For example, the characters of Boromir, Legolas and Gimli hardly leap off the page. They don't have much dialogue, and so it's pretty tough to know what they're in the mix for. Merry and Pippin suffer a similar fate. Knowing that Boromir plays such an important role later in the book, I find it pretty amazing he didn't get a little more page time. I know that the company splits later, and each of the characters really gets their moment in the sun, but even towards the end of the first book I don't feel I know the majority of the people I'm reading about. Sam and Gandalf are really the only ones who have a definite voice in my head. Maybe Tolkien cared about them particularly, and enjoyed their dialogue. Reading
this is really an experience, and as I'm heading towards the end of the
first book it's interesting to see what has been cut out to move the
story along for the screen. I really liked that Aragorn forced the
entire company to enter Lorien blindfolded because the Elves wouldn't
allow Gimli to see the route. It was a nice touch. Frodo Baggins is
about to gaze into Galadriel's mirror. I doubt I'll write again before
the end. But what a cracking read this is turning out to be! |
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*Fanfare* Whoohoo, I finally made my way to the end of the first volume of Lord of the Rings! I survived Tom Bomberdil, I survived the scary poems, and what's more I really enjoyed the journey. The weird, and I suppose understandable, part of reaching the final page was the lack of closure. I don't feel as though I've just read a book. Usually when I turn the last page I give a happy sigh and feel a deep sense of contentment. That was entirely missing from this experience, though I'm sure the final page of Return of the King will be quite a moment. Part of the reason it took me so long to read the book was my familiarity with the story. The surprises came in the form of learning details about the surroundings and characters. I will say this though, I'm not a fan of lengthy descriptive passages, and though evocative and beautifully written I would have liked more dialogue. I still don't feel as though I know Legolas, Gimli, Aragorn or Boromir. The hobbits are more developed, but if I didn't have pictures of them in my head from Alan Lee paintings and the movies I would really be struggling. Things I loved: Frodo, and his internal struggle to do the right thing, despite his fears. The use of language. Often Tolkien will write a sentence in an entirely unexpected rhythm and you can't help but admire it. I'm looking forward to reading the next volume, and I'm curious to see how the various stories are traced, and the characters developed. The one thing I will say is that there was a moment at the very end of the book that really jarred with me. It was Frodo's final thoughts about Boromir as he was leaving the Fellowship. He referred to him having 'descended into evil' and I found that pretty uncharitable seeing as the entire story has been around the corrupting power of the ring, and that no one can resist it's draw. I always quite respected Boromir, and especially after the movie, considered him flawed but ultimately regretful of his weakness. Frodo got to witness it when he tripped and immediately realised what he had done. So ra ra ra for Boromir, bring on the retributive sacrifice in The Two Towers:) I always loved the first part of Lord of the Rings most, maybe because at heart I'm a pervy hobbit fancier. I love the feel of Hobbiton, and the friendships between the Halflings. I have a feeling though that I'll actually enjoy reading the next book more, because of the amount of action involved. I wonder if my prediction will be correct.
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