The Two Towers

If you are in need of a thoughtful, well written review of the three books constituting the Lord of the Rings trilogy, please look elsewhere. I decided to reread J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings" for the fist time since I read the trilogy of books when I was in Junior High School some forty years ago. The blue, green and red paperback books purchased from a Scholastic Book Fair that first I read did not survive my many house moves in the intervening years. Much later, I had purchased a copy of the 1991 Special Edition beautifully illustrated by Alan Lee which sat on a bookshelf for several years until recently unread. When I finally did pull the heavy single volume down, I found it almost too heavy to hold in my lap to read. So I went out to my local used book store (Recycled Books in San Jose) and bought the slightly smaller, hardcover movie tie-in edition that is the subject of this review. Because this edition of the LotR trilogy was first printed in 1994, the only evidence of the Peter Jackson film adaptation is limited to the graphic design of the dust jacket. The plates used to print the book I read were apparently worn and left some blemishes which rendered one or two letters illegible on a few of he pages, but the text overall was perfectly comprehensible. The Lord of the Rings trilogy of books was originally published in the middle of the previous century and has been read by millions of readers in several languages around the world. Consequently, the books have been extensively reviewed by many professional journalists over the decades. The purpose of this review is to encourage readers of the LotR trilogy to not stop reading at the apparent climax of the story that occurs in the middle of "Book Six". I found the closing chapters to be a necessary and rewarding "cool-down" from the world-ending consequence, action and questing of the preceding 930 or so pages. The penultimate chapter was particularly fun to read as battle-hardened heroes return from their quest to find their home in disarray and must rally fellow villagers to set things right.

"The Fellowship of the Ring" by J.R.R. Tolkien is the kind of book rich in details that one can find themselves getting lost in. Imaginative, magical, engrossing, and brilliantly constructed, the individual text is part of a larger novel title "Lord of the Rings" which is a amazing work of the imagination which often overshadows what is sometimes slow pacing and one-dimensional characters.

One is struck by the level of detail Tolkien put into creating his literary world. The details are so well drawn and defined and the background so deep that one often forgets that they are reading a work of fiction and not a long-lost history or legend. This is where Tolkien's background as a linguist and folklorist really shines, utilizing standard folkloric techniques and creates rich languages for his text.

"Fellowship" follows the story of Frodo Baggins, a hobbit who inherited a mysterious golden ring from his Uncle Bilbo (the main subject of the novel "The Hobbit) which turns out to be the Ring created by the Dark Lord Sauron. I do not want to give too much away because as much as people may know the story, it is enjoyable to go along for the ride. Tolkien often noted that he did not create an allegory or metaphor of his time but that he was creating something that people would read and enjoy. The books one strength is that it shifts tone over the course of the novel so quietly that the awareness of the darkness behind everything comes upon the reader as a surprise. What makes this novel stand out is that it is not just an entertaining story but one that is "experienced" by the reader. Highly recommended.