Week 12: Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King by J.R.R. Tolkien

So I finished the series, and am so thrilled!  The books were great and so well detailed.  Tolkien obviously worked very hard on his books.  I enjoyed the ending of this final installment and appreciated the overall completion of the characters development.
In these two final parts the fellowship attempts its last hurrah on the battlefield, almost separates completely, and treks through the land of Mordor. (Which I believe most people already know!)  I really liked the last book, because it sums up what happens during the long journey, and really invokes your imagination.  You really learn to love some of the characters, pity others, and loath a few.  I was extremely wrapped up in the last book and read till late into the night, which I do not suggest!  The ending will keep you enthralled till the last, and you will continue thinking about the whole story long after you finish. Which in my biased opinion is the mark of a truly great piece of literature.
If you have the time and the patience to read this books then I would encourage you to read them. They truly are classic fantasy adventure novels.  You might be thinking I could just watch the movies, but where is the fun in that.  Plus the endings are not exactly the same...

Week 11: The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers by J.R.R. Tolkien

This book matches up really well with the movie (which I am going to watch after I write this blog)!  I like how the two different stories are not mixed together, but rather Tolkien had one of the books be only about Frodo and Sam while the other book is the story of all the other members of the Fellowship.  It makes it easy to read and follow along with.  In the movies I have always preferred the story of the battles over the trials of Frodo.   However, reading the book I really enjoyed reading about the journey of the two hobbits.  Maybe it is because you get to learn more about the characters of Frodo and Sam while reading.  The book explains the thought process between the decisions the characters make and how it effects the adventure they are in. All of the hobbits in the series are really amazing fictional characters.  Tolkien has taken all that is simple and wonderful in the world and bestowed it on the hobbits.  Then placed them in a frightening world that they must overcome in some extraordinary unknown ways.

The books are extremely long and often tedious with regards to imagery.  Tolkien goes to great depths of making the reader know exactly what the landscape looks like.  Sometimes so much so that you wonder how many pages of imagery there is going to be before something happens to the plot line. My other complaint is that there are many pages of songs and rhymes.  I do not mind reading these prose, but often I find them to be long and unneeded to the plot of the story.  Yet, the books are so splendidly written that you cannot help but feel transported to Middle Earth.

 I really like reading these books after watching the movie.  Obviously there are occurrences in the books that were left out, but Peter Jackson did fabulous at really capturing the story. But be wary the books are wonderful in their own right and completely different from the movies!!!

Week 10: The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien

This book is incredibly long...  To start with I was not aware that there was actually six books total in the series. These six books have since been combined to make the Lord of the Rings Trilogy.  So if you read these books you are actually reading six whole books.  I did not know that when I started so again I will be reading two books a week for the rest of the month!

To begin I really do love the characters in this book, especially Legolas and Pippin.  Each character is so unique and has a personality that grows as you read.  As of now many of the characters are still forming and it is exciting to figure out the bonds that grow between the Fellowship. Frodo is a strong main character, but a lot of the book is really not focused directly on him.  Much of the book is spent on Aragorn and Gandalf, whom Tolkien seems to have amazing back stories for.

I like Tolkien's stories and his devotion to literature.  He is extremely thorough in his writings and his dedication.  He obviously loved these books.  I enjoyed this first book, however it is a lot more plot building than most books.  It takes quite a while for things to even start progressing in the book.  Tolkien spends a lot of describing the history of Middle-Earth and the journey.  Very little of the story is actually the fighting and action you find in the movies.  However, if you compare the books and the movie you would not be disappointed, they mesh up well!

Overall, I am excited to read the next two parts of the Trilogy and compare them to what I have read so far.

Week 9: The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien

So this month is going to be completely devoted to the events of Middle Earth.  I will be reading all of the Lord of the Rings books over the course of the month.  However, this week I read The Hobbit or There and Back Again.

I have read this book before, but did not remember it very well.  It is very well written (of course) and is fantastical in all respects.  I greatly enjoyed the adventures of the dwarves and the hobbit.  However, being the nerd I am I found that often I was comparing the book to the movie.  This was kind of a bummer because I was often wishing that parts of the movie occurred in the book.  The book itself is very short compared to most classics, less than 300 pages, and is really easy to read.

This book takes a lot of imagination.  Tolkien uses so many different images throughout the book, that you cannot help but picture yourself walking through the Mirkwood, or in the shadow of the Lonely Mountain.  I personally would not have the guts to be Bilbo Baggins, but am inspired to be more like him in courage.  He is a great character who grows throughout the book, and definitely becomes a hero by the end.  I especially admire Tolkein's  ability to make a main character both courageous, yet extremely honest and humble. It is a great book for any age to enjoy!!!