About this title: THE LORD OF THE RINGS is regarded by many to be the most important and influential work of fantasy of the 20th century. It generated the fantasy novel industry practically single-handedly, inspiring a multitude of novels concerning elves and dwarves on quests to conquer ultimate evil despite overwhelming odds. Although Tolkien had always intended for THE LORD OF THE RINGS to be published as a single volume, its division into a trilogy created the iconic format for epic fantasy literature. In the first book of the series, THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING, the Dark Lord Sauron, an utterly evil and ...
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Edition: 2nd ed.
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Grafton, London
Date Published: 1991
ISBN-13:9780261102354ISBN:0261102354
Description: Very Good. 529p., [5]p. of plates: maps; 18 cm. This ed. originally published: London: Allen & Unwin, 1966. -Previous ed. : London: Allen & Unwin, 1954. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Date Published: 1988-03-01
ISBN-13:9780395489314ISBN:0395489318
Description: Very Good. 0395489318 Thank you for looking at Bookhaven1. Ships from PA. Hardcover books may have ripped or missing dustjacket. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Date Published: 1988
ISBN-13:9780395489314ISBN:0395489318
Description: Good. A copy that has been read, but remains in clean condition. All pages are intact, and the cover is intact (including dustcover, if applicable). The spine may show signs of wear. Pages can include limited notes and highlighting, and the copy can include "from the library of" labels. read more
Description: Good. Light shelf wear and minimal interior marks. Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More. read more
Description: Good. Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Description: Good. Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Description: Very Good. Great condition for a used book! Minimal wear. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Description: Good. Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Description: Acceptable. Former Library book. Shows definite wear, and perhaps considerable marking on inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Description: Very Good. Great condition for a used book! Minimal wear. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Description: Good. Former Library book. Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
"Victory is mine. I finally did it. After years of beating around the bush, procrastinating, starting and stopping, I finally got this book read. If you haven't read Tolkien's opus, much of what you've probably heard is true. It's a gentle flowing story without an overwhelming sense of immediacy most of the time. The world is layered and textured at every turn. It seems not one corner of Tokien's Middle Earth was left uncovered by the author. It's a delight to read something that someone put so much thought and joy into creating.
As for the plot--there was a lot of walking. And a lot of camping. And a lot of talking. Peter Jackson pretty much wrote the book on how to adapt the epic for the big screen, and his first rule of thumb is to speed things up, and cut anything which isn't immediately necessary for the story. On the one hand, this definitely makes the story go faster, but on the other, it takes away some of the exploration and wonder of Tolkien's world. It's easy to see why fantasy writers all look to Tolkien: his sense of grandness, timelessness, and adventure gushes from the page. The experience of being immersed in this world with its magic, mountains, forests and rivers is pretty unique in literature.
The prose style is very much like listening to someone tell you a story. At times this is very effective and at times it isn't. The adventurous moments take a bit of a hit from this, but the descriptions are that much more powerful because of it.
I might have given the book five stars, but I'm wary to give those out unless the story in question is virtually perfect, and I was totally sucked in from page one until the end. Tolkien has written a masterpiece, no doubt, and the unbounded creativity on display here is in itself magical, but for all its goodness there was a few dry spells. And the film version does a few things better than Tolkien did. Even still, highly recommended, and four stars."
"Hate this cover art, hate the movies (PJ turned them into horror rather than moralistic epic fantasy), but this is my favorite series. I am currently telling everyone I have read them 11 times, but I am quite certain it is more, I just don't know how many more. Whenever I just feel really worn out and almost sick . . . I recoup my energies by being inspired again by Tolkien . . . usually every 2 or 3 years. These books have been a powerful influence in my life -- it so much easier to read a modern fantasy roller coaster adrenalin rush sugar high, "inject it right into the bloodstream, please" -- but Tolkien is a deep river. Please read this first major success in the fantasy genre, just don't expect Harry Potter, okay?"
"I turned these books down in my teen years -- too slow, too tedious, too much time spent staring at the details of things that would never show up again.
Something happened when I turned 20. For no particular reason, the books showed up in my possession and I read them -- the whole trilogy -- within a week. Every spare moment was spent reading. Tedious detail turned into vivid mental images. I had to live in that world, see those characters, know what happened next. I was so drained when I finished them, I felt like I'd climbed up that damn mountain myself!
So, the next week, I read them all again (including The Hobbit).
I haven't read them in the 20 years since then (when the movies came out, they apparently hooked into the same place in my nervous system and despite knowing the story, I was still on the edge of my seat wondering what's going to happen next!
Of course these are the books blamed for so many book bricks to follow, the archetypes of fantasy. I'd never claim they are the best written books with a fabulous prose style. I can imagine many people having my teen outlook on them for their whole lives, and even I can't explain what changed for me. I suppose I should pull out my set and give them another try all these years later, to see if I can still relive that incredible submersion, or explain why I can't."
"Have read this series at least once a decade since college (which was a few decades ago for me) and it continues to be fresh and refreshing.
Great story and great storytelling.
The gold standard for fantasy.
Elsewhere goodreads invites us to identify movies which fell short of the book. Cute poll, but the wrong premise. By their nature, no movie can compare with the book. Take Fellowship as an example. Peter Jackson spent great energy, money and creativity capturing the spirit of Tolkien's first LOTR book, but he made enormous--and, to some readers, egregious--changes to the book. What did we expect? His canvas stretched only three hours.
My advise to any reader: Before seeing a movie based on a book, read the book. Yes, some are completely different stories. But you'll hardly spoil your movie watching experience by reading the book, while you may well destroy the author's spell by seeing it filtered through the lens of a screenwriter, director, actors and cinematographer."
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