Reviews - The Lord of the Rings

3.17k reviews for:

The Lord of the Rings

J.R.R. Tolkien

4.46 AVERAGE

rafant's review against another edition

3.0

adventurous slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

lothlorienne's review against another edition

3.0

Oh man, this one is honestly very hard to review (and I guess that's why I have procrastinated). The book (well, all three books in one, technically) took me over a year to finish. I plodded through the books mainly on the steam of telling myself "you can find all the differences with the movies and learn what was modified for film!" and that was interesting for a bit, but inevitably reading this began to be a bit of a chore.

I know that the fault lies more with me than the book(s) here. I had a very hard time adjusting to the pacing (the descriptions are very looooong). I applaud those that are able to read this without the same issue as I kept thinking it could really benefit from a little modernization/adaptation for the next generation of readers (NOT to change the story, just to assist with the pacing and some language, etc.).

These opinions are my own (my precious... haha) so please don't hate. I advise anyone willing to read these to give them a try as you may find you feel otherwise! They are classic for a reason.

What I Liked:
- Tolkien undeniably had an amazing mind, and we take for granted (because so many other fantasy novels/shows draw from it) that he set the standard for many of races and fantasy tropes which inspire other stories today.
- Who doesn't want to live in the Shire!!
- I was utterly smitten with Sam in the books just as in the films - he is just the most amazing character and I really felt his herculean efforts

Spoiler

to get Frodo to the finish line as they approach Mount Doom - Tolkien really helped me feel that sense of exhaustion and hopelessness, with Sam pushing toward that small light at the end of the tunnel.

- While I have heard the Tolkien estate does not endorse the films, I love Jackson's adaptations for the movies and having read the novels now, I can safely say a lot of the film dialogue draws directly from the books and I think Jackson's changes were for the sake of pacing and adapting for efficacy of storytelling via film as opposed to changes for the sake of editing.

What I Didn't:
- I didn't care for the way in which,

Spoiler

after the Fellowship breaks

, the books don't alternate chapters between the sets of characters. This is probably a hallmark of the age of this novel, but particularly in the last book I kept thinking, "when are we getting an update on Sam and Frodo?"
- SPOILER:

Spoiler

there are some chapters just before Frodo decides to leave with Gandalf at the Grey Havens which sort of seemed out of place. I really enjoyed the final leg of Sam and Frodo's journey (see above) but having to read about Barliman Butterbur again and some bandits holed up in the Shire area sort of ruined the hobbits homecoming for me.

kukka1nen's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

manderly's review against another edition

5.0

My journey to finish this was more perilous than frodos

ina_hkh's review against another edition

DID NOT FINISH: 4%

Ble anbefalt å lese denne på nynorsk, men det ble rett og slett for mange fremmede ord! 😅 Det får bli en annen gang, når overskuddet er større! Resten av boka leses på bokmål!

bok_are's review against another edition

5.0

Dette er en av mine favoritter. Mye handler om at jeg leste den som liten, og boka har formet meg i svært stor grad. Leste den igjen, for første gang på 10-12 år. Dette er en bok som jeg kunne ønske ikke tok slutt. Skildringene, personene, relasjonene, handlingen - jeg liker nesten alt med denne boka.

Til å være en relativt gammel bok, synes jeg at formen holder seg svært godt. Ingenting som har tapt seg litteraturmessig. Nå leste jeg i tillegg en fin utgave, godt illustrert av Alan Lee - det er å anbefale!