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pennwing's review against another edition
challenging
informative
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.0
didyousaybooks's review against another edition
4.0
A really good companion if you love Tolkien and want to discover his writing process when he write his masterpiece. If not, I’d advice you to leave this be.
It is really interesting to see many alternative on how the story could have gone. Reading this, you start to understand how much work and thinking Tolkien put into his work.
As a regular Tolkien fan, you know it already but reading here all the alternatives (and yet not all of them are even here) about the story, quotes or the multiple names in several drafts, that Christopher Tolkien presents to us. Many excerpts written in now fading pencil draft, crossed sentences on many supports.
Christopher Tolkien underlines the main differences, with all of his father’s source material at hands, between the drafts and the final version.
You’ll discover that Aragorn had many names, Theoden had a daughter for a little while, an analysis of the evolution of the maps and other tidbits of alternative what-ifs which are really neat to know.
This book is really for people who want to dig even more into Tolkien’s world and love to read more academic oriented works as it’s very complete with many notes.
It is really interesting to see many alternative on how the story could have gone. Reading this, you start to understand how much work and thinking Tolkien put into his work.
As a regular Tolkien fan, you know it already but reading here all the alternatives (and yet not all of them are even here) about the story, quotes or the multiple names in several drafts, that Christopher Tolkien presents to us. Many excerpts written in now fading pencil draft, crossed sentences on many supports.
Christopher Tolkien underlines the main differences, with all of his father’s source material at hands, between the drafts and the final version.
You’ll discover that Aragorn had many names, Theoden had a daughter for a little while, an analysis of the evolution of the maps and other tidbits of alternative what-ifs which are really neat to know.
This book is really for people who want to dig even more into Tolkien’s world and love to read more academic oriented works as it’s very complete with many notes.
raitalle's review against another edition
4.0
Christopher Tolkien has continued to do a good job at assembling all of his father's notes and drafts, and putting them together in some sort of semblance of a "narrative arc" where you can see the final story of The Lord of the Rings come together. Lots of fun little facts are revealed, and it's very interesting to see what could have been (with a little relief on occasion that he made different choices!).
nigellicus's review against another edition
5.0
And so it came to pass, I now have reached a place where I am rereading The Lord Of The Rings every few years. Impossible though it may be to recapture the aching longing of the first time, I am at least better able to appreciate the writing and the thematic concerns and the evocation of the world and landscape. Or at least I flatter myself that I am. Strangest of all on this reread was finding myself as an outpatient at a clinic in Limerick's Regional Hospital for a few hours - my very first read of the trilogy coincided with a teenage trip to the Regional to have my appendix removed. Roughly the same time of the year as well.
Oh well. Our youthfulness has sailed on into the West, never to return and we stand now in the Middle Age of Man. It's nice that this thing that excited our childish mind now consoles our more wearied adulthood, on occasion. It's not a bad ambition, to want to turn more hobbity, and enjoy the finer things in life, like food and dink and good friends and family. Teeangers can go off and be Aragorn. The rest of us can take our ease in the Green Dragon for awhile.
Oh well. Our youthfulness has sailed on into the West, never to return and we stand now in the Middle Age of Man. It's nice that this thing that excited our childish mind now consoles our more wearied adulthood, on occasion. It's not a bad ambition, to want to turn more hobbity, and enjoy the finer things in life, like food and dink and good friends and family. Teeangers can go off and be Aragorn. The rest of us can take our ease in the Green Dragon for awhile.
lordofthemoon's review against another edition
5.0
A book that I've come back to again and again since I first read it in my early teens. Setting the template for everything that was to come after it for so long, it's a classic of the genre. Hell, it pretty much established the genre! I have come to love so much about this story (I even have a soft spot for Bombadil these days!) including its epic scale, beautifully drawn landscapes and improbable characters.
zoograce09's review against another edition
3.0
Besides a few sections that bored me to death, I really enjoyed this book one the story really got started. I feel like there are some scenes that are more than fully described and then some that we would've liked to hear more than a sentence about. (i.e., Aragorn and Arwen's wedding). I was somewhat disappointed with the ending, which later become more common as people started imitating Tolkien. Maybe it's just me, but I don't consider the 'someone goes somewhere forever the end' to be a satisfying ending. The two towers is definitely my favorite, but with the movie versions I would have to go with the fellowship.
bookishaly's review against another edition
5.0
I'm a huge fan of LOTR. Always have been, always will be. It's so bad that I have figurines of all the characters, cards, posters, an original autographed Italian copy of the book, all the paperbacks, hardbacks and I am now starting a collection of the "special edition" covers... or what I like to call "the super amazing pretty covers" that look like this:
(I know it's The Hobbit, but shush, I'll get the rest soon)
I've read my Italian copy so many times that it now looks like this:
Once upon a time, it had a sleeve and a front cover. That was before I read it 16 times.
So yeah, you can say I'm a hardcore fan. My sister and I even do a LOTR reading and watching marathon once a year. She opts out of the reading marathon, but we happily watch all the films (in both Italian and English, because our DVDs are mixed) at least once a year, and it's usually before Christmas.
Needless to say, I absolutely adore J.R.R Tolkien and his amazing books. Say what you will, but he is beyond marginally talented. He is amazing.
Therefore, instead of a review, here's a compilation of GIFs because I love you all.
You should also know that I have a huge crush on Aragorn. He will be my husband one day.
(HOW PERFECT IS HE?!)
*FANGIRLS*
(I know it's The Hobbit, but shush, I'll get the rest soon)
I've read my Italian copy so many times that it now looks like this:
Once upon a time, it had a sleeve and a front cover. That was before I read it 16 times.
So yeah, you can say I'm a hardcore fan. My sister and I even do a LOTR reading and watching marathon once a year. She opts out of the reading marathon, but we happily watch all the films (in both Italian and English, because our DVDs are mixed) at least once a year, and it's usually before Christmas.
Needless to say, I absolutely adore J.R.R Tolkien and his amazing books. Say what you will, but he is beyond marginally talented. He is amazing.
Therefore, instead of a review, here's a compilation of GIFs because I love you all.
You should also know that I have a huge crush on Aragorn. He will be my husband one day.
(HOW PERFECT IS HE?!)
*FANGIRLS*