A review by shanaqui
The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings: Deluxe Pocket Boxed Set by J.R.R. Tolkien

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

 This reread took me a while. The Lord of the Rings is no less epic in scope, no less cleverly put together from the point of view of a medieval literature student who Sees What You Did There, no less nostalgic and magical and full of great moments and also space for your own imagination… but I feel like I’ve grown out of it for now, and despite the nostalgia for it, it’s not quite the kind of thing I want to read right now. Which is fine: it will be here when I come back, and I have faith that I will.

What I noticed particularly this time — since I always try to pick that sort of thing out when I re-review something I’ve reviewed before — is that I’d embellished a lot of the scenes with my own imagination. Inflating Eowyn’s part and Faramir’s, expanding out the personal stories like theirs which get lost against the big canvas… It’s a nice thing, to be clear: I enjoy that there’s so much space for it.

Anyway, not a wholly successful reread for me at this point in time… but there was still much to enjoy, and I don’t regret taking the time, either.