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A review by marleyrollins
The Two Towers by J.R.R. Tolkien
4.0
FINALLY. After what feels like a million years, I finally finished this book, and it feels so good. Thank god it’s over.
Let me just say: I think Tolkien is a genius. Nobody does intricate, beautiful world building like Tolkien. The incredible research, the preparation, his passion for the worlds he creates, it really shines through. Everything feels so detailed and believable that it could truly be real, and you find yourself getting lost in it very easily. The songs, the languages, the lore, it’s all proof of his unbelievable skill and unrivalled enthusiasm for his art.
However, and it’s a big however, this book is SO BLOODY LONG. As much as I really wanted to lose myself in the adventure and fall into it, by the 12 hour mark, it’s starting to get really really grating, and I realise that I’m basically just listening to get it over with. The magic is definitely wearing off.
I don’t know whether Tolkien had some dirt on his editor, or maybe he didn’t have an editor at all, but you could easily have cut 200/300 pages out of this book and the story would have remained intact. For example, there’s pages and pages and pages of repetitive walking, and I know this is supposed to make the reader feel how arduous the journey is, but all I was feeling was how arduous the reading experience was. They have the same conversations over and over with Gollum about not giving him the ring for example, these very easily could have been removed. And while the backstory and the world building is amazing as I said, I really really didn’t need that much of it to understand the narrative.
Honestly, I don’t want to be ousted from the nerd community, but the best thing Peter Jackson ever did was act as the editor that Tolkien should have had, because ngl, the film is better. There, I said it.
But, the journey is incredible, the monsters are great, particularly Shelob, and as always, I’m a huge Sam stan, so overall I do like the book, I just wish it was more concise. So while this seems like a really negative review, it’s really not. I love the world of Lord of the Rings. I love the history, the escapism, the beauty and the majesty of the landscapes and the people. I just don’t love how much time it took to get through it.
Let me just say: I think Tolkien is a genius. Nobody does intricate, beautiful world building like Tolkien. The incredible research, the preparation, his passion for the worlds he creates, it really shines through. Everything feels so detailed and believable that it could truly be real, and you find yourself getting lost in it very easily. The songs, the languages, the lore, it’s all proof of his unbelievable skill and unrivalled enthusiasm for his art.
However, and it’s a big however, this book is SO BLOODY LONG. As much as I really wanted to lose myself in the adventure and fall into it, by the 12 hour mark, it’s starting to get really really grating, and I realise that I’m basically just listening to get it over with. The magic is definitely wearing off.
I don’t know whether Tolkien had some dirt on his editor, or maybe he didn’t have an editor at all, but you could easily have cut 200/300 pages out of this book and the story would have remained intact. For example, there’s pages and pages and pages of repetitive walking, and I know this is supposed to make the reader feel how arduous the journey is, but all I was feeling was how arduous the reading experience was. They have the same conversations over and over with Gollum about not giving him the ring for example, these very easily could have been removed. And while the backstory and the world building is amazing as I said, I really really didn’t need that much of it to understand the narrative.
Honestly, I don’t want to be ousted from the nerd community, but the best thing Peter Jackson ever did was act as the editor that Tolkien should have had, because ngl, the film is better. There, I said it.
But, the journey is incredible, the monsters are great, particularly Shelob, and as always, I’m a huge Sam stan, so overall I do like the book, I just wish it was more concise. So while this seems like a really negative review, it’s really not. I love the world of Lord of the Rings. I love the history, the escapism, the beauty and the majesty of the landscapes and the people. I just don’t love how much time it took to get through it.