“The Lord of the Rings” by John Ronald Reuel Tolkien

Reviewing “The Lord of the Rings” seems a task comparable to moving the Eiffel Tower. Three huge volumes of exciting adventures happening in a totally different imaginary world are certainly too great, too epic and too important for the world literature to receive just a usual brief review. They deserve a lot more than that – at the very least, an article.

Once, when I was at the English Speaking Club, a young Russian guy and a young American guy agreed that Tolkien was very hard to read. “He didn’t write in English – he wrote in Tolkienish”, was their verdict. I disagreed with them. Tolkien isn’t hard to read – he is just different from everyone else.

His Shire is green and peaceful – Gondor is strong and proud – Mordor is evil and gloomy. The author takes us from one place to another, along with the characters – and the imaginary world becomes real, more real than the one in which we live.

Races of Middle Earth

Tolkien’s hobbits, Elves, Dwarves, Orcs and Ents are very real – and, I must admit, a lot more similar to men in mentality than the author claims. That is common to all books and movies that attempt at creating new races totally different to the human race, but only succeed at creating a new version of human beings – good or evil. It’s inevitable, and it’s a good thing if we think about it: we wouldn’t have been able to correctly perceive creatures that would be really different from us in thoughts and emotions.

Of course there are certain differences between races that populate Middle Earth: hobbits are lively and carefree (before they get old and grumpy); Elves are solemn and wise (thought sometimes merry and foolish); Ents are mysterious, but somewhat warm and soothing, though they are supposed to be dangerous. Orcs are plain evil; so are Trolls, who also give the impression of being stupid and clumsy. Lastly, men are… well, just men: if not like you and I then like our ancestors from two hundred years ago.

Characteristical features of the novel

Tolkien was very thorough at creating his alternative world. His world has geography – the maps are very detailed – and history. The first chapter of the trilogy is all about history of the Shire, so it’s not very exciting to read, and many people give up before proceeding to the second one. That’s a real pity: my adivce would be, if you feel bored with the first chapter, just skip it and start at the second. The adventures of the four young hobbits and their friends will soon capture you.

The episodes in which our lively little friends encounter sinister Ringwraiths always take my breath away: there seems no possible escape for the four friends and their protector “Strider”, but by some unbelievable miracle they always manage to escape.

It’s possible to get a little bored again when Tolkien starts describing travels: the characters, apparently, just go and go – and sometimes, for a change, fight with some evil forces. Those fights seem hopeless at first – but, according to the law of the genre, our heroes are bound to win every time. Finally, after a most fierce battle with the Orcs the Fellowship of the Ring breaks into several smaller groups.

Then more exciting adventures begin for everyone. Personally, I somewhat envy Merry and Pippin: meeting Treebeard was worth everything they had to endure for it.

Tolkien’s descriptions of the battles – especially the battle of Gondor – are really grand. In these his genius knows no limits, and his gorgeous English thrives on them.

As Frodo and Sam travel to the heart of Mordor – Mount Doom – their hardships becoming worse with every step – Tolkien once again shows his unique mastery. He makes the reader feel those hardships almost physically – the hunger, the thirst, the fatigue, the weight of the Ring of Power and the gnawing pain of having to constantly resist its temptations. There’s Gollum, slimy and insidious, lurking somewhere in the vicinity – and all the time the two friends know that there will be no coming back.

The reader is taken through Mordor together with the two little heroes – through the same hunger, the same thirsty, dry throats and the same struggle – to reach Mount Doom together and fight that last desperate fight with Gollum, in which the accursed ring is finally to be destroyed. How little and insignificant become our own real life problems after we’ve accompanied Frodo and Sam on their journey!

My favourite characters

I think these would be Frodo, Gandalf, Éowyn and Treebeard. Actually, among those fighting on the side of good it’s hard to dislike anyone, but these four stand out. Perhaps, I should have included Aragorn, as well.

The films

They are gorgeous too – especially the third one, “The Return of the King”. The scene of the attack of the Rohan cavalry during the battle of Gondor would alone be enough to declare any movie a masterpiece – and there’s so much more! It deserves all the awards it has received, but I’m sure that watching the films without reading the novel first is a mistake. The novel will help you understand the adaptaion – otherwise, some questions will forever remain unanswered. Some people I know have watched all three films but haven’t read the novel – and they still wonder “why so much fuss over a tiny ring”.

Indeed…

For the overview of the plot, see Wikipedia