After quite a long time without having done it, I have decided to read The Lord of the Rings. I have chosen the J.R.R. Tolkien Boxed Set (The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings) for reading.#

The Hobbit#

My main impression after reading The Hobbit was how different the Ring is. In this book, Bilbo feels no ill effects from the use of the Ring and it is as if Sauron has no interest whatsoever in the Ring to call out to it, which is strange seeing as it was only 60 years before The Lord of the Rings.#

Another impression I got was how, right up until the end, very little actually seems to happen to the characters. Sure, they run into some spiders, and trolls, but these events seem so small, like having a flat tire. Maybe I just have too grand expectations from seeing the movies of LotR, with all the adventure and war.#

The Fellowship of the Ring#

For this book, and I imagine the rest of the trilogy, I will likely be comparing it to the movies.#

I had a few feelings after this book: the difference in pacing and a different feel for the character of Frodo.#

In the movies, things seem to happen much quicker. For example, although the Gandalf does travel and come back after Frodo receives the Ring in the beginning, it certainly does not feel like 10 years... maybe one year. The travel from the Shire to Bree seems like it takes only a week or so, while in the book it takes much longer and the hobbits have to do more on their own. Finally, the travel from Bree to Rivendell is much longer in the book: After Frodo is stabbed, for example, they say in the book it takes a fortnight, while in the movie they say it will take six days.#

The character of Frodo is different in the two versions. In the book, Frodo is not terribly courageous in the beginning, because he takes so long to the leave the Shire for Gandalf, but he is slightly more courageous because of the things he has to do on his own so early. In contrast, Frodo in the movie has Aragon with him as soon as there is any trouble at all. However, in the movie the Council of Elrond is much different: all the races are fighting about what should happen, when Frodo courageously volunteers; versus the book where, at the time, everyone is in agreement with listening to Elrond, and while they do not force Frodo to go, it is obvious by everyone staring at him that he is the one who must bear the Ring. This makes the Frodo of the book seem less impressive.#

I'm sure bigger fans than I have debated these things, so if this seems interesting, you should probably look to them.#

The Two Towers#

Something I noticed a great deal in this book is the constant mention of how much food is being eaten and how much is left, because after this point the characters are on their own and fighting against the wild. I thought this was very interesting, and important for the feeling of realism, but it got a bit tedious at times.#

Something that I liked in the book that was not there in the movies was the discussion with Gandalf after he comes back as the White. It revealed much more that I find interesting. The world of Middle-earth is very interesting, although I don't think I have the interest to actually read all the source material, but maybe I will read a FAQ and then the stories regarding the interesting entries.#

The Return of the King#

I should mention that as part of my recent trend to become very girlish, I was nearly balling my eyes out at the very end of the book when Frodo and Sam are at the finality of their journey. They are just so brave and their hopelessness is so sad. I imagine that everyone on the commuter rail this morning thought I was some sort of nut if they saw the book I was reading; or, thought I was a house-wife in disguise, crying over a supermarket checkout romance.#

I thought that The Scourge of the Shire chapter was great and showed how much the characters had grown, and explained better why Frodo left for the Grey Havens.#

I also thought that the Appendices were going to be much more interesting then they turned out to be. Sure, there were a few interesting tidbits, but they were too painful to get to and not much worth the effort. I get the impression that the other works of Tolkien about Middle-earth are likely to create the same feeling.#

Conclusion#

Up until today, I was a poor excuse for a geek, never having read The Lord of the Rings, but no longer, I will receive my club card in two to three weeks. In seriousness, LotR was very good and exceeded my (already some what high) expectations.#