The Fellowship of the Ring (The Lord of the Rings, Book 1)

I know this is going to rile the defenders of the novels, but the films were much better. I remember how the "purists" were all up in arms when Peter Jackson changed the plots around, involved characters in certain areas, completely deleated others, etc. Well, I have to say, Jackson did a better job in telling Tolkien's work than Tolkien did.

Tolkien's problem I think is that he created such a complex fantasy world with so much detail that he spent his whole time telling us about every single minor character and the minute details of every scene and completely forgot to move the plot along.

There were times when I was reading this series and I thought, "wait, wasn't that a part that was pretty big in the movie?" Such as the Ringwraith's attack on Weathertop or the battle of Helms Deep. These events were described with as much emotion and excitement as if Tolkien were describing his morning routine.

And I ended up groaning when one of his characters would launch into a long speech about how he ended up somewhere or especially when one of the Hobbits would talk about the Shire. At one point in "The Two Towers," Gandalf actually warns Theodan NOT to bring up such topics...I wonder if Tolkien himself even figured out he was spending too much time on these pointless back stories.

Don't get me wrong, I love reading books that are rich in depth but this is a bit too deep.

Then there are the songs and poems which are nice but...I stopped reading them after a while and went on with the story.

The entire premise of the Lord of the Rings was supposed to be a conflict of good vs. evil and trying to stop evil from obtaining the one ring. Sadly, much of the book is devoted to telling us how these Elves ended up here and what happened at these ruins and who was there...again, all stuff that probably would have been better in a companion piece rather than clumsily put into the story like a concrete roadblock.

The plot itself was also odd. Now I understand that Tolkien wanted to publish his work all in one giant book but was forced to divide it up. The man obviously doesn't know about climax and plot resolution and this is where Peter Jackson came in. The end of the first book just ends...Frodo dissappears and the rest of the fellowship are looking for him. The beginning of the second book starts with Aragorn finding a mortally wounded Boromir; we don't even get to read about the heroic stand of Boromir, just that he fought well but was overpowered. For the first half of The Fellowship of the Ring, we get to learn more than we cared to know about the Shire and the journey to leave the Shire and the surrounding area is just painfully slow with little or no action at all...just a long history lesson about these woods or this hedge or that village....ughh

In The Two Towers, the first half of the book is devoted to Aragorn, Gimli and Legolas while the second half is solely devoted to Sam and Frodo.

I don't know, Tolkien could have worked the plotline better concerning this and made it more enjoyable. Maybe he got lost in his own world as writers sometimes do and they forgot what the reader doesn't know.

As for character development...there is none. The Aragorn you meet halfway through the first book is the same Aragorn that you see crowned as king at the end of the story. Whereas in the film, he is a conflicted man, unsure about his destiny and forced to decide. The characters in the book are one dimensional and you sometimes forget they are even there.

I'll say it again, the films were much better or atleast the story was told better by Jackson than by Tolkien. Had Jackson been totally true to the story, we'd still be watching the movies I write this because every single back story would have to be told and the dozens of minor characters would have to be introduced and so on and so forth. In my mind, the movies are how Tolkien would have wanted his story told. His own books are the companion piece, to give more of a history and back story on the world that he created.

Everyone knows that the Lord of the Rings is a fantastic fantasy epic and a classic work of literature. It shows that genre writing does not have to be hack writing. Clearly if you want to get into the series you have to start with The Fellowship of the Rings. I do not think you can think of yourself as a true fantasy lover unless you have read or tired to read this book. It is not for everyone as it is very dense, but it is also just a great story with great characters.

My husband doesn't get alot of time to read, the audiobooks are perfect and they keep him awake while driving...HUGE BONUS!!! Perfect for road trips or just your general busy life. You always have time for a CD, in the car, while cleaning the house or even on the treadmill.
I really don't have much to say about this one in particular, (Who hasn't seen the movie)except it is better than the movie. No need to say more.

Listen to it for your self....no excuses.

I'm a nurse who works the night shift, and I have to sleep in the day time. Although I have heavy curtains on my bedroom windows, I do not live in an isolated area and so have to deal with the noise of the "outside world" to some degree. I would periodically have a hard time getting to sleep or staying there, before I started getting these CD's. The other collection I have is the dramatization of the hobbit, which is also quite good, but much different overall, as it is only 4 discs long, and without much of Tolkien's flair, as descriptions are minimized in favor of dialogue.
This product, however, I find completely rewarding. The guy who reads has a lovely voice, pronounces everything impeccably without hesitation, varies his tone just enough to distinguish between characters (but not dramatically enough to be distracting), and as it is completely unabridged, you don't miss a single word of Tolkien's masterpiece. And as for his singing, well, I don't imagine the characters in the books to be divas, if you catch my drift, so I find it quite realistic and not at all off-putting.
I play a disc when I lie down to sleep, and usually listen to the same one several nights in a row until I am sure I heard the whole thing, as I find that I am asleep within 15 minutes. I have had this collection for about two months and I am on the 8th disc (of 20). I LOVE IT.
I also have been more courageous about instituting positive changes in my organization as of late...hmmm...could it be that my nightly dose of Frodo has been subliminally inspiring me?
I hope this helps you make your decision!

If you were a little Halfling called a "Hobbit" and all of a sudden a ring of power and evil comes to you, what would you do? This book shows how two hobbits come together and gain many friends on their way to destroy the one ring in the fires of Mount Doom which lurks in the land of Mordor.

The rings of power were crafted by the elves. Three rings for the Elvin lords under the sky. Seven for the Dwarf lords in their halls of stone. And nine, nine for the race of men who above all else desire power. But they were all of them deceived for one other ring was made. In the fires of Mount Doom, Souron the deceiver made one more ring in which he poured all of his cruelty in. with that all of Middle fell to his hand.

But there were some who resisted. A last alliance of men and elves marched to the gates of Mordor and fought there. Then the King Isildur picked up his fathers shattered blade and cut the ring of Sourons hand. A thousand years later a creature named Gollum. There the ring stayed for a thousand years until the ring abandoned Gollum. But something happened that the ring did not see. It was picked up by a hobbit named Bilbo Baggins. The ring was passed down to Frodo Baggins of the Shire. He will now set out on a journey to destroy the ring of power. Now it's up to you, do you think he will destroy the ring, or will he get captured?
I thought this was a great book to read. It showed: respect, honor, courage, and friend ship. This is a great book to read.
-Chili Cheese Fries