As per my new reading list I am currently making my way through The Lord of the Rings (here-after known as LOTR) which I have begun jokingly referring to as the longest walk ever. It is after all a very long journey, two thousand eight hundred and fifty-one pages in my edition, never mind the multiple appendixes tacked onto the end.
I first began calling it the longest walk ever while part way through The Fellowship of the Ring and I think the moniker is quite apt. The first book is in particular a little slow moving and while the pace does pick up sections here and there continue to make me think “just get on with it already”.
Although LOTR is separated into three books it is one story not a trilogy and I think this is likely the reason why it does at times seem to be almost endless. It really does go on, and on, and on. Its saving grace however is that while the pages and story may be long it does continue to hold my attention and I am anxious to complete the story. It truly is an engaging and wonderful tale of adventure and a well deserved ruler of the fantasy Genre.
I have not previously read the story although I have read The Hobbit and do have a dim recollection of attempting to read LOTR in my early teens giving up on it amidst the slower moving sections of the first book. With the recent release of “The Hobbit” and my growing affection for the fantasy genre I felt it was time to give it another shot.
“The Hobbit” is really what prompted my interest in the full series and like many other films which have a written counterpart from which it was adapted I often find the written story to be my medium of choice. I enjoy exploring my own interpretation of a story although it does not dim my interest in seeing another’s interpretation of it as well.
As I draw ever nearer to the end of this tale even knowing what is to come having seen the film version I’m no less anxious and have come to love the characters within.
My favorites by far are Merry and Pippin while my least favorite would be Éowyn. I find that Tolkien tends to give readers fairly basic character development leaving much of who each character is to the readers own devices. While I think this works quite well for most I’m unable to get a grasp on Éowyn. To be honest I think it may be a fault with Tolkien’s female characters in general.
The descriptions of middle-earth are where Tolkien really shines however giving a fantasy land a life that can be imagined easily and brings to mind settings which are well suited for the story and to each of the fellowships journeys. You can almost imagine that middle-earth must exist in reality somewhere yet to be found.
All in all I think Tolkien really did create a masterpiece of his genre here and I understand why this story has become so enduring and treasured by so many. It is a world onto itself that exists in the minds of people across the world, now in my own as well.
I am now off to continue the journey to the land of shadow and mount doom with Frodo and Sam.
