Customer Reviews

The Lord of the Rings

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2 star:		(13)
1 star:		(31)

 

 

Though Tolkien was not the first or most critically-acclaimed fantasy writer, he remains the most beloved and influential, even though "Lord of the Rings" is decades old.

Now with the epic movie trilogy based on this book, new waves of readers are discovering the unique power of the "Lord of the Rings." It has quietly created the fantasy genre as we know it, set the tone for most fantasy ever since, topped many "best book" polls, and helped spawn such entertainment phenomena as "Star Wars."

Following up on events in "The Hobbit," "The Fellowship of the Ring" stars the quiet, good-natured hobbit Frodo Baggins, who has inherited a golden Ring that allows its user to become invisible. But his friend, Gandalf the wizard, informs Frodo that the Ring is really the Ring of Power, a tiny invulnerable token that the demonic Dark Lord Sauron has poured his essence and power into. And if Sauron can regain the Ring, he will be able to conquer Middle-Earth. Aghast, Frodo joins a fellowship of Elves, Dwarves, Hobbits, Men and a wizard, to go to the one place where the Ring can be destroyed: Mount Doom.

"The Two Towers" begins directly after "Fellowship," after Frodo Baggins flees with his friend Sam into Mordor, with no one to protect them. His cousins Merry and Pippin are kidnapped by orcs from the renegade wizard Saruman. Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli begin a frenetic search for the hobbits, and receive unexpected help from unlikely allies. Meanwhile, the Ring weighs more heavily on Frodo, as he is forced to get help from one of the people he most despised: the Ring's slave Gollum.

"Return of the King" brings the trilogy to an action-packed, slam-bang and ultimately poignant finale. Sam barely rescues Frodo from Sauron's orcs, and the two resume their journey to Mount Doom, barely escaping Sauron's forces. As Aragorn leads the desperate battle against Sauron's armies at the city of Minas Tirith, Frodo falls increasingly under the seductive spell of the Ring.

"Lord of the Rings" is indeed a powerful book, speaking to virtually everyone who has read it. J.R.R. Tolkien drew from legends and myths, ranging from the ancient Norse mythology to more recent legends, mingled with his love of the British country folk and his Roman Catholic beliefs.

Though there are no direct linkages or lessons in the trilogy, Tolkien probably drew on his experiences in World War I for the ravaged battlefields and breakneck action sequences. His beliefs are equally misty but present: they fueled the ethics of the good guys, the fall of formerly-good wizard Saruman, and the themes of temptation, redemption, evil and good that run through every character.

Frodo Baggins is an everyman hero, who dreams of adventure but begins to treasure the simple, boring life that he had once he is deprived of it. His deteriotation is saddening, all the more so because he is aware of it. The equally vibrant cast also includes Gandalf the crabby grandfatherly wizard, Sam Gamgee the loyal gardener, and a variety of kings, elves, dwarves, and more lovable little hobbits.

Tolkien's writing is evocative and descriptive, though not to extremes; Mordor, for example, is best described through the way that Sam and Frodo react to it. The dialogue can range from goofy and hilarious to solemn and archaic, or to some combination of the two. And the pacing is gradual but necessary -- readers with short attention spans won't be able to handle this story. If they can handle sprawling, epic tales, then probably they can.

Even after all the years, J.R.R. Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings" still rules the fantasy genre and has become an integral part of modern literature. It's an epic for all ages, and few books have even come close to equalling it.

I have listened to the majority of the CDs in this collection and what a terrific experience it has been. Rob Inglis' voice is absolutely perfect for the story. All the characters come to life from this single narrator. What's more, the songs and poems in the book are sung and read brilliantly. The passage where Aragorn and Legolas sing to the western, southern, and northern winds for the passing of Boromir has been done exceptionaly well.

As noted by others, there are some minor word substitutions and differences in the edition being read from but that in no way diminishes this elegant work. The story is timeless, the reading masterful. It's almost as if the Rob Inglis' voice has been tailor made for this type of story. The imagery of the book really comes alive with the reading. One passage sticks in my mind. It's the one where the Fellowship is travelling down Anduin and Legolas steps out of the boat to shoot down the Nazgul and his flying steed. The reading and imagery are so vivid that the entire scene just builds an image in the mind. Few books and readings have achieved such a high level.

Undoubtedly others will find their own favorite moments. That's what the combination of literary and narrative masters provides. At the very worse this work will provide hours of enjoyment. No Tolkien fan should be without this exceptional effort.

This reading of the entire Lord of the Rings is hard not to rate highly because of the quality of the performance. Mr. Inglis seems to have a whole world of different voices. I can't imagine how he managed to come up with so many or how he managed to remember what voice he picked for each character. He performs so well that this is really more a dramatization of the whole book rather than just someone reading it; even his voicing of the narration is perfect.

I've not listened to the whole yet, being about half-way through the Fellowship of the Ring. I assume that the quality of the performance will be just as good for the parts I've not listened to yet. However, I do have several quibbles (which are not enough to lessen my rating, but which I found surprising against the overall quality).

The first quibble has nothing to do with Mr. Inglis himself: Sometimes I can hear, faintly, another voice in the background. It sounds like this voice is also reading something. To the creators of this recording: get better sound-proofing. Mr. Inglis's voice and performance are so wonderful that it is a pity to have this distraction.

The second quibble has to do with Mr. Inglis: I happen to be listening to this recording while following along in my printed books of the trilogy, therefore it becomes obvious when Mr. Inglis departs from the text. I really don't mind the sometimes excessive use of contractions that are not in Tolkien's original (even though "don't use the ring" really does not have the same emphasis as "do *not* use the ring") and it's not so bad when he substitutes one word for another of the same meaning (possibly he may be reading from a different edition).

However, occasionally, Mr. Inglis makes boo-boos that change the meaning of the sentence being read. At least two come to mind (and these from the first half of the Fellowship): Near the end of the Tom Bombadil episode (when Frodo and Co. are taking leave of Goldberry) a "morning" is changed to a "misty morning". The word "misty" is not in the text and confuses the meaning of the passage as the sentences that follow imply that the morning is a clear one. The other most noticible change is that Sam's statement "How do *we* know that you are the real Strider..." gets read as "How do *you* know that you are the real Strider...", which makes no sense. These are the two errors of reading that first come to mind, but there were more. Enough, let's say, to surprise me in a performance that is almost pitch-perfect.

However, like I said previously, these quibbles don't reduce my rating and the set is well worth any amount of money.

My review is simple, this is a complete and unabridged reading of all three parts of Lord of the Rings and boy is it great! Rob Inglis is a master of the voice. His pacing and ability to capture the mythical feel of the Rings world is magic. He excels in doing different voices for each of the characters and in singing the many songs that make Rings such a rich book. If you get this audio book you will not be disappointed. Well worth the money.

i love this book. it restores all three lord of the rings books into one volume like it was originally planned to be all those years ago when it was written. there are maps of middle earth inside along with geneology of the hobbits and an alphabet of the language. i got this book for my last birthday but first read it 9 years ago when i was in 9th grade. it's a bit heavy to carry along with 3 other skool books but i managed and believe it or not it actually got me out of trouble once. anyway, i love this book just because of the aesthetic beauty of it. the story inside is wonderful as well. it's the tale of frodo baggins and his inheritance of the One ring from bilbo. it goes from the rolling hills of the shire to the dark shadows of the mountains of mordor. the quest to destroy the ring and frodo is the only person to have the strength to carry out the deed. it's the tale of the nine and their odyssey to mt. doom to throw the ring back from whence it came. this book is filled with danger, battles, orcs, evil spirits, ring wraiths that hunt the bearer, and sauron the original owner of the ring who wants to get it back. a must read for any fan of the hobbit or of the new movie that has come out.

This is a review of the Alan Lee illustrated, Houghton Mifflin hardcover book (ISBN: 0395595118).

This edition of LORD OF THE RINGS is very "deluxe". The dust jacket has the same gold-foil runic borders that THE HOBBIT and THE SILMARILLION editions have (released at the same time). The Alan Lee illustrations are first-rate and abundant throughout the book. There is a nice red bookmark sewed into the book's spine. The Tolkien maps are included, but (like many of the paperback versions) are simply printed on pages - not glued to the back cover as a fold-out.

I am happy with my copy. LORD OF THE RINGS, of course, is one of my favorite books. One has to take care when reading it -- all three volumes in one book create quite a weight in one's lap!

For the first-time reader of RINGS: THE FELLOWSHIP (vol. 1) mixes adventure and high fantasy (ex: Tom Bombadil and the Barrow Wights) to good effect and really hooks the reader in. THE TWO TOWERS (vol. 2) takes its time. The characters are split and Tolkien spends exclusive time with each faction. Don't expect film-like cutting between the main storylines. Tolkien, instead, spends several chapters concentrating solely on Sam and Frodo leaving the reader to wonder what's been happening to Merry or Pippin in the meantime. RETURN OF THE KING (vol. 3) becomes quite beautiful and poetic and is a great reward if you can make it that far! The characters by this time have become quite dear.

Enjoy this edition -- definitely one for the bookshelves!

This is not a critique of Tolkien's work; rather it is a condemnation of Houghton Mifflin's hardcover boxed set. Thirty years after first reading "The Lord of the Rings" I decided to read it again. Besides the engrossing and detailed story, I had a renewed interest in the technical aspects of Tolkien's craft and his use of the English language. I am not disappointed and I am enjoying the reading immensely.

I bought the Hardcover Boxed edition published October, 1988, by Houghton Mifflin Co (Trd); ISBN: 0395489326 ; because I wanted a high quality, permanent copy with good typesetting and larger print. When I received this particular edition I was shocked at the extremely poor quality of print and generally poor quality of every aspect of the presentation. In two of the volumes the maps are incorrectly bound so that they are impossible to unfold. It is not even possible to cut the map out of the book because important parts of the middle of it have been sewn up in the binding.

But the damning point of this edition is the printed page. Every single page has both drop outs and extra ink everywhere. The printing weight varies from page to page, at times fading to a medium gray, at other times a dense bold face. I am not exaggerating when I proclaim that most paperbacks are printed more carefully and more clearly than this.

Buy the books, read them and enjoy them. But benefit from my misfortune and stay far far away from this edition.

What a wonderful way to liven up your daily commute!

The extremely talented narrator provides a lively and varied rendition that shuns from being theatrical.

To my great surprise, the multiple songs in the work are actually sung, a cappella, with vocal inflections matching the character concerned.

This audiobook spreads over 46 CDs and is well worth the price.

I strongly recommend it to anyone short of time to read.

This is a wonderful edition if you are a LOTR fan. The pages are very thin, and are lined with gold trim giving it a delicate sophisticated style. Because the pages are so thin, the book itself isn't thick and heavy like other LOTR volumes that encompasses the trilogy. The book also comes housed in a black leather case that has Tolkien's symbol on its cover and on its spine. This version exudes in understated elegance.

While the books are awesome and I, a huge fan, I ordered this edition over a year ago from this site. this particular edition, with the cover art done by one Geoff Taylor was the first edition I ever read, therefore has sentimental value. I'm surprised to see amazon has not changed the picture of this to account for the complete change in cover design. This particular edition portrayed above contains three books, covers run from Green, to Blue, then Red. The Edition you will actually be recieving is the very common Black covers with the coloured circles. Attractive, but ultimately completely different. I would ahve thought amazon fixed this when I was refunded over a year ago... Hardcore fans beware!