The Fellowship of the Ring by J. R. R. Tolkien

The Fellowship of the Ring by J. R. R. Tolkien

Series: The Lord of the Rings Book 1

Genre: Fantasy

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Just recently I traveled to New Zealand with my family. I fell in love with the ever-changing scenery and beauty there. It was my paradise. My trip to this foreign and exotic country also spurred my passion for The Lord of the Rings and all things Middle Earth. I got to see Hobbiton and the spot where they filmed Rivendell. It was magnificent. After watching the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings movies countless times, I finally decided to read the books, no matter how long and hard it will be.

And quite a journey it was. Tolkien took me through the Shire and Lothlorien, brought me to Rivendell and Bree. I met many characters, both in the movies and not, and I enjoyed the ride very much.

However, as I mentioned after reading The Hobbit, I couldn’t connect with the characters. In most of the books I have read, it was very easy to connect with the characters and their emotions. I’m so used to empathizing with them and feeling what they feel. Most authors lay that connection out right before you, but Tolkien either had difficulty doing that or did not plan to do so. The characters had no depth, and they were very static and one sided. I could follow along with the story just as well and often found myself lost in the action, but I didn’t feel as deeply as I have with other books of this kind, which definitely affected my overall opinion of this book. The connection with the characters is the most important part for me in any novel. That’s why it was so difficult for me to get through this book, as well as The Hobbit.

Also, I thought it strange that the first 300 pages consisted of small, unimportant events and one single short journey to Rivendell, and the last 100 pages consisted of the rest of the story, as well as a very long and tiring conversation during the council at Rivendell. That made it very hard to read this book because most of the substance was dialogue, both necessary and unnecessary (as it seemed to me), and it made the story quite boring.

Don’t get me wrong—I was enthralled from cover to cover, envisioning the movie whenever I could. But there were parts where the story lulled and I had to put the book down as opposed to the more appealing feeling of not being able to put the book down.

Overall, my opinion is in the middle. I did not like that I could understand the characters, but not empathize with them, and I did not like that Tolkien used many words to tell something that could have been told in very few. I did love the plot, and the story, and the amazing fantasy, and especially the connection I had between this book and New Zealand (and even the movies, though I enjoyed those far more than the experience of reading this book).

3 stars.