Two months, 1138 pages, and 60 hours later, I have finished the entirety of The Lord of the Rings, both in writing and in audio (narrated by Andy Serkis), for the first time in my life.
You've written a great review. I'm especially impressed because you are Japanese (I think), and there is a cultural gap to cross over.
One favourite quotation which I don't think you mentioned comes early in the Fellowship. Gandalf has just revealed that Frodo's ring is the One, and that he is in danger. Frodo rather plaintively says:
// I am not made for perilous quests. I wish I had never seen the Ring! Why did it come to me? Why was I chosen?’
‘Such questions cannot be answered,’ said Gandalf.
‘You may be sure that it was not for any merit that others do not possess: not for power or wisdom, at any rate. But you have been chosen, and you must therefore use such strength and heart and wits as you have.’//
Tolkien's heroes are realists, not caricatures. Frodo doesn't jump up and say he will go and destroy the ring like a comic-book character. Instead he wails against the fact that it has come to him, and wants nothing to do with it. Sensible hobbit!
But Gandalf reminds him that fate has given it to him and he can't duck his destiny.
Another favourite quotation of mine comes in the third book. In Mordor, tired, hungry and thirsty, Sam has an epiphany:
//Far above the Ephel Dúath in the West the night-sky was still dim and pale. There, peeping among the cloud-wrack above a dark tor high up in the mountains, Sam saw a white star twinkle for a while. The beauty of it smote his heart, as he looked up out of the forsaken land, and hope returned to him.
For like a shaft, clear and cold, the thought pierced him that in the end the Shadow was only a small and passing thing: there was light and high beauty for ever beyond its reach.
His song in the Tower had been defiance rather than hope; for then he was thinking of himself. Now, for a moment, his own fate, and even his master’s, ceased to trouble him.//
This passage reflects Tolkien's view that at a deep or high level the universe is fundamentally good and benign, and that evil is essentially powerless and transitory. It's a lovely moment in their journey.
Ah, ok. Malaysia. That's great. Thanks for correcting me.
Another thing to keep in mind about LOTR. It's an anti-quest. They go to get rid of something, not to acquire anything as is usual in a quest epic.
And the hobbits are anti-heroes compared to the usual stereotypes of heroes. They are not big physically and not brave warriors in the normal sense. They like comfort and second breakfasts! But Tolkien is fond of them and he makes them into a new kind of hero.
You've written a great review. I'm especially impressed because you are Japanese (I think), and there is a cultural gap to cross over.
One favourite quotation which I don't think you mentioned comes early in the Fellowship. Gandalf has just revealed that Frodo's ring is the One, and that he is in danger. Frodo rather plaintively says:
// I am not made for perilous quests. I wish I had never seen the Ring! Why did it come to me? Why was I chosen?’
‘Such questions cannot be answered,’ said Gandalf.
‘You may be sure that it was not for any merit that others do not possess: not for power or wisdom, at any rate. But you have been chosen, and you must therefore use such strength and heart and wits as you have.’//
Tolkien's heroes are realists, not caricatures. Frodo doesn't jump up and say he will go and destroy the ring like a comic-book character. Instead he wails against the fact that it has come to him, and wants nothing to do with it. Sensible hobbit!
But Gandalf reminds him that fate has given it to him and he can't duck his destiny.
Another favourite quotation of mine comes in the third book. In Mordor, tired, hungry and thirsty, Sam has an epiphany:
//Far above the Ephel Dúath in the West the night-sky was still dim and pale. There, peeping among the cloud-wrack above a dark tor high up in the mountains, Sam saw a white star twinkle for a while. The beauty of it smote his heart, as he looked up out of the forsaken land, and hope returned to him.
For like a shaft, clear and cold, the thought pierced him that in the end the Shadow was only a small and passing thing: there was light and high beauty for ever beyond its reach.
His song in the Tower had been defiance rather than hope; for then he was thinking of himself. Now, for a moment, his own fate, and even his master’s, ceased to trouble him.//
This passage reflects Tolkien's view that at a deep or high level the universe is fundamentally good and benign, and that evil is essentially powerless and transitory. It's a lovely moment in their journey.
Thanks for sharing your favourite quotes! Yes I remember Sam's epiphany scene vividly - love it! Not a Japanese - I'm from Malaysia :)
Ah, ok. Malaysia. That's great. Thanks for correcting me.
Another thing to keep in mind about LOTR. It's an anti-quest. They go to get rid of something, not to acquire anything as is usual in a quest epic.
And the hobbits are anti-heroes compared to the usual stereotypes of heroes. They are not big physically and not brave warriors in the normal sense. They like comfort and second breakfasts! But Tolkien is fond of them and he makes them into a new kind of hero.
Welcome to the club!
Thank you!