Return of the King by J.R.R. Tolkien
This is another one where I won’t have much to say because better things have already been said ad nauseam. tl;dr, Return of the King is a masterpiece. One thing I missed as a kid is the slow build of Frodo’s burden as they get closer and closer to Mt. Doom. You get this sense of the gravity of the task and how it’s almost draining Frodo’s life throughout the journey. It shows the depth of the Ring’s power and the threat it carries as […]
The Two Towers by J.R.R. Tolkien
Years. It had been years since I read The Two Towers. Like, maybe 20? I recall it being slow as hell, ponderous, difficult to read, and full of too much poetry and songwriting. Part of that is accurate, part is completely nuts: there’s plenty of language porn for the linguifile, but the pacing is solid and so much stuff happens. There’s a ton of exposition, which is probably why it felt so slow and plodding to me, but that doesn’t actually represent bad writing or a […]
The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien
Do I really need to say anything about this book? It’s still as good as it ever was, remains completely influential to everything we interpret as high fantasy, and the language is like slipping into a warm bath.
The Hobbit: Or, There and Back Again by J.R.R. Tolkien
As I’ve written about The Hobbit before, and because other people definitely have as well, and much better than I have, this review will be mostly about the new audiobook productions of Tolkien’s works, which are narrated by Andy Serkis, of Gollum fame. So far I have only listened to this lovely production of The Hobbit, but I have the full trilogy and The Silmarillion also ready to go for whenever I am feeling like a re-read. And chances are, now that I know how […]
Streets of Laredo by Larry McMurtry
The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
I’m doing terribly at keeping up with my reviews this year, so I’m going to do a review dump. Streets of Laredo by Larry McMurtry (4.5/5) (Spoilers abound.) Lonesome Dove was a revelatory experience for me. It was that rare experience that I knew to appreciate while I was reading it. Rather than devouring the book and then mourning it’s end, I was able to savor the novel and drag it out a little bit. I was still a little skeptical about reading the follow-up, […]
The Two Towers by J.R.R. Tolkien
The Return of the King by J.R.R. Tolkien
Spoilers ahead, I guess, for those who aren’t familiar with how all of this ends. Part 1 (or Book III as it’s called in the book, because each of the 3 novels is divided into 2 books) of The Two Towers begins by following Aragorn, Gimli, and Legolas as they try to track Merry and Pippin, who have been taken by Orcs. Sadly, Boromir died in the Orc battle, though not without putting up a strong fight. We discover that Gandalf lives. We meet the […]
