{"id":3012,"date":"2016-07-24T08:58:21","date_gmt":"2016-07-24T06:58:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lesestunden.de\/?p=3012"},"modified":"2025-09-07T00:11:35","modified_gmt":"2025-09-06T22:11:35","slug":"der-herr-der-ringe-j-r-r-tolkien","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lesestunden.de\/en\/2016\/07\/the-lord-of-the-rings-j-r-r-tolkien\/","title":{"rendered":"The Lord of the Rings \u2022 J. R. R. Tolkien"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n

Tolkien\u2019s books have been a topic on Lesestunden lately, and I\u2019ve already published a review of The Hobbit<\/a> and a post about my beautiful de luxe edition<\/a> of The Lord of the Rings<\/em>. Naturally, a review of the great and famous classic itself shouldn\u2019t be missing. On the one hand, this review will probably be rather boring for many, because the book is well known. On the other hand, it\u2019s also nice to discuss a successful and very popular title. Plenty of people can chime in here, so I look forward to your take on the book.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Of course the films were in the back of my mind while reading. I was surprised to realize, though, that the first part hit theaters about fifteen years ago\u2014and it\u2019s been about that long since I saw all three. Quite a lot of time has passed, and I had forgotten much of the story again. I still remembered the beginning and certain scenes, but overall the individual situations while reading weren\u2019t overlaid with images from the films\u2014which naturally increased my reading pleasure, because one\u2019s own idea of places and characters is simply the best.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

After The Hobbit<\/a>, it was very easy for me to dive into the book and travel through Middle-earth with Frodo. Tolkien describes the world\u2014and especially nature\u2014really well and in just the right measure, neither too much nor too little. You\u2019re drawn into the story quite quickly, and there\u2019s a pleasant flow that carries you from place to place and episode to episode, without being disturbed by major scene changes or time jumps. I found that very pleasant, and I actually remember the films as much more drawn-out than the scenes in the book are.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\"The<\/a><\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

The world Tolkien describes and conjures from his imagination is truly magnificent. The nature, the landscapes, the beings that populate them, their primordial quality and great age\u2014all of it brings Middle-earth vividly to life in the reader\u2019s mind and makes the places feel real. I can absolutely understand many fans\u2019 enthusiasm. You\u2019ll find at least as high a level of quality in the books of Tad Williams, whom I briefly mentioned in my review of The Hobbit<\/a>. I first encountered this kind of high-quality, expansive fantasy through Tad Williams\u2019s books, so Tolkien doesn\u2019t get the bonus of showing me something utterly new\u2014even if, in terms of originality, he\u2019s hard to top.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

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\u201cThe sun stood now high, and the mists down in the vale had lifted. Like white tatters of cloud the last wisps drifted just over their heads, borne on the stiff east wind that tugged and strained at the pennons and white banners of the citadel. Far below on the valley floor, some five leagues as the eye might guess, they could now see, grey and glinting, the Great River, which, coming out of the northwest, bent in a mighty loop southward and then again west. At last it vanished in a haze and shimmer, beyond which, fifty leagues away, lay the Sea.\u201d (p. 839)<\/p>\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

The descriptions of the beautiful, deep, ancient, and primeval forests; the grasslands of Rohan; the high mountain ranges\u2014all this is closely interwoven with the characters, creating a richly atmospheric whole. Tom Bombadil, for example, or Treebeard are characters that, to me, Tolkien rendered outstandingly well here.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

In the first book the course of the story is very linear and consists of the individual stations and the roads between them that Frodo, with changing companions, visits\u2014always in search of a way to be rid of the powerful and coveted Ring. On this journey the reader gets to know the Elves, the Dwarves, the realms of Men, and of course the Hobbits and their culture. Fair Elven cities, the great feasts of Men, the dark mines of the Dwarves, and of course the wild nature of Middle-earth provide a backdrop for scenes that consist of various conflict situations and encounters typical of fantasy. Only from the second volume onward do parallel plotlines appear, which I actually found quite pleasant. In this way you feel closer to Frodo and experience the adventure with him. Moreover, scene changes can sometimes be a bit tiring\u2014especially when you\u2019re in a mental flow and letting yourself drift along with the story. From the middle of the book some of the heroes do part ways, but at that point you know the characters very well and feel connected to them, so the few scene changes don\u2019t really bother you or disrupt that constant, pleasant flow.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\"The<\/a><\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

The illustrations by Alan Lee and John Howe also stayed with me, and I\u2019m a little disappointed there isn\u2019t a beautiful art book collecting the paintings of these two illustrators. But I suppose I\u2019ll have to look more closely again. An illustrated edition<\/a> with 50 lovely images by Alan Lee is being reissued this October. It\u2019s the much-praised translation by Margaret Carroux and should interest anyone who, like me, greatly appreciates fine illustrations.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

As for the translation, I chose Margaret Carroux\u2019s rather than Wolfgang Krege\u2019s, who\u2014also in my two Tolkien pieces\u2014was criticized quite strongly in some comments. I didn\u2019t want to take any risks, even though I found the translation of The Hobbit<\/a> quite good. Carroux is often praised for her fittingly old-fashioned language, which, however, didn\u2019t stand out to me\u2014possibly because I generally read many classics. But there was nothing to complain about stylistically. The book reads pleasantly, with a coherent language that suits the story and characters well.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

I find Tolkien\u2019s foreword very interesting and noteworthy. There he points out that this book contains no allegories and no references to the real world. I wouldn\u2019t have been tempted to look for anything like that in this story anyway, least of all political references. Perhaps one can do that somehow, but overall the scenes and the entire course of the story are so fantastical, and the feeling the book gives is so inviting to dream of strange and beautiful peoples, cultures, and landscapes, that I don\u2019t see a deeper philosophical, political, or metaphysical message in it. If there is one, he hid it well.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

The appendix is quite extensive and offers insight into the reckoning of time, the languages, the family trees, and the royal houses. You can tell what a vast and detailed world Tolkien created, and with how much love for detail he expanded it and filled it with life. There are also two maps that I consulted again and again while reading to keep track of the journey Frodo and his companions undertake.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Conclusion:<\/strong> Anyone who picks up The Lord of the Rings<\/em> can\u2019t go wrong and will get a fantasy classic that leaves nothing to be desired. Tolkien knows how to transport you into a wondrous and beautiful, very classic fantasy world. His descriptions of landscape and nature\u2014along with those of the peoples and creatures\u2014together with the constant, pleasant advance of the story, captivate the reader very quickly. I greatly enjoyed immersing myself in his world, and the great scope as well as the depth of this convincingly real world contribute to a near-perfect book. Given that the fantasy genre now exists in many variations, this book stands shoulder to shoulder with contemporary literature\u2014though it won\u2019t surprise seasoned fantasy readers with utterly different concepts. A book I can recommend to anyone who enjoys fantasy, loves to immerse themselves in other worlds, and appreciates a coherent, well-rounded story.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Book information:<\/strong> The Lord of the Rings<\/em> \u2022 J. R. R. Tolkien \u2022 Klett-Cotta Verlag \u2022 1293 pages \u2022 ISBN 9783608938289<\/p>\r\n\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Tolkien\u2019s books have been a topic on Lesestunden lately, and I\u2019ve already published a review of The Hobbit and a post about my beautiful de luxe edition of The Lord of the Rings. Naturally, a review of the great and famous classic itself shouldn\u2019t be missing. On the one hand, this review will probably be … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “The Lord of the Rings \u2022 J. R. R. Tolkien”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7697,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"slim_seo":{"title":"Der Herr der Ringe \u2022 J. R. R. Tolkien - lesestunden","description":"Tolkiens B\u00fccher sind in letzter Zeit ein Thema auf Lesestunden und so habe ich schon eine Rezension \u00fcber Der Hobbit und einen Beitrag \u00fcber meine sch\u00f6n"},"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[2,20],"tags":[99],"class_list":["post-3012","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fantasy","category-reviews","tag-j-r-r-tolkien"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.lesestunden.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/herr_der_ringe_beitrag_2.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lesestunden.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3012","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lesestunden.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lesestunden.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lesestunden.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lesestunden.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3012"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lesestunden.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3012\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lesestunden.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7697"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lesestunden.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3012"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lesestunden.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3012"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lesestunden.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3012"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}