Fellowship of the Ring (Lord of the Rings #1)

Synopsis

One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them, One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them.

In ancient times, the Rings of Power were  crafted by Elven-smiths, and Sauron, the Dark Lord, forged the One Ring, filling it with his own power so he could rule all others. But the One Ring was taken from him, and though he sought it throughout Middle-earth, it remained lost to him. After many ages, it fell into the hands of Bilbo Baggins, as told in the Hobbit.

In a sleepy village in the Shire, young Frodo Baggins finds himself faced with an immense task, as his elderly cousin Bilbo entrusts the Ring to his care. Frodo must leave his home and make a perilous journey across Middle-earth to the Cracks of Doom, there to destroy the Ring and foil the Dark Lord in his evil purpose.

Loved

• What isn't there to love about LOTR? Let's be real here. I think my favorite thing about LOTR is the world. Middle Earth feels more real to me than many places that are real on this Earth because Tolkein's customs, events, people, places, legends and songs are so detailed and thorough that it feels like reading history. I love Fellowship of the Ring especially because we get to start experiencing the world and really understanding it as the first book in the trilogy.

• I love hobbits. I love how partial Tolkein is to hobbits as well- you can tell by his writing how much he loves them. I love that they are so simple and appreciate the small pleasures that make life meaningful, but they are stout, brave and loyal. I also love how much Gandalf sees in the hobbits and the potential he draws out from them.

• I love the Fellowship. I love this crew and the way they interact with each other. I love how they all have their own strengths, influenced by their race and culture. I wish they could stay together through the whole trilogy because there's so much comfort in them being together.

• I love the suspense. I feel like the first book has some really exciting suspense with the Black Riders, especially because the hobbits don't know anything about them. I love the keep-looking-over-your-shoulder intensity we experience in the first half of the book as the Riders are constantly following and chasing the Hobbits. I just think the Ring Wraiths are soooo creepy but in a delicious way.

• Strider. Ah, Aragorn. He is my favorite. I love him from the moment Frodo meets him at the Prancing Pony. He has been my favorite LOTR character for a long time because of his quiet, but kingly character. He is so unassuming and humble, but so wise and his judgment is always true. I love watching him start to become the king he's meant to be in this book as he takes leadership of the Fellowship. I also love his faith in Frodo and the other Hobbits. Also he's never tempted by the Ring, which is just so cool.

• The songs. I listened to this book this time instead of reading it, and it brought the songs completely to life for me! I LOVE Rob Ingles' singing these songs in complete character. He adds melodies to them and he has a really beautiful, rich voice. Reading the parts with Tom Bombadil used to be painful for me because it was mostly pages of song, but listening to it was actually really fun because of the melodies and voices Rob Ingles does. A few of the chants got a little long, but I absolutely loved hearing the distinct melodies and how the characters used songs at certain times to communicate and express their thoughts and feelings. My favorite was the song Sam makes up and sings to Strider, Frodo, Merry, and Pippin- I laughed out loud in the car listening to it!

Didn't Love

• What is there not to love?? I feel like this trilogy and the Hobbit have become classics at this point, so who am I to criticize masterpieces like this? 

• It was interesting to see the difference between the movies and the book. The book is much slower than the movies, which I had forgotten. It was a little frustrating trying to get them out of the Shire at the beginning (SO many years pass from Bilbo's birthday party until Frodo leaves the Shire! We're talking 17+ years!) So it felt a little slow at times, but I think it's because the movie spoiled me and made me want everything to be fast and intense. 

• I was also surprised at the lack of drama in the book. I was laughing to myself at times because some of the moments in the book seemed a little anti-climatic compared with how they're dramatized in the movie. For example, when Gandalf fights the Balrog it only takes about half a page, when in the movie it's a very climatic scene. But reading the book again made me realize that drama is not Tolkein's thing- he is much more about steadiness and telling the story. But I'm not complaining- I think the movies are just so dramatic and intense that it made me impatient at times :)

Content

• Language: 
• No swearing in this book.

• Sexual content: 
• Nothing sexual in the slightest bit.

• Violence:
• The violence in the books is much less intense and bloody than in the movies, so it didn't feel violent hardly at all, although the movies are fairly graphic.
• One character is stabbed by a Black Rider. No blood is mentioned. 
• Mentions of the Black Riders hunting for the Hobbits and their beds being torn up and slashed as the Riders thought the Hobbits were in the beds.
• The White Barrows (basically Tolkein zombies) kidnap some characters and dress them in creepy white robes and jewelry. They are stopped right before stabbing a character. One of their hands is chopped off and still moves until crushed.
• Lots of mentions of orcs shooting arrows and trying to kill characters. They are chased by orcs and a few descriptions of killing them are mentioned.
• One character is dragged into a chasm by a demon-type creature after fighting it.
• One character threatens and attacks another character, but does not end up hurting them.

 Overall Thoughts

Ah, I just adore everything about LOTR. I read the books when I was about 12 and have watched the movies regularly since then. It's been so fun to reread them because I had forgotten so much about the books! I have absolutely loved listening to Rob Ingles narrate the story because he gives melodies to the songs and has such good voices for each character. I think we'd be hard-pressed to find a more in-depth and detailed world than that of Middle Earth. It just constantly fascinates and amazes me how immersive this world is- even having several languages created from this world! Tolkein truly was a genius and I really believe these books have become classics because they have become a foundation for the fantasy genre. I can't recommend these enough if you haven't read them!