Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3579 in Books
• Published on: 1999-03-01
• Binding: Paperback
• 1500 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
For those who have not read Tolkien's epic fantasy, or for those looking to replace a worn and battered copy, this three-volume The Lord of the Rings box set is a great place to start. Comprising the three novels that make up the Lord of the Rings sequence--The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers and The Return of the King--the whole set is presented in matching matt black packaging with embossed runes and coloured rings. Of course, beneath the fancy covers lies a great epic story of good versus evil, perhaps one of the greatest stories ever told. Attractively presented--and at a great price--there really is no excuse not to have this in your collection. So go on, give it a try; once you've entered Tolkien's fantastic imagination, you'll find it hard to leave. --Jonathan Weir

Daily Telegraph
`An astonishing imaginative tour de force.'

’ Sunday Telegraph
`Amongst the greatest works of imaginative fiction of the twentieth century.

Customer Reviews

DON'T DELUDE YOURSELF: THIS IS A BOOK FOR KIDS
A promising start and then the sheer, tiresome old-skool epic-ness of the thing soon drags things down to a trudge, just before you start screaming to yourself, 'Will anybody actually die in this bleeding thing - especially one or all of those flipping hobbits?'

Too much 'destined-for-greatness', 'goodness-of-the-soul' saccharinity(?). A couple of stars for the scope of the imagination, but none for suspenseful storytelling and the like.

A challenge, but well worth the effort.
This book is a challenge. This is what puts many people off it the first time they open it, especially if they have already seen the movie. The point is, this is not just easy entertainment, like the film was. Yes, they tried in places to put a philosophical gloss on, but took great care to explain this to anyone watching, just in case they missed it.

Yes, there are great long descriptive passages, but they are there for a reason. We are so used to having images presented to us that we no longer seem to find description necessary. This is a pity, because if you give him a chance, Tolkien is one of the best descriptive writers I know. We cannot explore all the detail in a single reading, just as we cannot see all the detail in a good painting in a single quick viewing. The only way to sink yourself into this world is to let the author describe it to you, there would be no point in him writing this book if everyone could just think up their own equally valid version.

The greatest thing about the Lord of the Rings is, like all great art, the fact that we cannot understand and see all in a single reading. People reread it many times, because each new reading reveals something that went unnoticed before. The immense complexity of the characters cannot be shown in a quick and easy way, employed by many fantasy writers of cheap Tolkien-spinoffs, simply by stating something like 'Tom was a very sensitive boy. Having been bullied by his schoolmates, he was constantly on the alert.. blablabla'. Tolkien understood, unlike many of these other authors, that only a very complex combination of deeds, words and thoughts can reveal who and what someone truly is.

If you do struggle reading this, and I can imagine that as I didn't manage to finish it the first time I read it, I strongly recommend an audio book. This may look like cheating as you can simply let it run, and then claim to have read it all. I firmly believe (without reading any experts on this, so I may be eating these words at some later date) that Tolkien was thinking of the great epic poems from the past while writing this. Poems from a completely oral culture. When this is read aloud by a good actor, trees and places appear before your eyes. Passages which may seem dull if you try to tackle them on your own suddenly flow past effortlessly, with your imagination free from fetters to picture the scene.

I don't think this review will ever be read by many people, this has been more of a rant for me than anything else. I do hope more people will be able to find their way to Middle Earth, simply by giving it another chance. It really is worth the effort to see your way past slightly older language than you may be accustomed to, and a style so radically different from usual. But that is something all great art has as well: a unique style, and this work should not be disregarded simply because we are not used to it.

One of the most influential books of all time
This is and always will be a great book. It will cease to be of interest when people no longer think that Hamlet says anything meaningful about the human condition or that Romeo and Juliet tells us nothing about love. I could have given this book 5 stars to reflect its key role in twentieth century entertainment, from books to video games to films, to recognise the meticulous detail of the characters and the staggering breadth of Tolkien's imagination. But instead I chose to give it 1 star because although it is great as the best of Shakespeare it is phenomenally dull in many places because of Tolkiens inability to understand the idea of "pace" and "suspense" and because the characters are so shallow and underdeveloped.

But, that is probably not at all a bad thing. It seems to me that this book is Tolkien's labour of love for European mythology. He perhaps wanted to create for European mythology a sprawling, stolid, timeless classic in the vein of the ancient greek classics. The greek classics are quite dull to read, but oh, the stories! What child doesn't know the name of Hercules or the story of the wooden horse?

In the same way, this is a classic of European mythology, with a cracking (though at times blandly told) story and many memorable (though underdeveloped by modern standards) characters. This book therefore deserves to be read for generations to come, but those generations should take it as it is. It is a great book, but not great literature.