Book VI in The Return of the King brings us back to the perilous journey of Sam and Frodo.Sam now has possession of the ring and Frodo is missing.Tolkien provides the reader with a quick catch up that feels natural and part of the drama (not the obvious recap that so many authors clumsily employ). … Continue reading The Return of the King, Book VI by J R R Tolkien
Ohhh, I had forgotten how much I love this book. I mean really, really love this book. I raced through Book V (The War of the Ring) so quickly because I could not literally put the book down. I knew what was going to happen next, but I wanted to be there and experience it … Continue reading The Return of the King, Book V by J R R Tolkien
I had planned to write two posts about this, the second part of The Lord of the Rings trilogy, as it actually begs to be considered in its two separate sections. In fact, Tolkien originally wrote the book as one big book with six parts. He planned to name part III The Treason of Isengard … Continue reading The Two Towers by J R R Tolkien
The books that comprise The Lord of the Rings are usually presented as a trilogy, but it was in fact designed by Tolkien to be one single book with six parts. Obviously the publishers baulked at publishing such a large tome of a book!On 29th July 1954 George Allen & Unwin published the first volume consisting … Continue reading The Fellowship of the Ring by J R RTolkien
It's time to check into the The Two Towers, and yes, I know I have yet to complete my review or wrap up post for The Fellowship of the Ring.Unfortunately I have come down with some kind of flu bug that has knocked me for a six.I promise to catch up soon, but for now … Continue reading The Two Towers – Welcome to Book
The 25th March is Tolkien Reading Day which seemed like an auspicious day to host our latest check-in post. The theme for the 2017 TRD is Poetry and Songs in Tolkien's Fiction. Therefore I will start our #HLOTRreadalong2017 business with Bilbo's Walking Song,The Road goes ever on and on,Down from the door where it began.Now … Continue reading The Fellowship – check in time.
I confess that I am one of those readers who often skips, skims or ignores prologues and introductions in my excitement to get to the story proper. I'm also concerned that the author might inadvertently reveal an important feature of the story to come.But this time, with my aim to reread the HLOTR leisurely and … Continue reading The Fellowship of the Ring – The Prologue
It's time!We now leave the gentle, innocence of The Hobbit behind as we head into darker, more dangerous times.Sixty years have passed since we last saw Bilbo.Tolkien fills us in on what has happened in that time and quickly foreshadows some of what's to come.The link between The Hobbit and LOTR, is of course, the … Continue reading The Fellowship of the Ring – Welcome to Book
Well, here we are at the end.The final few chapters of our readalong are now in sight and like Bilbo, we have been there and back again.Smaug is dead - the original quest 'to win our harps and gold from him' has been achieved but the journey is not yet over for dear Bilbo and … Continue reading The Hobbit – Back Again!
The Hobbit and Philosophy: For When You've Lost Your Dwarves, Your Wizard, and Your Way is part of the Blackwell Philosophy and Pop Culture series.Many, many years ago I discovered the Tao of Pooh by Benjamin Hoff, which is when I realised that it was possible to explain ancient philosophy through the lens of popular … Continue reading The Hobbit and Philosophy edited by Gregory Bassham & Eric Bronson
We are now at the half way point of February - how is your journey through Middle Earth going?Have you past the Last Homely House? Maybe you're creeping your way through Mirkwood Forest? Or perhaps, like Bilbo, you've had your first sight of the Lonely Mountain?Wherever you are, I hope you can take the time … Continue reading The Hobbit – Chapters XI to XV
Thanks to my #HLOTRreadalong2017 and rereading of The Hobbit, I have been introduced to several new-to-me bloggers who have proven to be a wealth of knowledge about Middle Earth, Tolkien and high fantasy.Early on in our discussions about The Hobbit, Nick @One Catholic Life recommended reading Tolkien's essay titled On Fairy Stories (1947) to fully appreciate and … Continue reading On Fairy Stories by J R R Tolkien
