Title: The Fellowship of the Ring (The Lord of the Rings, #1) Author: J. R. R. Tolkien Published by: Ballantine Books Published on: 1994 Pages: 458 pages
Not all those who wander are lost.
Chapter 10: Strider
There is a reason why Tolkien is considered as the pioneer of the fantasy genre as we know it now. Other than the fact that he created an entire world with its own race, myths, even language, reading The Lord of the Rings feels like we are being transported exactly to Middle Earth and roaming in its adventure with our beloved hobbits.
After his mysterious adventure with Thorin & Company, Bilbo Baggins returned to the Shire with abundant treasure and becoming the main subject of gossips within the community. His reputation as a respected and well meant hobbit went poof -- not that he cared anyway. Since he did not marry (HUH I WONDER WHY *coughs* Thorin *coughs*), Bilbo adopted his second cousin once removed named Frodo, whose parents drowned in a lake.
If The Hobbit begins with Bilbo sitting on his front porch, smoking pipe, Fellowship of the Ring begins with Bilbo's 111th (Eleventy-first!) birthday which fell on exactly the same day as Frodo's 33th birthday. This is quite a momentous occasion as 33 is considered as coming of age for hobbitses, see. For that matter, Bilbo decided to throw a huge party that became the talk of the Shire. Although they talked about him behind his back, most the Shire hobbits were actually fond of him. Speaking of fondness, Bilbo's best friend, Gandalf, was also invited to the party.
Unbeknownst to everyone, Bilbo had a surprise planned for his guests. In the middle of the celebration, just as he was giving them speech, he went POOF! Even Gandalf was shocked. Feeling suspicious, he went after Bilbo to Bag End -- and right he was, that adorable hobbit was cackling in the living room for being able to trick the entirety Shire with a scandal that surely would be the hottest gossip at least for the year to come. In all seriousness though, Bilbo really wanted to leave. He felt stuck in the Shire. He wanted to, for the last time, go on an adventure, never to return.
It wasn't only Gandalf who had a mind to go after Bilbo to Bag End. Frodo also ran there, but he wasn't fast enough. Bilbo already left when he arrived, leaving only Gandalf. And the old wizard seemed preoccupied. He left soon after giving Frodo Bilbo's last message. Not only that, he also gave Frodo the strangest and vaguest instruction: to keep hidden and safe Bilbo's Ring that he'd found in Gollum's cave. Keep it secret, keep it safe.
Seventeen years later, Gandalf finally found the answer he sought. That Ring was the One Ring forged by Sauron to rule Middle Earth thousands of years ago. Since the end of the War of the Last Alliance, it had been mysteriously gone from the face of the earth. And now that the forces of darkness were gathering in Mordor, the Ring stirred from its long slumber and longed to return to its Master. Longed to, active, for Sauron poured bits of his soul into the Ring. If both were to reunite, Middle Earth will be covered in infinite darkness.
The only way to destroy the Ring was to throw it into the fires of Mount Doom where it had been forged. But when the alliance of Elves, Wizards, and Men were gathering, news that the Ring was under the protection of a Baggins of Shire approached the enemy. While Gandalf was explaining all of this to Frodo, the servants of Sauron were out to get him. Frodo and the Ring were no longer safe in the Shire. They hatched a plan for Frodo to escape to Rivendell, the Last Homely House East of the Sea which belonged to Elrond of the Elves who could protect him in the meantime. With his gardener, Samwise Gamgee, and his two best friends, Meriadoc Brandybuck and Peregrin 'Pippin' Took, Frodo began his own adventure -- albeit a much darker one to the one Bilbo had gone on to when he stepped out of Bag End decades ago.
EGGLYSIS
There is one particular review in Goodreads that caught my attention when writing my own review. The OP said that she had tried dozens of times reading and liking LotR trilogy since she was a teenager, yet still she found Tolkien's narration difficult. She wondered then how could a story she deemed boring could be adapted into an epic on screen, even bearing the status of a cult classic for fantasy nerds?
The answer is simple: because Tolkien didn't write badass description of battle and bloodshed. His narration has to be digested slowly per paragraph, each page. This is not a story of war -- in fact, Tolkien hated war. Much as he disliked allegory, LotR was clearly inspired by his experience in the First World War and written in such a way to show how destructive war is. No, LotR is not an epic fantasy war story -- it is actually an epic fantasy journey. Just imagine yourself strolling along the Old Forest with Frodo, Sam, Merry, and Pippin, meeting Tom Bombadil and Goldberry, being caught by nasty Old Man Willow, even almost fell victim to Barrow-wights. Each destination has its own story. The end does not justify the means.
It was said that when writing the LotR trilogy, Tolkien wanted to write a jolly good fun story, like The Hobbit. However, just like every writer's problem, the story grows in the telling. Suddenly, instead of the writer crafting the story he wanted, the characters and the plot take their own soul and tell the writer how their story is to be told *coughs* personal experience *coughs*. That exactly what happened with this book. It started off quite light hearted, a bit sense of déjà vu with The Hobbit, before it suddenly took a sharp turn and presented us with the classic epic fantasy of the last century.
Overall, The Fellowship of the Rings...
Click here to read the review in English.