The Fellowship of the Ring
Ratings2,224
Average rating4.4
at this point it's taken long enough that i realize if i wanna read more exciting things i should do that first
To tell you the truth, I was never a big fan of the film adaptation and it may have distorted my perception of the book a bit. But I'll try to be objective and see this first installment of the trilogy in all its glory, which everyone is rightfully praising.
The story is definitely out of its time, for which the author deserves a bow and a standing ovation. The first volume is so enriched with the history of a non-existent world that it feels almost real in places. History described in such depth that it may bore some readers to death, but extremely important to understanding the storyline.
I'm not rushing into the second volume, but it would be a shame to walk away from such a fantasy at the outset.
Enfin !!! Presque 25 après avoir vu le premier film, j’ai enfin eu le courage d’attaquer la lecture de l’œuvre de Tolkien.
J’ai hâte de lire les 2 autres romans de la trilogie car à aucun moment je n’ai ressenti que le livre avait été écrit il y a plus de 50 ans
Although at times this book feels slow, each of these moments pays off extremely well and makes sure that the time wasn't wasted. Although I love the movies, and they compliment the reading of this, the writing itself brings so much character, intensity and clarity within the story. Can't believe it's taken me so many years to commit to reading this!
Contains spoilers
Como qualquer livro de fantasia, foi moroso e confuso especialmente no que toca a nomes. Sei que acrescentam dinamismo, mas não fui grande fã das canções (se bem que a tradução não faz milagres). A nível de enredo, surpreendeu-me a rapidez com a qual se lidou com o desaparecimento do Gandalf, pela negativa.
Hey there! So, I just finished reading “The Fellowship of the Ring” by J.R.R. Tolkien, and I thought I'd jot down my thoughts. Keep in mind, I'm not usually into fantasy books, but I decided to give this a shot since it's such a classic.
First off, this was my introduction to proper fantasy literature, and I've got to say, it kind of confirmed my suspicions that fantasy might not be my cup of tea. Don't get me wrong, the book wasn't bad – it just didn't blow me away.
The story follows Frodo, a hobbit who inherits a powerful ring and sets off on a journey to destroy it. Sounds exciting, right? Well, it kind of is, but also kind of isn't. The whole book felt like one long walking tour through Middle-earth. We meet new characters, visit different kingdoms, and face some dangers along the way. It's definitely an adventure, but sometimes I found myself thinking, “Okay, but when is something really going to happen?”
I will say that I enjoyed the characters and their interactions. Tolkien does a great job of making you feel like you're part of the fellowship. The friendships, the bravery, the scary moments – it all feels very real. But for me, the plot itself was a bit thin. It's basically “hobbit finds ring, hobbit must destroy ring” stretched out over hundreds of pages.
The writing style is pretty easy to follow, which I appreciated. However, I did struggle with remembering all the names of people and places. Seriously, does every character and location need such a complicated name?
By the end of the book, I wasn't super excited to pick up the next one in the series. I mean, I can see why people love it – the world-building is impressive, and there's a sense of epic scale to everything. But for me, it just didn't click in a way that made me want to invest more time in the story.
I'd give it 3 out of 5 stars. It's well-written and I can appreciate why it's a classic, but it didn't quite hit the mark for me personally. If you're into fantasy or want to check out a cornerstone of the genre, go for it! But if you're like me and prefer books with more straightforward plots, maybe think twice before diving in.
Remember, this is just my take as a casual reader. Millions of people absolutely love this book, so don't let my opinion stop you if you're curious about it!
I just finished the book, and I'm having a hard time deciding what to write. What could I possibly say that would add to the conversation about this masterpiece of a series? I've decided against writing a review because it would be twenty plus pages long.
3/5
It is a wonderfully rich and well thought out world and story. For which I love this book and the world Tolkien created. The way the story is told is not quite for me.
The general feeling was a mix between ‘quite dull' and ‘interesting bits'. Most parts read slow, laden with text that does enrich the world, but does not progress the story (much).
I don't mind all the details and descriptions of the world, I do quite enjoy the story told in such a detailed world. But the balance was a bit off for me.
It feels like the characters are a means to tell the story. They're all quite shallow. It seems they are not much more than a name on the page with a character trait or two.
The way it is told you get a sense of what they are feeling or thinking sometimes, but not much. Neither is there very much dialog between them. As a reader I feel quite disconnected from the characters. I can imagine how tough or perilous the journey would be, but it doesn't quite hit me.
Okay officially enrolled into LOTR fanclub!
Fantastic writing, world-building, and characters!
On to second book of the series!
I've seen all the movies and I thought “It's about time to read the books, maybe the Hobbit as well.”
So.
When they say this book is slow-paced. Believe them. It might just be that I don't like slow-paced books but it got downright excruciating to read this book at times. Most of the time with a book this size I can finish it in 2, maybe 3 days depending on time and motivation. It took me two weeks to finish this because I would read one, maybe two chapters before I got bored or my attention was taken by something else because practically NOTHING happens in this book. I can count the number of interesting/action scenes on one hand. The other 80% of the book is long, slightly confusing descriptions of scenery or paragraphs on paragraphs of traveling drudgery, which is another pet peeve of mine in books. I can't stand long descriptions of traveling that serve no real purpose.
The interesting/action scenes were fine, but I honestly don't know how much I would have liked them if I hadn't already seen them happen in the movies. They definitely didn't make up for the rest of the book, which I had to start treating like required reading just to finish. I'll admit that in the last ~60 pages I started skimming because I just wanted to be done.
I was pretty disappointed in this book. If it was just a random fantasy book I probably would've DNFed about 25% through, but I pushed on so I could at least say I read the first book in this series, because it's looking highly unlikely that I'll finish the trilogy itself, let alone read The Hobbit or The Silmarillion like my best friend wants me to.
There were some parts that I liked. Sam and Frodo got a lot more personality in the books, but it also felt like as a result, the rest of the Fellowship got drained of their personalities? Except for Gandalf, Frodo, and Sam, the rest of the Company just blurred together for me. I couldn't individually pick out who was saying what before a dialogue tag because they all had the same voice, so to speak. The movies fleshed them out much more, I feel.
Overall, disappointing. I rated it a little higher than I wanted for nostalgia but I still did not enjoy this book.
I struggled a lot with what to rate this book. On the one hand, it's a classic and I have loved it since I was a teenager. On the other hand, on this read-through, I felt like I had jumped in to the middle of a series rather than the first book. There were so many more ancient-historical references (I'm talking Silmarillion old) than I remembered. I felt like it distracted from the characters and made it hard to read.
Age range: 15+
Read with a dictionary in hand, and a willingness to just blow past things you don't understand.
A very strong albeit more traditional entry in the fantasy genre. Pacing is only slow when the world-building gets lengthy.
The Hobbit is definitely better. The Frodo and Sam stuff is great, everything else is kind of mediocre. I feel the same about the movie, but there's much more Frodo and Sam in the movie. But, there is enough in here for me to enjoy most of it. I'm kind of scared to read Two Towers, because I expect there to be even less Frodo.
It took me almost 2 months to finish this which is probably the longest it's taken me to finish a book since reading the A Song of Ice and Fire series a few years back. I almost returned it to the library before finishing, but I'm glad I stuck with it to the end! I enjoyed the story - even though there's a lot of walking - and how it set up the next books in the series. I'm looking forward to following Frodo and Sam on their next adventure!
A book that is a fantasy classic and a must read for anyone trying to get into fantasy.
It took me a really long time to get around to reading this book every time I put it down just because the movies are such an amazing adaptation that ever time I tried reading it I felt like I was reading the extended extended edition with some not as good plot points such as Tom bombadill, the Gardner, and the fact that Arwen was basically not in the book at all.
But I did find myself really enjoying it after the fellowship was formed because I then got enthralled with the characters Im already in love with and getting to read more about their history and reading new dialogue.
That being said if you want to read something that completely sucks you into a new world this is a great read but overall I completely understand why so many people who aren't already fans of the films have a hard time reading these books.
Kinda like naruto in the sense that it has really good, exceptional peaks and the rest is bland and repetitive. I hope the next parts fare better.
I decided it's been way too long since I read LotR. I had a lot of stuff to do, so decided to listen to the new audiobook narrated by Andy Serkis. On the whole I felt like he did a great job. His Tom Bombadill was very annoying to me and I decidedly didn't enjoy his performance in many of the songs.
I still love the story, though, and the characters, and the language and...