The Two Towers
Ratings1,497
Average rating4.5
An excellent second part of the greatest fantasy series of all time! The continuation of the story and Tolkien's writing style are truly a marvel. While at times it can be difficult, I still like the style. I would say this is the last step in writing syntax before “modern” modern English since Tolkien was a young man during World War I. And yes, I call it this as not being a scholar of language, unlike Mr. Tolkien.
I read the first half of this book in college, right after reading the first one, but then college got in the way and it fell by the wayside. This was before the movies had been released, but I can say that I'm not a fan of the way Tolkien did the whole first half of the book from the AGL side and then went back to Frodo and Sam. That could just be the modern me used to this in the movies, or even in other book series. And again, it's a personal preference, but some of the sections with just the three characters in an endless march may have been one of the reasons I didn't follow through on this series many years ago. I am glad that the book dropped Gollum's hiss speak shortly after his introduction. That would have been annoying to have to read through for almost 200 pages. The book also gives a much more nuanced view of Gollum, not proving until near the end that he had planned to betray them all along.
One of the things that amazed me is how faithful the Peter Jackson movies remained to the books. Yes, Saruman isn't killed here in the books, and the elves don't come to Helm's Deep in the book. The movies were excellent, but it was great to finally see all the meat in the stories and get in-depth. Heck, it was funny reading the conversation between the orcs in the tower, as if they were an organized army with ranks and a hierarchy. Most more recent views of orcs show them as little more than a mob that simply follows the best killer among them.
Overall, while not as good as the Fellowship, but still well worth reading, and not simply the bridge between Books 1 and 3.
It's a classic! Can't not read it, but I do tire a bit of reading about super-men. The second half (Frodo and Sam's journey to Mordor) was far more interesting than the first, which is mostly people getting upset with each other for no reason.
Lu en VO.
Encore une fois, on se replonge avec plaisir dans la Terre du Milieu. Et encore une fois, on en découvre bien plus sur son univers que dans les films, plus portés sur l'action. Et c'est ça que j'aime avec ces livres !
Once again, we are plunged back into Middle-earth. And once again, we discover much more about his universe than in the movies, more focused on action. And that's what I like about these books!
Coming at these books as someone who enjoyed D&D as a kid, and whose exposure to Lord Of The Rings has (until now) been almost entirely conjured from the Jackson and Bakshi films, I was amazed by how closely I recognized the world and characters of The Fellowship Of The Ring in the novel. Everything felt familiar. With The Two Towers, however, even though I could recognize many of the core events, I felt the world was much more lush and the characters were much more nuanced than I had in mind. This is where the narrative element of the written word upends the visual medium, more so than with the first book. The other note I have is in regards to the language used by Tolkien, which is so wonderfully delicate and poetic. It really feels anachronistic to the 30's and 40's era it rose up from. Now onward, to The Return Of The King!
The masterpiece continues. And with it the feeling that I am an inhabitant of the fictional Middle-Earth and walking and going on an adventure like Mr Frodo!
Ents don't fuck around
punch down your town, drown what's left
be nice to trees, jeez.
Les aventures de la Communauté de l'Anneau, désormais dissoute, se poursuit. La première partie, suivant les aventures d'Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli, Pippin et Merry m'a beaucoup plu, tandis que la seconde, avec Frodo et Sam m'a un peu plus ennuyé au début, même si la fin est plus intéressante. J'ai en tout cas toujours envie de poursuivre avec le troisième “tome”.
Executive Summary: This might be my least favorite of the three, but there is still a lot to love here.
Audio book: Rob Inglis once again does an excellent job. I especially enjoyed his voice for Gollum. I wonder if Andy Serkis based his voice for the movie on this performance. They seem rather similar. Once again the audio is an excellent option for doing these books, though I'd probably skip through all the songs if I could.
Full Review
I'm not going to spend much time reviewing this book. Not really worth my time or yours. This series isn't for everyone, but I do thing all fantasy fans should read it at least once.
I don't like this as much as Fellowship, but on this reread I found it less slow than I remember. Or really I should say the second half.
I think one way the movie was better than the book is by blending the two halves together. I find the first half with Aragorn, Gimli and Legolas to be a lot more enjoyable than the parts with Frodo, Sam and Golem. That said, I didn't find the seconds half of this book as slow as I remember.
In the first half you have Rohan, the return of Gandalf and the battle at helms deep. The second half you have a lot of walking and muttering. But there is Faramir who shows what an asshat his brother Boromir really is, if you didn't get that already in the last book. And the part with Shelob is of course excellent.
Overall there is a lot to like in this book, though probably not as much as first or last books. The good parts more than make up for the slower parts for me though and this still a book I will happily reread several more times I'm sure.
I've long loved this series and have looked forward to listening to the unabridged audio. The reader does a fantastic job reading, giving characters unique voices, and even singing songs.
I found listening this time through, that my mind would wander as I listened. I think that is due to the dense amount of detail and I typically listen while doing other things.
A great performance of a great book, in the end.
3.75 out of 5 stars
The quest continues...
The Fellowship is broken and our beloved characters are sent their separate ways. There are fewer consequential/memorable events in The Two Towers by my estimation, but Tolkien's storytelling is still enchanting and his world beautifully imagined.
Many parts of the second in THE epic trilogy evokes strong feelings and really pulls you into the story. Despair, sacrifice, doom, hopelessness, fear, temptation, then hope, salvation, friendship, love, and loyalty.
...never done this before...has to be done though...I rate LOTR a 10...
an amazing series of books!
I read all three books, one after the other, just before the first movie came out.
A classic. What else is there to say, other than it's probably high time that I reread it!