It's been more than thirty years since I read The Lord of the Rings, and over that time I've kind of solidified in my head what that series was: influential, ground-breaking, and imaginative, but also dense and old-fashioned, often feeling less accessible than the many imitators and descendants it spawned. It turns out, though, that that image isn't entirely true. Oh, there are bits of the Beowulf-inspired epic dialogue here and there, and yes, Tolkien occasionally wants to give you more detail than you need. But really, none of that is all that off-putting here, nor does it get in the way of its rich, propulsive, constantly evolving tale. I don't need to get into the details of the quest to destroy the One Ring here; what I will say is that it struck me on this read how little Tolkien was interested in any kind of traditional structure or pattern for the tale, as his characters split up and go all over the place, as plot threads intersect in unexpected ways, as the action so much revolves around the simplest and yet hardest task, and how heroism here doesn't look like it does in so many "epic" fantasies. Indeed, what I really realized on this read was how much Lord of the Rings is, at its core, a book about decency, kindness, and bravery in the face of dark times. It is a book about doing the right thing even when it is hard, about having faith that good can prevail and not giving into despair, and about the power of a simple life and simple needs. For all of the imagination here - and genuinely, familiarity has led us to take for granted the staggering scope and range of what Tolkien created in these books - what made Lord of the Rings so popular in my mind - and why it works as well today as it ever has - is how much it is a testament to the power of decency, love, and hope in the future, and about what it is to live in dark times. And sadly, those themes never get any less powerful or relevant.
A tangential set of thoughts: I've always been pretty dismissive of the claims of Lord of the Rings as allegory for Tolkien's war experiences, but on this read, it was hard not to think of the books in terms of the world wars of the first half of the twentieth century: of small countries who just want to be left alone and not worry about the larger world; about the trauma that comes from being in the midst of a battle; about finding heroism thrust onto those who are not searching for it; about the importance of learning when you must fight for a cause; and about the experience of coming home to find that your world is changed and you are no longer the person you were. I tend to defer to Tolkien himself, who comments that "many confuse 'applicability' with 'allegory,'" a comment which nicely sums up my own feelings on it; this is a book that is undeniably relevant in the time in which it was written, and the fact that so much of it still applies today speaks to it being a book about something more human and universal than just the fantasy world that it is depicting. And yet nonetheless, it is also a book that reflects its times and its author in ways that I suspect the author himself was never entirely aware of.
The Lord Of The Rings: One Volume
4.9 | 12,803 ratings
Price: 15.99
Last update: 03-26-2025
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Josh MautheNo less relevant or powerful after nearly a century - and no less vividly imaginative and stunning
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