I am not an enthusiast of the fantasy genre. I haven’t read too many books in this genre but the atmosphere of this type of novels just doesn’t suit me. The exception, however, is J.R.R. Tolkien’s trilogy. After about 20 years I decided to read it again.
I will not even give an outline of the plot. It is such a widely known novel (also due to the movie, of course) and I think everyone is familiar with at least the main plot or characters.
Tolkien has created a world in his novels that is at once very elaborate but also has many mysteries and insinuations. What particularly delights me (and bores many) are the extensive descriptions of nature. The idyllic and tranquil areas of the Shire, the dangerous and pristine mountains, the dark and gloomy areas of Mordor. There is a lot of geographical content, however, this is what makes this novel so amazing and believable to read.
The order and distribution of forces in this world (mainly in Middle-earth) that Tolkien proposes is very clear. There are forces of good, peace, honor and an opposing faction eager for power, destruction and chaos. The book depicts a very typical battle between good and evil, where both sides are clearly defined and there are very few contentious elements. The motivations of the characters are very clear and there is no room for psychological character development. After all, this is an adventure novel. The action in the book is, of course, not as dynamic and fast as in the film. For me, however, this is an advantage. Descriptions of nature, places, stories told by the characters made me better able to paint this world in my imagination. An amazing element for me are the additions related to languages. For the novel, Tolkien created the outlines of several languages and samples of them are used in the book. Another element that makes the world of Middle-earth so expansive and “real”.
It continues to be a great novel that I will certainly return to in a few years. There are universal values presented here like friendship, loyalty, the struggle between good and evil, which will always be relevant.