Tolkien has created something so unique, so intelligent, that even all these years later it is the paragon of high fantasy. I first read it one year ago when I was 18, and it still echoes in my mind. I can hardly bear to pick up the book again, because I want to remember the rapture and awe I felt when I first read it. The style is eloquent, yet simple. It is heavy, yet innocent.
The humor is uplifting, the darkness intense, the characters endearing. I have never seen such a strong example friendship in any novel as there is in Lord of the Rings. The book is second to none, unrivaled, unprecedented. If your attention span is short, don’t read it. But if you care for complex and intelligent worlds, you will not be disappointed. As someone who watched the movies first, I must mention the fabulous job Peter Jackson did. Not everything was exactly by the book, but the spirit of the book was preserved, and that is what you want for a move. You don’t want a carbon copy of the book, because then the movies are boring and predictable, and there is no fun in going back to read the book as I did.
Books and movies are two very different ways of telling a story, and cannot be the same. Books are ideas strung into sentences and paragraphs that lead the reader into an imaginary narrative. They are entirely based on words, and most make the most of simple letters. Movies, in contrast, deal with visuals and sounds. The characters assume faces, places become structures. It is an entirely different realm of story telling. What is important, then, is that the author’s intentions be honored and the spirit be preserved. Ideally, a movie should endear you to the characters and create visual images that can be used when reading the book, and the book should reveal and expand on the characters you are already in love with. I like the fact that Jackson took exact quotes from some characters, and gave them to others. I like that some things were mixed about. When I read the book, the differences were exciting changes, and I was eager to know more. In conclusion, Tolkien is the master, and Jackson constructed excellent portrayal of his masterpiece.