the lord of the rings: the fellowship of the ring

the fellowship of the ring by jrr tolkien

This book ends with such a bang. The last half dozen chapters are such all timers (and it’s funny to think that the full fellowship is really only together for maybe 4 chapters total). I think biographically I was lucky; I read the series before the Peter Jackson films came out and completely ate the books, so I don’t have the entirety of my impression of this book set by the film (although it is impressive how thoroughly it’s colonized my recollection).

I’m not going to log this reading by reading like I tried to with the hobbit (and fell off of), so just quick hits here at the end.

What a book. “I will diminish and go into the west” has lived in my head as a go to for decades.

The mines of moria are still probably the most exciting piece of fantasy I’ve ever read. A mini horror story in the middle of this epic fantasy. Hah, I’m going to end up playing through Blackrock depths again to try to recapture some of this Moria feeling, aren’t I?

Gimli is so much cooler in these books than he is in the movie.

I thought this book ended with Boromir’s death, but I think I’m realizing that’s the movies – I’ll have to revisit the movies too, I can’t readily recall the last time I watched them.