Lord of the Rings - Not a Review

Technorati Tag(s): Books, Opinion

The best thing about J. R. R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings is that it isn't anything else but a story and a world.

Sure, you can pick at it and find meaning, philosophy, ideals, but that's something you can do with anything. Even The Da Vinci Code.

Consider: Fellowship begins with a problem and the characters immediately set about solving it. No deep characterisation, no motives, no justification. Just hop-te-do, here we go to the wide world with hairy feet and unruly hair.

Two Towers sets up the stage for the grand finale. Return of the King gives us the finale.

There are things I don't like about the book--deus ex machina is almost gleefuly present, so is scruffy dialog.

But it does what it sets out to do: tell a story.

A good one, at that.

I don't know about you, but I don't really expect anything else from a novel.