High expectations that were met. Obviously (duh) a must for fantasy lovers
I find it particularly difficult to review a book that is considered a classic, because there are so many expectations attached to it that it becomes hard to differentiate between your own opinion, the general consensus and expectations that were possibly set too high.Well, as for the expectations I'm quite surprised to say that they have not been met, but exceeded. I enjoyed every minute I've spent with the first part of The Lord of the Rings (and it has been many minutes). The language is exceptionally beautiful, the characters endearing and the story surprisingly much more interesting than what you'd expect after encountering the 'they just walk'-meme once too often. I will say that the story did seem a little repetitive in the last third (the entire chapter surrounding Lothlorien felt like Rivendell all over again) but before that, Tolkien takes the reader along on an immersing adventure journey. I will say that the more light-hearted first half of the book was a little more enjoyable to me than the second, more grim part of the book. The last chapter, however, was perhaps one of my favourite ones if not my most favourite.One thing that irritated me about the world-building was that in a high fantasy world time is measured in the same months and years as we do in our world. It feels lazy and unfitting for Middle Earth to be surrounded by the same moon and the same calendar we use. Might be nit-picky to point out, but just something I noticed every time it was mentioned and it did take me out of the story a little.The language alone makes this at least a 4-star read. The descriptions are simply beautiful, each page is filled with wisdom LOTR is filled with quotable lines that will enrich your day, if not your life. I really liked Frodo as a main character and the rest of the cast, except for Boromir and perhaps Gandalf in some installments were loveable as well. The friendship between the hobbits was simply lovely.I feel like when it comes to Tolkien's Middle Earth , there's three groups, the people who enjoy The Hobbit and don't enjoy LOTR, and the people who enjoy LOTR and not the Hobbit (and, of course, the people who have enjoyed both.) So if you (like me) found 'The Hobbit' to be quite a dull read, here's my recommendation to try LOTR. If you did enjoy The Hobbit, try LOTR nevertheless and see if you fit into the third group. Enjoy.It's not quite a 5-star read for me, simply because there were a few dull chapters and moments, and I want to see what's more to come in the next two installments of the series.4.25 stars
