Some thoughts...

I know that in a few of my posts I poked at "The Lord of the Rings" with what i hope was friendly humoour (at least, I considered it humoorous!). Well, I've decided to come clean...

The novel is a masterpiece and Tolkein was a genius.

He was a 20th Century author who was writing in a style of a Dumas or Dickens: huge cast, incredible detail and well-done set-pieces (the attack on Gondor, for example: Theoden bursting out, almost singing, with a call to the attack, the revelation of who Dernhelm actually was, etc.). But back to the details: great descriptions of every area the heroes moved through (even the place's history) and the constant references to the past, when there were more heroes and how things had changed for the worst since then.

J.R,R. wasn't afraid to point fingers: some of the noble elves getting out while the getting was good, the dwarves probably returning to the underground to hold out if they could, and, seeing it was almost The Age of Men, that some of humankind was corrupt or just plain evil.

He was also great with plot twists: Strider actually being the heir to the throne of Gondor, the duplicity of Saruman when his help was most needed and a hobbit saving the day against almost insurmountable odds (hobbits had been VERY underestimated!).

AlL this revolved around the ring. The concept of something so powerful but also so evil that even someone like like Gandalf (who was more or less a angel, as he'd been around since the Beginning of Time) could not use it for good without disaster, is compelling. I think it ranks as symbol in fantasy literature as the Lion representing Christ (in the "Narnia" series).

Well, I guess you can see I REALLY liked this novel!