A few years ago I tried to read the novel in a month. Bad idea -- I didn't get through it. Lord of the Rings is dense. As J.R.R. Tolkien famously said in his preface, "This tale grew in the telling." And what author hasn't realized how much a new world can expand? How about those Harry Potter books, or the legions upon legions of Tolkien rip-offs, such as Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time (now approaching 13 books)? The question is, are the things put in the book interesting?
It depends on what you like. Tolkien manages to stuff a bunch of different things into his book, though. First off, this is a road trip, so there's a lot of scenery. That's pretty nice, although it gets tedious in large quantities. However, the most boring parts of the scenery for me were the incessant names. Tolkien created a really deep mythology, yes, but the exotic names of rivers and land formations (and hilltops, for crying out loud) approach self-indulgence.
How dare I criticize the mythology of Lord of the Rings? Well, to be fair, I liked other in-depth parts. I like the frequent songs, and the stories of olden days are usually pretty interesting. These are fleshed-out and thematically linked to the story, and they make me want to go and read the dozen or so books Tolkien wrote as background material.
You see, The Lord of the Rings wasn't conceived as a novel. It was conceived first as a linguistics project, then as a world. The incredibly lofty Silmarillion that serves as a prequel was actually conceived first. Tolkien's purpose was to create a whole new culture, and that's a pretty ambitious goal. Considering the legions of fans who now speak fluent Elvish, I'd say Tolkien (somehow) accomplished it.
But the tale did grow in the telling, and what The Fellowship of the Ring's explicit, primary purpose is, is to tell a story. Near the beginning, this works rather well, but as the Fellowship convenes in the second half and moves closer to Mordor, the scenery, names, and mythology get more and more fleshed-out. To some, this is a good thing. But to me, I wished I could have lingered on those names and found out exactly what they mean, instead of reading them as a boring throwaway.
Also discouraging is that the book ends on a humongous cliffhanger. There is a long way to go yet, even if the next two books get progressively shorter and the problem of the One Ring is resolved about halfway through book 3. However, this also shows a lot of promise, because some characters' stories will become more important. Merry and Pippin don't get their spotlight until The Two Tower, so that's something to look forward to.
I'm reading this book from the perspective of one who's read it (mostly) once before, and loves the movies (and saw them first). The books hearken back to a beautiful time, and I'm being a little unfair with them. But really, would it kill Tolkien to give me a little more hope at the end of book 1?
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