J.R.R. Tolkien 4-Book Boxed Set: The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings : The Hobbit, The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, The Return of the King Mass Market Author: Visit Amazon's J.R.R. Tolkien Page | Language: English | ISBN:
0345538374 | Format: EPUB
J.R.R. Tolkien 4-Book Boxed Set: The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings : The Hobbit, The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, The Return of the King Mass Market Description
Amazon.com Review
Hobbits and wizards and Sauron--oh, my! Mild-mannered Oxford scholar John Ronald Reuel Tolkien had little inkling when he published
The Hobbit; Or, There and Back Again in 1937 that, once hobbits were unleashed upon the world, there would be no turning back. Hobbits are, of course, small, furry creatures who love nothing better than a leisurely life quite free from adventure. But in that first novel and the Lord of the Rings trilogy, the hobbits Bilbo and Frodo and their elvish friends get swept up into a mighty conflict with the dragon Smaug, the dark lord Sauron (who owes much to proud Satan in
Paradise Lost), the monstrous Gollum, the Cracks of Doom, and the awful power of the magical Ring. The four books' characters--good and evil--are recognizably human, and the realism is deepened by the magnificent detail of the vast parallel world Tolkien devised, inspired partly by his influential Anglo-Saxon scholarship and his Christian beliefs. (He disapproved of the relative sparseness of detail in the comparable allegorical fantasy his friend C.S. Lewis dreamed up in
The Chronicles of Narnia, though he knew Lewis had spun a page-turning yarn.) It has been estimated that one-tenth of all paperbacks sold can trace their ancestry to J.R.R. Tolkien. But even if we had never gotten Robert Jordan's
The Path of Daggers and the whole fantasy genre Tolkien inadvertently created by bringing the hobbits so richly to life, Tolkien's epic about the Ring would have left our world enhanced by enchantment.
--Tim Appelo --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Review
A flawless masterpiece" The Times Extraordinarily imaginative, and wholly exciting.' The Times 'The story itself is superb.' Observer 'A most remarkable feat.' Guardian 'An astonishing imaginative tour de force.' Daily Telegraph 'Tolkien was a storyteller of genius.' Literary Review 'Amongst the greatest works of imaginative fiction of the twentieth century.' Sunday Telegraph
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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- Mass Market Paperback: 1728 pages
- Publisher: Del Rey; Box Mti edition (September 25, 2012)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0345538374
- ISBN-13: 978-0345538376
- Product Dimensions: 7.2 x 4.4 x 4.2 inches
- Shipping Weight: 2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
I first read the Lord of the Rings & The Hobbit in 1969 at age 21. It helped to form my pattern of basic reading interest for years; I've re-read it aloud to my teenage daughters & son. (I've since gone on to complete a Masters in Education, and still find it marvelous reading!) My children loved it, of course! In reviewing some other readers' comments, I must say, it never occurred to me that Tolkien might be racist. I think THAT reader needs to get a grip and stop feeling sorry for him/herself because of his/her ethnicity! There are more races portrayed in the Trilogy than I believe that reader probably could conceive -- many of them very positively represented. Sauron, himself, wasn't human -- and physically, not a LIVING being at all. The characters are VERY well developed, along with their histories, their cultural background and the World of Middle Earth, generally. The reader who cast aspertions on Tolkien, lumping him in with Eddings, etc., apparently doesn't value fantasy writing as a genre. Eddings is a very fine writer also. I believe it helps to be in touch with your own youthful spirit, and have some inclination toward the pursuit of spiritual growth to appreciate to scope of this myth. Tolkien spoke to the heart, as much as, perhaps more than simply spinning a good adventure yarn -- altho' the Trilogy is certainly that, as well. To get at the kernal of Tolkien's truth, you MUST read The Silmarllion, which contains the ontological basis of the entire Rings works. His creation myth in The Silmarillion clarifies the basis for the conflict between Sauron and Gandalf (who are, not surprisingly, equals of the same race of beings -- not human at all), and the seeds for the entire epic battle.
J.R.R. Tolkien 4-Book Boxed Set: The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings : The Hobbit, The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, The Return of the King Mass Market Preview
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