Being the Seventh Post of my Project Reread...I came to a realization shortly into The Return of the King... The Lord of the Rings is not a favorite fantasy series of mine any longer. This was a somewhat troubling insight that I was not anticipating. I read these books for the first time so long ago that I feel something was lost in the years between their first discovery and this most recent read of them. I know the story and the constant “I know where this is going” while reading the series finally caught up with me with The Return of the King. Tolkien’s world, as I am sure I have mentioned before, I feel is such a wonderful creation that I sometimes find it hard to criticize the story’s shortcomings.
I often find myself internally defending my enjoyment of quest style fantasy books - I mean, come on, in the end it all turns out OK, but if the journey was fun, why knock it? Character complexities and the richness of a world play a large part in such a story. The richness of the world is, in my opinion, something Tolkien sure nailed down rather completely in Middle Earth. The complexity of some characters on the other hand could be argued. Additionally, the good versus evil, as portrayed in The Lord of Rings, is too clear cut, and thus opens itself up to criticism. As I read through The Return of the King, my misgivings about some these aspects, and others, came to the surface and I have yet to fully flesh out all my thoughts on the subject... I mean, I loved The Lord of the Rings - I love the world and history Tolkien created - yet for some reason the story no longer holds that same place in my heart. In some way the story is just a means for me to experience the world, and certainly a “great” book has those two things, world and story, intertwined to the point where it is all one - for The Lord of the Rings, those things somehow separate themselves, leaving me loving the world, yet only liking the story (I wonder if that makes any sense to anyone besides me).
I enjoyed my reread of the series well enough, but sadly I think it will be quite some time before I feel a longing to return to Middle Earth (and then it will most likely be through the movies, or through some of Tolkien’s various other writing which I have note read - i.e. The Children of Hurin). Tolkien’s creation is a must for everyone to read once in their lives... full rereads of the series should be left to the super fans out there, and for everyone else who merely “liked” it I would instead recommend picking it up from time to time and an immersing yourself in the world for a day or two - you already know the story, so pick a favorite section and reread it. Maybe as time passes, my memories again will take hold and change in such a way that Tolkien will once again be near the top of my “I loved” list, but for the time being the Lord of the Rings will be at conflict in my mind.
Was it worth a reread? Yes, I feel the experience of rereading Lord of the Rings, even through the realization that the series is not one of my favorites, has left me with the ability to talk more intelligently about fantasy literature... my teenage memories were a fine thing, but as an adult I think it best to re-examine opinions, and that is what this reread has ultimately provided - a clearer and better thought out opinion. Do I recommend reading Tolkien? Yes, absolutely. But in the end, the ability of Fantasy to go beyond what Tolkien did, will be its saving grace - the more varied and literary stories to appear within the genre, the closer it will come to escaping out of the popular notion that somehow the genre is nothing but kids’ stuff - a belief that all Fantasy fans can get behind, I’m sure (and probably something worthy of a better thought out argument than I just made).
. . .
Up next on my Project Read - The Dragon Reborn by Robert Jordan - I am very much looking forward to getting back into Robert Jordan’s world. The contrasts to Tolkien are plenty, and somehow I know my enjoyment of the Wheel of Time books has not lessened over time. Additionally, from what I have been to tell, it looks like A Memory of Light will be available in the late fall of this year, so I want to have the first 11 books wrapped up by then. There has also been signs that A Dance with Dragons could be out in the fall too (though this I am less concerned about as there are only 3 more books for me to reread in the Song of Ice and Fire, not 9 like with the Wheel of Time).
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