J.R.R. Tolkien: The Hobbit and the Complete Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, The Return of the King/Boxed Set

A reviewer

If there were any wor to describe these volumes it would be in a distant dictionary. The deatail put into every sentence is staggering. I have a degree in English literature and this book is by far the most intreguing novel of all. In heaven it is published in gold for God.

8 out of 8 people found this review helpful.

Wonderful!

This is a magical set of books, you curl up on a chair, start to read and this world just fades away as you enter the world of the Hobbit.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Doesn't Get Any Better

The ultimate story of good vs evil. On other occations I can usually be found avoiding classic stories at any or all cost but, to my surprise, I fell in love with these books. Tolkien really is the master of language and descriptions. Unforgetable characters. Wonderfully written. Deep emotional story. J.R.R Tolkien is sure to excite and delight.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

English Literature @ It's Very Best.

What can you say about one of the best works of English Literature of the 20th Century if not ever. This work will raise you childs reading comprehension level many grade levels. J.R.R. Tolkien is a master and shows the beauty of the English language.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

A reviewer

I just picked up a few of these at the B&N store in my hometown. This is a wonderful set for the fantasy reader on your list. Tolkien is a legend for a reason- his fluid, descriptive writing style and unbelievable ability to build a realistic world complete with different culures, languages, and legends. Even though the movies are amazing, they don't compare to the way Tolkien weaves the tale through words.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

The Best

These are simply the best books that I have ever read, which is really saying something because I usually read at least one book per week. The amazing adventures and old-English style have caused me to reread them many times.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Greatest Series Ever!!!

The Lord of the Rings is the greatest series or book I have EVER read. Tolkien wrote them well, and it shows that he is a great writer. I love every part of the story and recommend it to the highest.

1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

The best books you'll ever read

My parents bought me the Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings set after I said how much I liked the first movie. I knew the movie was incredible,but the books are even better. You just lose yourself in the detail and the story. I highly recommend reading these books. You will not regret it.

1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Pretty good...BUT

There were times when I couldn't put it down, but there were also times when I feel the author didn't give as much emotion or at least do a very good job of transfering emotion to the reader. I have read plenty of books that are excellent at doing so, but this okay. Although some parts were really good. BETTER than The Hobbit, I know that. I did not like The Hobbit. I haven't finished reading the second book though, I'm only about half way through. I'm sure the story gets even better :)

It seemed like it'd be a good series...

When I read this a few years ago, I was determined to read the whole thing. I had borrowed the books from my uncle and I felt like I had to read it. And I did, sadly. I was orighinally interested, the beginning and the end were pretty good. But the slow drag in the middle was just terrible. I don't really remember that time period but my frienda tell me that I was never happy when reading it, like I couldn't take my mind off the slow dark tale of JRR Tolkien. The story had a good original idea to it, but there was deffinetly a writer's block in there because it was so slow. I would not reccomend it if your're used to constant excitement like in Harry Potter. I'd acturally say you could skip the whole middle and just read the beginning and the end...or maybe, if you want to know the whole story, just watch the movies, those don't drag along like the books.

this is one amazing book series

i love this book series!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

tolkien is one of the best authors of our time!!!!!!!!!!!!

i loved both the hobbit and the lord of the rings!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Great read. Awesome story!

Hi everyone,
Let me start by stating that this review is a final assignment for a Fiction study class that I took at my local community college. During the semester we read both the Hobbit and LOTR trilogy. After reading the books, we watched all three of the major motion pictures for comparison.
I recommend these books to any person who enjoys the fantasy fiction genre. It is extraordinary that Tolkien brought to life all of the characters, languages, and the realm of middle earth in this story. The hobbit was the quickest to get through, which is probably because it was intended for a younger audience to read. The fellowship of the ring was a bit slower to finish, but pack with good information about the characters and their origins. Tolkien does a wonderful job at drawing in the reader with colorful descriptions of the lands throughout middle earth. I was amazed by all of the detail Tolkien put into the various races and landmarks throughout the books. It can get a little bit confusing following the history that is given to support the events that take place in the books, which would probably be my only negative thing to say about them.
I recommend that you first read the books before watching the movies. However, I will say that by seeing the movies prior to reading the books I was able to quickly associate faces with the characters and names on the pages. This made the reading a little more enjoyable. It was a bit disappointing not seeing certain characters from the books in the movies or seeing various events altered. If you can refrain from getting held up on this, then the movies are very enjoyable. If you can get a hold of the extend versions, you will see a few more things from the books.
The Tolkien brought to life all the things I love to see in a book, which are: friendships, adventures, epic battles, and the quintessential good vs. evil backdrop. I also loved how Tolkien described food throughout the story. I know this sounds weird. Essentially, when the characters from the story were able to sit and enjoy a meal, Tolkien described the setting so gloriously. Again, I recommend the trilogy to anyone who loves to read fantasy-adventure type books.

The Books and the Movies

I had the privilege to take a Fiction class at a community college in California, in which we read and watched The Lord of the Rings series (including the hobbit) and discussed various aspects of the books and movies throughout the semester. I have never read the books before the class and I have only watched the movies once. The class provided a good opportunity to read and watch them, as well discuss it with other people who enjoy fantasy. We were able to look at the story from two different viewpoints and compare and contrast the different angles. It was a fun experience.
As I stated above, the class and I got to look at The Lord of the Rings series from two different angles (the movies and the books). This was an amazing experience and I would recommend everyone to do it (even the purists). Not only did we get to see the story from the view of the original author, but also from the minds of film makers (and everyone else included in making a film). We were then able to analyze and discuss the different styles, imagery, methods, and processes of telling a story. Being interested in writing and reading fiction, it was a great experience to learn why the styles, imagery, and methods were different. The books have to spend a lot of time telling the reader the scenery, which can get a little boring, then show what is happening with the characters, while the movies allow the viewers to see the scenery and what the characters are doing at the same time. It was also interesting to find out what why certain parts of the story did not make it into the movie.
One thing that I liked comparing was my imagination of all that was happening and what the film makers' imagination of what was happening. Since I had watched the movies before I actually read the books, I already had the view of the movie makers. As I read I kept comparing what I saw to what they saw. There were some similarities because the movie had an influence on the way I saw the book in my mind, but I pictured some of the characters differently as well as the voices. The environment in the movie was pretty close to what I imagined from the books because Tolkien was so detailed in his explanation of the land of Middle Earth. I do believe that the film makers did a very good job in creating the environment, but I do not like the fact that they portrayed most of Middle Earth with a lot of forests. They only gave the views a small portion of what Middle Earth really looked like.
All in all, both the read and watch were extremely entertaining and I learned a great amount about storytelling because of it. There were also many aspects about the story and history of Lord of the Rings that I did not know about that was explored in the class. I hope do be able to do this with other fiction pieces.

Read the books first

I am writing this review as part of a class assignment. I am currently a student at a community college in California. In our class, we read all the Hobbit, the three of the Lord of the Rings and saw the entire Lord of The Rings movies. I never read the Lord of the Rings books growing up, elves and trolls were not things that grabbed my attention, I read super hero comics, and am not ashamed to say that I still do. My first introduction to Tolkien was The Lord of The Rings movies, but as I previously mentioned, I did not see them in theaters, I rented them, and try as hard as Elijah Wood and Orlando Bloom could, I could not manage to stay awake during all three of them. But I genuinely tried to like them, because as the movies were coming out, I challenged myself to step out of my comfort zone and read the source material. I went to the library, picked up the Lord of The Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring and The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, I do not know why I did not pick up the Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, and started to read. Unfortunately I was spoiled rotten by the pictures and the visual action that the comics gave me that as soon as I got into Tolkien's ultra-descriptive storytelling, I fell asleep and swore to myself to never read the books. Years passed, I still read comic books, but I felt that my reading tastes had matured. Much to my surprise, when I discovered that the assigned reading for the class was the Lord of the Rings, I have to admit, I groaned. It would be a lie if I said that after reading Tolkien's epic story that my perspective towards the genre has changed. Though I still cannot manage to stay awake through the films, I will admit that my perspective towards Tolkien's books has changed. Tolkien wrote an epic story that for the sake of publishing was broken into three books and in these three books Tolkien managed to tell one huge story about good and evil, friendship, hardship, respect for nature, the value of community and the horrors of war. I managed to read through the details that at first seemed excessive but I ultimately learned why so many people have read the books. If I were to recommend the Lord of the Rings to someone, I would tell them to read the books and skip the movies, because the books contain all the information that the films cut out, and Peter Jackson, the director of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, did a great job, but I feel that the books still do Tolkien's story justice

My Number 1 Favorite!!!

I have been reading 'The Lord of the Ring' since I was 12. I am now 16 and J.R.R. Tolkien is still my favorite author. 'The Hobbit' I read when I was 11, and since then I have read 'The Hobbit' and 'The Lord of the Ring' so many times that I have lost count. I even managed to recite the first chapter of 'The Hobbit' once!! I love these books to death!

two thumbs up for j.r.r. tolkien!

very good books! but after watching the movies so many times i found it hard to get through them. that's to be expected though.

AMAZING

i love this movie and these books. they are my absolute favorite. i know that probably sounds weird coming from the mouth of a 12 year ols girl but i just LOVE it!!!!!! it is absolutely amazing. i am recommending a book called The Princess Bride. it is right up there with The Lord of the Rings! and it is actually written by S. Morgenstern, who doesnt exist. William Goldman was pretending to be editing S. Morgensters classic tale of true love and high adventure when he actually wrote it himself. its quite amazing really. just like Lord of the Rings!!!!! <3 <3 <3

The Best Book I've Ever read!!!!

Lord of the Rings is the best book I've ever read! I love the way Tolkien writes. He is so descriptive that I can picture(and hear, smell, and feel) everything in the book. I love the story. I can definately relate it to Christianity. I watched the movies first, and immediately became Lord of the Rings' biggest fan. (Which by the way, I recommend the movies also. I have watched them 20 times!) They are just as good as the books in my opinion. I couldn't wait to read the books. When I started reading, I couldn't stop! I am also glad that this pack included The Hobbit. It tells how the ring was found and must be read BEFORE the Lord of the Rings. Also, if you are interested in the Languages used in the book(Elvish, Quenya,etc.) or writing in Elvish or Dwarvish runes, I recommend the book "The Languages of Tolkiens Middle Earth" by Ruth S. Noel. It is also a good book. Anyway, I LOVE Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit. I will probably read them over and over again. It is a good book for anyone to read. Anyone who gets it will be happy they did. It is a REALLY GREAT book!

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