The Lord of the Rings
by J.R.R. Tolkein
Why did I wait so long to read this book?
If you haven't read it yet, you'd better get started. I hate to pontificate about stuff like this, but it should be part of every school's literature curriculum. It should be, but not just because I say so.
This one-volume trilogy has been repeatedly voted the best book of the 20th Century, and its author has repeatedly been chosen as the 20th Century's best author. I just discovered the reason.
I'm just a beginner. I've only read it three times. My sister has read it more than twenty times.
It's not just that it is the seminal fantasy, sword-and-sorcery work, upon which all others are fashioned. It's not just that it's incredibly readable, in spite of the names of the places and the creatures that inhabit it.
The long, long tale (1,000 pages) contains several truths: The truth that power is seductive and corrupts everyone it seduces; The truth that the only ones who can be trusted with power are the ones who don't want it; the truth that friendship binds strongly; and that in the end, all we get is a temporary respite from evil until the end of all.
I'm not going to sit here and cobble up a verbose, authoritative exposition on all that The Lord of the Rings means to the world. I'm just going to tell you that it is such a good, beautiful, thrilling, moving story that you really should read it at least once. At a thousand pages, it's not something you can sit down with and polish off in an afternoon. It's more like a change in your lifestyle. Don't plan on being finished with it when you reach the last page. You will be reading it again. You will make another journey into Middle Earth.
And, plan to see the movie...