A Tolkien Virgin

“Frodo’s attitude here strikes me as significantly Christian, and at this point, I tend to agree with him…”

“I’ll say it’s odd for the story to go on so long. I know Frodo needs to get back to the Shire before the story will come to a close, but in the Hobbit there was a summary–and Bilbo had various other adventures–and a brief conclusion with him returning to the Shire in the nick of time. Here, after the climax there’re chapters left to go. It’s not bad, of course, it’s just odd…”

“‘Many Partings’ indeed!! What a sad chapter. Tying up ends here and there, leaving others loose. I forgot how many people we’ve met along the journey, how many people there are to say good-bye to. But, as they work backwards along the once perilous road, we’re reminded of just how much they’ve done and endured. It’s almost unbelievable that the fear and doom, the nightmare, it’s all gone with the ring…”

“The story screeches to a halt and we get to read about Faramir and Eowyn. I’ll be honest, at first I was annoyed because I actually thought that Eowyn and Aragorn were supposed to end up together…”

“But my praise of Frodo is tempered by the fact that he failed. He was unable to resist the lust of the Ring–he bore it to the end only to give in and claim it for his own..”

“Wow. Wow. Wow. So, I’m a bit speechless…”

“Little enjoyment left in the story…”

“For the first time since I can remember I had a strongly negative reaction to something of Tolkien’s…”

“The only hope is in the destruction of the ring. For, I don’t believe that Frodo and Sam have been captured–or at least not still captured. I keep telling myself that these books wouldn’t be so popular if it all ended badly…”

“Chronologically I can feel that the story is coming to an end. Something is going on, has been going on, up at Cirith Ungol (and hopefully beyond) with Sam and Frodo and I want to know what! I’m itching for that satisfactory ending that must be coming, but I have a chapter plus a whole book left to go, so that’s a bummer.”

“I’m sure Tolkien must have thought of Ioreth as something of comic relief given the dire situation, but I have to say I find her more annoying than amusing…”

“Looking up at Gandalf upon Shadowfax with Pippin’s eyes at the start of this chapter, I didn’t see an old man. I saw a warrior, a lord. Ageless…”