Author: J.R.R. Tolkien
Publisher: Mariner Books
Copyright: 2005 (original 1954-55)
ISBN: 9780618640157
Reading Level: Adult
Interest Age: Grade 9 and up
Genre: Fantasy--Epic Fantasy
Reader’s Annotation: The fate of Middle Earth is in the hands of a hobbit, Frodo Baggins. He must travel into the very heart of the Dark Lord's land to destroy the One Ring.
Plot Summary
When the hobbit Bilbo Baggins sets out to spend his last years having adventures, he leaves everything to his nephew, Frodo. This includes his magical ring, which Gandalf the wizard soon identifies as the One Ring—the Dark Lord Sauron’s greatest instrument of power, long lost. Now Sauron is rising again, preparing for war, and searching everywhere for his lost treasure. Frodo sets out with three other hobbits, Sam, Merry, and Pippin, to take the Ring to Rivendell, a stronghold of the Elves. Along the way they are pursued by Black Riders of Sauron and meet Aragorn, a man of kingly heritage. Once they make it to Rivendell, it is decided that the Ring must be taken into the land of Mordor and destroyed. The Fellowship of the Ring is formed to carry out this quest. In addition to the four young hobbits, Gandalf, and Aragorn, the Fellowship includes Boromir, a man; Gimli, a dwarf; and Legolas, an elf.
The members of the Fellowship travel through many strange lands and meet people of many races. Frodo and Sam leave the others to take the Ring to Mordor alone, but are soon joined by Gollum, a treacherous creature obsessed with the Ring. The others must fight both the traitorous wizard Saruman and the armies of Mordor. Aragorn is revealed as the heir to the throne of Gondor, the greatest kingdom of Men, and Boromir, Merry, Pippin, Legolas, Gimli, and Gandalf all commit acts of great heroism.
Critical Evaluation
One of the many joys of reading The Lord of the Rings is getting lost in the rich fantasy world Tolkien created. Middle Earth has its own history and mythology, geography, peoples, and even its own languages (complete with alphabets, grammar, everything). For some readers, though, the very level of detail may be a barrier to getting into the books. There are quite a few songs and poems that disrupt the flow of the story (though many of these are quite delightful—see Frodo’s expanded telling of the Man in the Moon and Sam’s poem about the troll). The story itself is incredibly intricate, spanning many months and countries and following several different groups of characters. It is also thrilling—full of clever plans (such as the trick Merry and Pippin use to escape from the orcs), terror (the hobbit’s flight from the Black Riders), acts of heroism (Eowyn and Merry’s defeat of the Lord of the Nazgul), and camaraderie and love (Sam’s pursuit of Frodo when he tries to leave his companions and face the danger alone). This is one of those books where in the end everything feels right—all the storylines are followed unhurriedly to their logical conclusions and poetic justice is achieved. For these and many other reasons, Middle Earth is a place readers will want to revisit time and again.
Curriculum Ties: N/A
Booktalking Ideas
Profile a few of the characters, perhaps Aragorn, Pippin, and Gandalf.
Bring a map of Middle Earth and describe trace the Fellowship's journey(s).
Challenge Issues: Violence, occult content
In the defense file, I will include my library's selection policy, ALA's Library Bill of Rights, ALA's guidelines on free access to libraries for minors (http://www.ala.org/ala/issuesadvocacy/intfreedom/librarybill/interpretations/freeaccesslibraries.cfm), and ALA's strategies and tips for dealing with challenges to library materials (http://www.ala.org/ala/issuesadvocacy/banned/challengeslibrarymaterials/copingwithchallenges/strategiestips/index.cfm). I will also include my library's reconsideration form, in case challenges to this book cannot be defused with "tea and sympathy." I'll include the Amazon.com review, which notes the "universal" influence of Tolkien's work.
About the Author
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, CBE (3 January 1892 – 2 September 1973) was an English writer, poet, philologist, and university professor, best known as the author of the classic high fantasy works The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion.
Tolkien was Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon at Pembroke College, Oxford, from 1925 to 1945 and Merton Professor of English Language and Literature there from 1945 to 1959. He was a close friend of C. S. Lewis—they were both members of the informal literary discussion group known as the Inklings. Tolkien was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II on 28 March 1972.
After his death, Tolkien's son Christopher published a series of works based on his father's extensive notes and unpublished manuscripts, including The Silmarillion. These, together with The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings form a connected body of tales, poems, fictional histories, invented languages, and literary essays about a fantasy world called Arda, and Middle-earth within it. Between 1951 and 1955, Tolkien applied the term legendarium to the larger part of these writings.
While many other authors had published works of fantasy before Tolkien,[5] the great success of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings led directly to a popular resurgence of the genre. This has caused Tolkien to be popularly identified as the "father" of modern fantasy literature—or, more precisely, of high fantasy. In 2008, The Times ranked him sixth on a list of "The 50 greatest British writers since 1945". Forbes ranked him the 5th top-earning dead celebrity in 2009.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._R._R._Tolkien
Why is this title included?
This classic is one of my all-time favorite books and a must-read for any fantasy fan. Though published as an adult title, it has crossover appeal to older teens. I'm using this one-volume version because Tolkien intended it to be one book, not three.