The Lord of the Rings (J.R.R. Tolkien)

The Lord of the Rings is a classic tale. I have previously reviewed and summarized its constituent parts (The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, and The Return of the King); today, I finished reading this one-volume edition illustrated by the author. I even read Appendices A and B ("Annals of the Kings and Rulers" of the Third Age and "The Tale of Years," respectively) and skimmed C through E (Family Trees, Calendars, and Writing and Spelling).

Of the tale itself, little need be said. It is full of wisdom and wonder. It has impression of depth. I enjoyed it perhaps more now than I have in the past, despite this being my third or fourth re-reading. 

Of the version: I liked it. This version of the book is as the author intended, meaning presented in one volume. (I have read it could not be so produced in his era, due to paper shortages from World War II.) Having his illustrations in it is a bonus (this is a 'companion' volume to The Hobbit version I read earlier this year). Having this in one volume improved the flow (or seemed to), though it can still jar the reader by not interleaving various threads of the story (when the fellowship parts, Tolkien will follow one thread, then rewind and do the other).

Observation: for as much as I love the story, Tolkien most certainly does not invest in suspense. I believe his son claimed that he wrote with "no sense of narrative urgency," and that shines forth in places here. Things I believed to be the most suspenseful, even climactic, were handled abruptly with little fanfare. It almost seemed as though Tolkien wanted more focus on the wonder of the world, the history, and the languages than the suspense of the story itself. The story was excellent, but it was not delivered in modern fashion.

Finally, I read two appendices this time because of subsequent big-screen adaptations: The Rings of Power (seasons one and two) and The War of the Rohirrim. Both feature events mentioned in Appendices A and B. 

Rating: A