Possibly, the most overrated book of the Twentieth Century.
Not as innovative as the Tolkien dogma states nowadays. Most elements are to be found in previous or coeve works of fantasy.
Not believable in the way characters (do not) develop. "In nomine omen" raised to the status of psychological trait, for cardboard people moving against a stark background of reactionary manicheism.
Indeed, not subtle at all in its racism. Little England at its worst, with every class (race!) at their place, tall fair haired and skinned rulers, stout farmers happy to serve, dark southern-easterners ready to betray and conquer; more than anything else, evil as external to US, and ethical choices guided by valour. For fuck sake, how old was the guy when he wrote this thing, twelve?
(About Tolkien being a forever-twelve-year-old male with superiority complex and megalomaniac fantasies, has anybody else noticed how every tall and handsome character keeps being progressively revealed in ever increasing glory at every stage of the narrative, amidst gasps of recognition and adoration from the onlooking crowds? It reminds me of the passage, in Ulysses, where the Hungarian father of Mr Bloom is celebrated in triumph by the whole Dublin gathered at the docks, in a (voluntarily) hilarious flight of fantasy. Minus the irony. The second-hand embarrassment flows mighty in this book.)
Not surprising that Tolkien became a source of inspiration for the Italian far right scum. Where else will you find racism, xenophobia, reactionary classism, and white male megalomania wrapped in a SUCCESSFUL MODERN MAINSTREAM CLASSIC???
I still cannot fathom how this thing has been voted best book of the Twentieth Century. Or, maybe, I dare not investigate why.

This said, I am thoroughly enjoying my experience listening to the audiobook narrated by Andy Serkis. He does not even try to dissimulate the pompous tone of Tolkien's prose On the contrary: with a master stroke of great class, Serkis goes full Beowulf and manages to serve this half-boiled fanta-linguistic treaty disguised as fantasy novel, as if it were some ancient epic. Also, I happen to not share many readers' distaste for hobbits, and I am affectioned to Gandalf for personal reasons. How right was Terry Pratchett though, taking the piss... ( )

Edit: Listened to on Audible, April 2020. Listening to this again, many years after first reading it, its (1) not nearly as long as I remember, (2) still a lot of fun. Actually this book has aged quite well, and a number of things I had forgotten because they were omitted from the movie (primarily Tom Bombadil - bright blue his jacket is, and his boots are yellow!) were quite fun to remember. Recommended! ( )

I do enjoy this tale; however, there is so much going on stuffed in one book. It's quite clearly an epic. Good character development. ( )

What a fucking slog. Never again. ( )

As a young reader, I made it only about a third of the way through this book before setting it aside. Coming back to this after about 35 years, this time I made it out of the Shire! The early slow chapters are certainly a lot more suspenseful than I remembered, probably an affect of having seen the films and knowing the danger that the hobbits were in from the beginning, before they realized it. From Bree onward, the pace is exciting, but still finds quiet moments of reflection, particularly when a song or poem is recited.



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