Thoughts on Lord of the Rings
Last week I finished listening to the last Lord of the Rings book. I listened to the first two spread out over the past year, and it wasn’t until near the end of the third book that the main idea was driven home. They’re long books (~20 hour listen each on normal speed), but I would say they are worthwhile.
If you want to read these books, what I say here might spoil them a little bit (in what I say under “underlying ideas”). That being said, it’s sort of obvious what type of ending there is going to be, so take that for what it’s worth.
The story
The story itself was great. Tolkien is a creative genius. So many interesting & unique characters and events occur in the series, and it blows my mind how he was able to invent it all and piece it together in this story.
It was one of those books that you enjoy, are captivated by, and want to continue reading to see what happens next. There were moments when it was a little slow, but overall I’d say it was easy to get through once you get over the bit of confusion at the beginning of the series.
I find reading books like this to spark some creative juices in me. It’s an idea that’s talked about a lot in The Originals by Adam Grant, but not something I’m going to dive too deeply into.
Copycats
After reading Lord of the Rings, it struck me how many similar aspects there are in Harry Potter. A few of the same character names, “The Dark Lord” and other aspects. Here’s an article about comparisons in more depth. I wonder how much of the plot Rowling took and moved around from Lord of the Rings. I hear Game of Thrones has some similarities as well.
Underlying ideas
This is the part I like the most and where I might spoil the book a little.
What’s so crazy to me about Lord of the Rings is that you take this guy, Frodo, and his friends Sam, Pippin and Mary, and for all intensive purposes, they are relatively low in the hierarchy. They are small, weak, uninformed about the world, seemingly pretty unathletic. Yet, Frodo is given this mission to go on to save their world and he does it. At many times it’s incredibly hard, but it was his obligation to do so. He had this obligation and he followed through. Sam, Mary and Pippin each played a huge role in that as well, and it was by no means easy what they went through. Part of it was unfair, but at the end, they all ended up best off for it. Great experience, huge impact, amazing stories.
It makes me think if Frodo and Sam can deal with the craziness of their adventure in these books and do everything they need to do, then I should also be doing what I am here to do.
This goes into more of personal beliefs, but just real quick, I think we’re all here for a reason. That there’s a specific thing (or maybe a few) that will make us most fulfilled. For some that’s being an amazing parent, for rare others it’s starting Apple. I also believe many people never realize their potential for a variety of reasons. For me, I feel an obligation to do what I was put here to do. I have no idea what that thing is, but if I listen to my heart I think I’ll find it eventually. The Alchemist is a book all about that, and it was an awesome and quick read. Highly recommend. Maybe I’ll write more about that idea in the future.
Still, though, the Lord of the Rings makes me think about giving life our best shot and I resonate with that in a big way.
Thoughts on this review/the book in general? Comment or send me a note :)
Full reading list here
