Title: The Lord of the Rings
Author: J.R.R. Tolkien
Reviewer: Navin Sigamany

I first read the Hobbit when I was in college. It was that part of my life when time was not at a premium and I spent many a lazy afternoon in the Shire. I went on a most excellent adventure with Bilbo and the Dwarves. I stood in awe of Gandalf, and laughed easily with Beorn. I skulked behind Bilbo and watched as he riddled with the Gollum. I rejoiced at the fall of Smaug. All these I did, repeatedly, held enthralled by Middle Earth. Stuck as I was in one of the most unhappening backwaters of the Galaxy, I never had a chance to read the epic that followed in the wake of the Hobbit.

Years passed. I got out of the backwater and explored the world. And at every turn, I had the mortification of shaking my head embarrassedly whenever someone asked me whether I had read Lord of the Rings. In spite of having been held captive in Middle Earth by the Hobbit, I never got around to reading Lord of the Rings. Then I heard about the movie they were making, and its imminent release. It was then that I knew that I had waited too long and it was now or never. Thankfully, I was able to buy an admirable edition of Lord of the Rings that had all the three books in a single volume, along with lots of notes and maps.

Once again, Middle Earth had me ensnared, though I had but a fraction of the amount of time that I had to go off adventuring with Bilbo. This time though, my adventures with Frodo, Sam, Merry, Pippin, Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli were therapeutic. As a drug, it was curative rather than addictive. Everyday, I would leave behind the cares and worries of life in these maddening times and join the Fellowship of the Ring in its adventures. And as the adventures came to a close, I was more than ever a Lord of the Rings fan.

Like all fans of great books, I was quite doubtful as I went to watch the movie. I was in for a pleasant surprise. The movie in every way managed to capture the essence of the epic. Everything about the movie was in epic proportions. For the first time ever, I felt that abundant use of graphics and special effects added to rather than took away from the experience of the movie. The music, the casting, the direction, the lighting, the sheer imaginative power of the visuals - everything was perfect. I speak as a nitpicking fan.

The tale, like all epic tales, is very simple. A motley group of heroes - four hobbits (Frodo, Sam, Merry and Pippin), a man (Aragorn), a dwarf (Gimli) and an elf (Legolas) - are on a journey to the Cracks of Doom to destroy the one thing that will give Sauron, the Dark Lord, dominion over all of Middle Earth. They are guided and aided by Gandalf, the infinitely wise and powerful wizard. Their travels and adventures form the matter of the Lord of the Rings.

The book, all 1008 pages of it (without the appendices and maps, which run for another 140 pages), is epic not merely in terms of size. You realize it as soon as you have read a few pages in the beginning. The scope and magnitude of the work far exceeds anything else I have read. Various dynasties, family trees, military and political histories - human, dwarf, elf, hobbit - are discussed and described. All this is done in a way that really does not interfere with the progress of the story. The story itself is told in a very engaging manner - reading it is comparable only perhaps to sitting around a fire listening to one of Old Man Mozz's tales about the Phantom. The descriptions, of places, people and their histories, are detailed and vivid. Yet they advance the action, rather than merely complementing it. The setting itself is action. The whole text is unified in a way that makes separation of description and narrative virtually impossible.

For anyone fond of epic fantasy, Lord of the Rings is essential reading. But for all other readers, even if you do not really care much for magic and dragons, the Lord of the Rings is a must-read for its sheer literary force and genius.