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A review by nathanjhunt
The Return of the King by J.R.R. Tolkien
slow-paced
2.0
This was my 25th book finished in 2024.
This was easily the weakest book in the trilogy. There was no fun; it was just so boring.
I care about the "men" the least in the trilogy, so naturally I found the beginning of this book so boring. At least they don't burst into constant songs like the elves....
The way the male characters spoke about and to Éowyn was really quite icky at times. I like the whole "I am no man" part, and her desire to escape the role of a woman; it is a good commentary, but it could have been done a bit better. Of course, the story as a whole just needed more women. But this stuff has been said again and again...
Why is Tolkien incapable of using the word "before"? Why is it always "ere", and other repetitive phrases like "they were come", "anon", "at length", "thither" "or no", "nay", and so many other archaic terms that were no longer used when Tolkien wrote these books. I get that he's trying to echo a bygone age, but I just find all the conversations so unbelievable - no one in reality talks like his characters do. It's so distracting.
Wow, the story just kept going, didn't it! The ring was destroyed in the third chapter of the sixth book, and there I was questioning what the hell the last 30% of the book would be about? The events after that were easily the most dull and anticlimactic. What a boring end to the book! And the appendices at the end were the worst thing of all.
I truly have a whole new appreciation for Peter Jackson after finishing the trilogy. He turned the most underwhelming and convoluted books into a masterpiece of cinema. Now I must have a rewatch!
I'm just glad I have finally finished The Hobbit and The Lord Of The Rings, and I never have to read them again. I'd say this series is by far the most overrated piece of writing I've ever read. I've given the whole of the Lord Of The Rings series a 2.83.
This was easily the weakest book in the trilogy. There was no fun; it was just so boring.
I care about the "men" the least in the trilogy, so naturally I found the beginning of this book so boring. At least they don't burst into constant songs like the elves....
The way the male characters spoke about and to Éowyn was really quite icky at times. I like the whole "I am no man" part, and her desire to escape the role of a woman; it is a good commentary, but it could have been done a bit better. Of course, the story as a whole just needed more women. But this stuff has been said again and again...
Why is Tolkien incapable of using the word "before"? Why is it always "ere", and other repetitive phrases like "they were come", "anon", "at length", "thither" "or no", "nay", and so many other archaic terms that were no longer used when Tolkien wrote these books. I get that he's trying to echo a bygone age, but I just find all the conversations so unbelievable - no one in reality talks like his characters do. It's so distracting.
Wow, the story just kept going, didn't it! The ring was destroyed in the third chapter of the sixth book, and there I was questioning what the hell the last 30% of the book would be about? The events after that were easily the most dull and anticlimactic. What a boring end to the book! And the appendices at the end were the worst thing of all.
I truly have a whole new appreciation for Peter Jackson after finishing the trilogy. He turned the most underwhelming and convoluted books into a masterpiece of cinema. Now I must have a rewatch!
I'm just glad I have finally finished The Hobbit and The Lord Of The Rings, and I never have to read them again. I'd say this series is by far the most overrated piece of writing I've ever read. I've given the whole of the Lord Of The Rings series a 2.83.