4.5
Come at me, Tolkien, I’m ready for more! (Sounds slightly weird, but that’s where my energy level is at right now)

I’m having so much fun. I can’t get over how perfect it is to experience the book both physically and with Andy Serkis’ audiobook narration. I mentioned it in my review of Fellowship as well, but I have to give credit to his amazing range of unique character voices, his incredible consistency when switching between then, and the level of enthusiasm that permeates every word spoken. Getting the full Gollum experience in this second book made me thrive.

So, let’s briefly discuss «The Two Towers». I would say that although the structure is remarkably different, event- and pacing-wise the movie is more equivalent to book in this case compared to that of Fellowship. I was surprised to find several of the key scenes being more fast-paced in the book than in the movie, which I didn’t even consider to be possible! Both portrayals have their strengths; the movie fueled even more epicness into the story, while the book provided contextual lore and nuances to character relationships that I feel are more or less lost on screen. I’ll give a small list of my favorite aspects of the book:

- The wholesome relations between Gimli & Legolas and Sam & Frodo

- The lore of the Ents and their approach to language and nature

- The conversation between Gandalf and Saruman; it was hilarious and made me laugh out loud several times («‘Saruman, Saruman!’ said Gandalf still laughing. ‘Saruman, you missed your part in life. You should have been the king’s jester and earned your bread, and stripes too, by mimicking his counsellors.»)

- The amazing environment descriptions, beautiful and horrifying alike

- The bone-chilling characterization of Shelob

- The heartbreak I experienced in the last chapter

Additionally, I have to address what I experience as the wisdom of Tolkien. He is undeniably a fantastic writer and world-builder, but reading this series has made me aware of an additional quality of his, namely the incorporation of truly inspirational and wise messages in the story. Not to say that the purpose of this fantasy is to camouflage moral lessons, but rather that Tolkien shows himself to be a clear-sighted and attentive human being through the messages he conveys.

«‘It is hard to be sure of anything among so many marvels. The world is all grown strange. Elf and Dwarf in company walk in our daily fields; and folk speak with the Lady of the Wood and yet live; and the Sword comes back to war that was broken in the long ages ere the fathers of our fathers rode into the Mark! How shall a Man judge what to do in such times?’
‘As he had ever judged,’ said Aragorn, ‘Good and ill have not changed since yesteryear; nor are they one thing among Elves and Dwarves and another among Men. It is a man’s part to discern them, as much in the Golden Wood as in his own house.’»

I’m tempted to hop right into the third and final installment, but I’ll make myself wait a little while to prolong the pleasure. Until then!