English language
Published August 1976 by Ballantine Books.
The Fellowship of the Ring is the first of three volumes of the epic novel The Lord of the Rings by the English author J. R. R. Tolkien. It is followed by The Two Towers and The Return of the King. It takes place in the fictional universe of Middle-earth. It was originally published on 29 July 1954 in the United Kingdom. The volume consists of a foreword, in which the author discusses his writing of The Lord of the Rings, a prologue titled "Concerning Hobbits, and other matters", and the main narrative in Book I and Book II.
This was a quick read that was great for an afternoon when I wanted something light. I think I'd have enjoyed it less had I not read the first one - this one had little room for character development and backstory.
“You know what?” he said. “If I were to die or something, you know what I would do?”
He didn’t wait for me to say anything.
“I’d stick around,” he said. “I’d stick around a while.”
The girls were a bit shocked, but I'm ecstatic they wanted me to move straight onto reading them The Two Towers
2020: MrMatey knows what’s going on.
Peut-être mon tome préféré de cette trilogie qui n'en est pas vraiment une. Le côté épique atteint son apogée et c'est ce qui rend ce tome aussi passionnant et mémorable.
Les aventures de la Communauté de l'Anneau, désormais dissoute, se poursuit. La première partie, suivant les aventures d'Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli, Pippin et Merry m'a beaucoup plu, tandis que la seconde, avec Frodo et Sam m'a un peu plus ennuyé au début, même si la fin est plus intéressante. J'ai en tout cas toujours envie de poursuivre avec le troisième "tome".
Lire enfin en entier le Silmarillion m'a donné envie de relire le Seigneur des Anneaux, et c'est avec un vrai plaisir que j'ai replongé dans le début des aventures de Frodo et de ses compagnons à travers la Terre du Milieu.
The first time I read The Hobbit I was 14. Now, 20 years later I've enjoyed it in English and even the translation is really good, reading Tolkien in his language it's a different thing. The expressiveness of his prose is a really different to the type of English texts I usually read. I'll re-read TLOTR in English some time in the future but as for now, I'll move to a novel into Spanish.
Voici donc le dernier livre que j'aurai commencé et terminé en 2013. Après avoir lu plusieurs fois le Seigneur des Anneaux, il était temps que je lise également le Hobbit. J'avais essayé il y a quelques années mais j'avais abandonné au début, peu enthousiasmé par le côté enfantin de ce conte. Finalement j'ai réussi cette fois à passer outre un début peu passionnant. La suite est meilleure, même si cela reste moins épique que le Seigneur des Anneaux. Et je ne suis toujours pas fan de Bilbo ...
I started reading this book as it has been written by the grandfather of two of my children. The subject matter I was quite unfamiliar with and wasn't sure what to expect. By the end of the book I was quite gripped as not only does this book provide an interesting glimpse into how the railways ran during the Second World War, it is also a rather wonderful tale of the working friendship between an engine driver and a passed fireman. The story belongs to two characters, George and Lance, and although the stories themselves are fictional accounts, it's difficult not to get attached to these two characters. The technical language is broken down adequately enough for a non-railway enthusiast to be able to sustain the flow of the narrative and Michael has included a handy glossary of terms to ensure that readers don't get lost in the processes throughout …
I started reading this book as it has been written by the grandfather of two of my children. The subject matter I was quite unfamiliar with and wasn't sure what to expect. By the end of the book I was quite gripped as not only does this book provide an interesting glimpse into how the railways ran during the Second World War, it is also a rather wonderful tale of the working friendship between an engine driver and a passed fireman. The story belongs to two characters, George and Lance, and although the stories themselves are fictional accounts, it's difficult not to get attached to these two characters. The technical language is broken down adequately enough for a non-railway enthusiast to be able to sustain the flow of the narrative and Michael has included a handy glossary of terms to ensure that readers don't get lost in the processes throughout the running of the locomotives. For the railway enthusiast I imagine this book would have plenty in it to revel in.
There are some memorable moments in the book which is an indication of a good story teller, each chapter follows the timeline from 1939 to 1945, and concludes in a one off chapter when British Rail began to take its steam engines off the tracks in the 1960s. The types of locomotives featured are not so much characters in themselves but rather esteemed colleagues (Pardon the pun) of the men who ran them, and we learn about each type of engine through the dialogue of the railway men and what duties they perform in each chapter.
Michael states that there are minor details within the stories that have a basis of truth, and having known the author I am slightly amused at the thought of him hurling snow balls at passing locomotives. I remember as a child wanting to be a train driver, my friend and I used to watch the electric trains. One time when a train pulled up to the platform we raced along and caught the driver's attention, we asked if we could ride with him in the driver's compartment, but he said no. I think that ended the desire but for a short time there we were dead keen on being train drivers.
I think the era of steam still beats strong in the hearts of many, and it is encouraging to find recollections and homages to this particular age of transportation. If you are a railway buff or simply curious to learn about a unique period of history, then Steaming into the Firing Line is a jolly nice light read that will provide both pleasure and substance.
2018 re-read: Wanting the comfort of a familiar book/series I'm diving back in to LoTR and still enjoy the first installment. It has been six year since my initial reading of this book and I'm surprised what I forgot so in a way it was like reading it again for the first time. I knew what to expect, how long the story lingered in areas and then the end accelerates out of nowhere and it was all fantastic.
Original reading in 2012: It's difficult to rate a book that is so well known and has become an incredibly successful movie franchise. This was my first time reading the books and I found it not as daunting of a read as I was lead to believe. The story lacks characters inner voice so the way the story unfolds is not what I'm used to but thankfully someone made a movie …
2018 re-read: Wanting the comfort of a familiar book/series I'm diving back in to LoTR and still enjoy the first installment. It has been six year since my initial reading of this book and I'm surprised what I forgot so in a way it was like reading it again for the first time. I knew what to expect, how long the story lingered in areas and then the end accelerates out of nowhere and it was all fantastic.
Original reading in 2012: It's difficult to rate a book that is so well known and has become an incredibly successful movie franchise. This was my first time reading the books and I found it not as daunting of a read as I was lead to believe. The story lacks characters inner voice so the way the story unfolds is not what I'm used to but thankfully someone made a movie and if I needed to fill in the blanks I could rely on that. On that note, reading Fellowship has made me appreciate how good the movie adaptation is and am appreciative of the changes (however few) that were made.
All in all it was a very enjoyable read, it would have been five stars but I had to leave some room left to rank the books that will follow.
I finished my re-read a day or two ago. I have nothing to add: this is an awesome book that I've always loved. I'm in the process of rereading the Appendices, which are surprisingly good if you want to learn about the history of Middle Earth. Parts of it feel like a condensed version of the Silmarillion, which I've also enjoyed.
