So this isn’t my first time reading The Fellowship of the Ring, though, surprisingly, it’s only my second time finishing it. I tried the first time when I was eleven or twelve. I remember it clearly: My mom and I were in the Waldenbooks in Pierre Bossier Mall (do they still make Waldenbooks?), and I pulled it off the shelf. I’m not sure whether I knew what I was looking for, or not, or even whether I had heard of Tolkien, though I don’t see why I’d choose that one if I hadn’t. I was about the right age to discover those novels, but without the internet or friends who read for fun, it’s kind of doubtful. Anyway, I think I might have gotten a tenth of the way through it (I wasn’t particularly fond of or good at finishing long books), and I quit. I don’t think Frodo even made it out of the Shire.
Five, or so, years ago, I decided to read The Lord of the Rings as a challenge. I’m pretty sure that if you count all three novels as one (which I do), it’s still the longest book I’ve ever read. It took me about three months, and I was so proud of myself for finishing it. I liked it even more than I thought I would.
It seems strange to write a summary of The Fellowship of the Ring because I think that everyone I know has read it or has at least seen the movie, but here goes. It begins fifty or sixty years after the events of The Hobbit. Frodo, a hobbit and Bilbo Baggins’s nephew, inherits Bilbo’s magic ring that makes its wearer invisible. Turns out, though, that the ring has a more sinister purpose and is trying to make it back to its evil master, Sauron, who wants to rule all of Middle Earth. So Frodo and his friends must take the ring to the one place it can be destroyed, the fires of Mount Doom, which happens to be in Sauron’s domain. The Fellowship of the Ring chronicles the first part of that journey.
If you haven’t read The Lord of the Rings, get yourself a copy. The novels are so much better and more detailed than the movies. There’s a great part in The Fellowship of the Ring that’s totally left out of the movie, and it’s definitely worth a read. This novel is great for just about any age: it’s not a kids’ novel, but any kid around 12 or older will probably love it. I’m pretty sure I didn’t finish it more because of my short book attention span rather than boredom, and I really wish I would have stuck with it for no other reason than having read the books before seeing the movies. So, even if you’ve read it before, pick up a copy and get to readin’!
