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read along with me

Just some short posts about my thoughts and reactions to books as I read them. Feel free to join me and share your own!

The Fellowship of the Ring, J.R.R. Tolkien

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the fellowship of the ring: chapter two, “the shadow of the past”

Chapter Two eases us into the wider world of Middle-earth. As the title would suggest, it expands on the theme of history established in the prologue, and we see how the dark happenings in Frodo’s time were set into motion long ago. We at last have answers to some of the questions we’ve had about the Ring, and a clear reason to leave the Shire. Yes, this chapter is mostly an exposition dump, but it manages to pick up the story’s momentum rather than slow it down.  Crucially, this chapter serves as our first real introduction to Frodo and Sam. There’s a clear difference in class between them which Tolkien emphasizes in their manner of speaking, and thus far nothing about the framing of their master/servant relationship suggests we’re meant to be critical of the hobbits’ social structure. But the groundwork has been laid to show that they are fundamentally equals, and each has had a chance to display admirable qualities.  Frodo is naturally frightened by everything he learns her...
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the fellowship of the ring: chapter three, “three is company”

We are getting our first taste of the Road. Tolkien often capitalizes this word when he’s referring to the idea of a road as a path one takes on a journey as opposed to a literal road, or at least that’s how I interpret it. And I think this distinction is thematically important in a quest story, especially one where the journey the characters must go on is both physical and intrapersonal. Though the hobbits haven’t yet left the borders of the Shire, Tolkien continues to provide a good forward momentum through these pages by escalating the sense of danger. The encounters with the mysterious Black Riders are tense, especially as their appearances always prompt Frodo’s struggle with a temptation to put on the Ring. The Shire has already proven unsafe, and of course only more peril lies ahead. The appearance of Gildor and elves just in time to frighten off a Black Rider is an early example of things suddenly going right for our heroes, seemingly by chance. The Hobbit was full of such inst...
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the fellowship of the ring: chapter one, “a long-expected party”

The title of the opening chapter harkens back to The Hobbit ’s “An Unexpected Party.” Just like that story, this one eases us into the fantasy setting by beginning in Hobbiton in the Shire, a region which, from its landscape to its inhabitants, resembles an idealized English countryside. Spending time here also helps us feel for Frodo later when he must leave it behind in order to keep it safe, and strengthens our desire to see his safe return. The Shire becomes home for us just as it is for Frodo. This chapter compells us to keep reading by posing very troubling questions about the nature of the ring. For readers of The Hobbit especially, Bilbo’s seeming addiction to this piece of jewelry is jarring, particularly when his defensiveness about it leads to him making some rather nasty accusations against Gandalf, one of his dearest friends. It’s a genuine relief when it’s out of his possession and he instantly becomes much more himself. Now, though, the ring has been left to Frodo, and ...
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